June 6, 2010

Closet Confessions: Closet Sale of the Summer

Dear Women Who Live in the Quad: This is your lucky week. Month. Year. Because I have been working feverishly with a new client to purge her designer-filled closets as she transitions into a new lifestyle. And where are her little pretties going, you ask? On sale via my style biz, Dorothy Louise. In fact, we have sorted and racked six closets of clothes, handbags, shoes and put them on display for her Trunk Show this Thursday and Friday night.

Say it with me, Gucci, Prada, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Manolo, Tory Burch, Calvin Klein, Coach, Ann Klein, Ann Taylor, Paige Premium Denim, Citizens of Humanity…. darling! Names, names, names!

Pssst, I can get you an invite. Just check my facebook event. And even if you’re out of town, if you have a handbag fetish and/or a size 6 to 6 1/2 shoe, drop me a line before Weds. I’ll email you pictures, and you can do some virtual shopping!

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April 18, 2010

Sunday Confession: I wore flip flops

I am a connoisseur of airport fashion.  I enjoy layovers in big cities, like Chicago, where I can take in the eye candy (and no, men, not you). In fact, here is a vintage Chanel bag I snapped in O’Hare on my way to L.A.

As you know from my previous posts, I am believer in proper footwear for travel. I have a strict rule of no flip flops or even sandals, for that matter. I have the same reaction to them that I had when Britney went barefoot at the gas station. I don’t think you have to wear your Sunday best, but who decided that all you are required to do when you travel is to roll out of bed, put on your slippers, and dash off with your boarding pass?  The airport isn’t the bathroom at the dorm.  And yes, you do have to do some walking, but I’ve seen people dress better at a triathlon.

Thursday afternoon, I trekked across University of Illinois’ campus in some new sling-backs by Calvin Klein (offender pictured here), which gave me three blisters on each foot almost the size of ping pong balls.

So, I am reluctant to confess that once I reached the airport, I broke out the flip flops I packed for the swimming pool and wore them all the way to L.A. and back.

It was a medical emergency, which is the only justification, by the way.

Although I love my Oka B. sandals, I think it’s best to limit them to the house, the salon, or the beach…

Repentance involves never forgetting to pack my Tory Burch flats again.

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April 11, 2010

Closet Confessions: Is Your Closet a Fantasy? Or Reality?

We all fantasy shop. That’s how we end up with a closet for a party-circuit fashionista when we’re a stay-at-home mom. But not everyone can afford to have multiple closet personalities, especially ones that don’t fit our lifestyle.

How do you prevent it, especially in a tight economy? I almost hesitate telling you. Because it is so boringly simple, it requires only a pen and a piece of paper.  Remember that old tool??

Divide the paper into three columns, and three rows. The first row is “Tops”, “Bottoms”, and “Dresses”. The second row is “Accessories”, “Bags”, and “Shoes”. Leave space for a third row for your “maybes” – things you are thinking of buying. Now, writing down everything you have in your closet. This is your inventory. Fold it up and take it with you when you shop. If the item doesn’t fit into your existing inventory (not the fantasy one), then don’t buy it.

I love play clothes, but I live in work clothes. When I finish my inventory, I realize I have enough for roughly 25 casual summer outfits. But I wear casual dress-up on average one day a week. So, during the course of the summer, that leaves only 10-12 opportunities to wear weekend dress-up. Instead, I will wear professional work clothes almost sixty times during the same period of time. So, five out of six items in my closet should suitable for the office. In fact, aside from jeans, I don’t buy an article of clothing unless I can wear it to work.

See? Simple math. Boring, but if you don’t have a closet the size of France, it must be done. Especially before you buy another bathing suit/party dress/ruffled J Crew blouse.

The really good news is that shoes don’t count;)

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February 24, 2010

Closet Confessions: Feeding Your Size Demons

When one of my formerly size 0 friends invited me into her closet after baby number 2, I remember the feeling of panic and despair that pervaded the space after she showed me the rainbow of sizes (2, 4, 6, 8, with a healthy dose of petites mixed in) from all the stages of her life (before and during baby 1, after baby 1, etc.) that were packed into the closet.

I started to feel my own panic and despair at the thought of trying to pull from this mishmash and put an outfit together each and every morning.  And every time I tried to quiz her on what currently fit her and pull the “nos” out, she balked and put them right back in.  They were her motivation, she said, to get back to her pre-pregnancy weight.

A lot of people feel this way, and if carrying around a hammer and hitting yourself on the head every morning when you enter the closet is motivation, then knock yourself out.  Keep all the crap and pack more in.

But in my experience, people don’t work like that.  The more clutter, the less able we are to function with any kind of joy and efficiency.  I believe your closet is a sacred space that should be filled with light, air, and military-like order.  Anything that disrupts it must be removed immediately.

This is tough during a serious size transition, like pregnancy and post-baby, after a gastric bypass, or the breakup with the love of your life.  But being free is not free, there is a cost.  You must be brutal to those clothes, no matter how beautiful or expensive, that no longer fit.  If you can’t part with them, move them to another closet.

I did this myself a couple of weeks ago.  Although I am three months post-baby, I split a pair of Anlo jeans when I tried to prematurely shove myself back in.  And so I finally removed every skinny jean and pant that I had put back into my closet the month before expecting to fit into any day.  I pulled about twenty pieces and already felt in a better mood as I put them back into my “transition area” and banned my size demons until further notice.

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