Hung up on you: the closet challenge

The weather in Montreal reached 12˚C during the weekend and I spent most of it on our condo's balcony sipping wine & enjoying fancy cheeses with my Eye Candy. We were wearing jackets and scarfs, but at least we were able to enjoy some sunshine and rock the sunglasses.

Perhaps it was a little optimistic, but I also took the opportunity to change over my closets. Yes, I am one of those girls who has too many clothes to fit in just one closet and with each season, I switch over my attire. (Please note that purging is a favourite activity of mine and in the 2.5 years that my Eye Candy & I have been together, I have reduced my required closet space from 3 to 1.5 double-doored closets which is miraculous. It also corresponds with my transition from single girl in her own apartment to coupledome in the condo so a portion of the purging can be explained by a space issue.) As I was taking down my winter-esque clothes, I did separate out the clothes that I did not wear over the last several months. A few items were tossed into the laundry room for minor repairs, a few sweaters are on their way to my Mum's closet (!), and another pile is set to be donated.

Once I had taken out my spring & summer clothes, washed them, ironed them, and got ready to hang them up, I decided that this is the year that I really monitor what I wear.

Introducing my closet challenge...

For each item of clothing that went up in my closet, I turned the hook around. As I wear each item, I will turn it's hanger back around. Over the next few months, I'll be able to see clearly what items I am not wearing and hopefully, be inspired to put together new options.

At the end of the summer, I plan to go through my closet with either my Eye Candy or a favourite fashionista who will referree the process: if I did not wear said item at all, it will be donated. Should I want to keep the unworn item, I'll be donating $5 for each piece to a favourite charity. I'm open to suggestions for causes so please give me ideas and I'm hoping some of my readers will also get 'hung up' on this idea & join me too!

*Rosie*

Changing my mind like a girl changes clothes

After a few stressful weeks leading up to a grueling round of management meetings, I was thrilled when this Friday finally rolled around and I was able to treat myself to the day off. I also decided to treat myself to a light blue & white pin-stripe blazer as I’d like to recreate the look of Cameron Diaz for the upcoming spring & summer season. I thought the blazer is a smart but casual chic look to complement neutral shorts, skinny jeans and even white pants should I be so daring. (If anyone knows how I can get those legs, please advise immediately.)

Unfortunately, when I browsed through H&M, I could not find the blazer that I was looking for and left the store disappointed. This led me into a series of stores like Zara, Winners, Mango and Jacob where I browsed aimlessly in the hopes of finding a anything to cheer myself up. At Forever 21, I stumbled upon a cute beige crocodile side-strap mini-purse for only $11. I decided to treat myself to it.

But before I did so, I followed the rules of my great Auntie Shirley when it comes to purchasing accessories… always walk around the store for at least 5 minutes wearing said accessory. She shared this lesson with me 5 years ago when I almost bought a 60₤ embroidered floral wristlet clutch. Instead of encouraging me to make the purchase, she suggested I wear it around the boutique to make sure it was the ideal purse for me. After only 2 minutes of carrying it around Lady Green’s store, my wrist was bright red with deep impression marks and I knew that the purse was pretty and exceptionally painful. I walked away from it.

The purse at F21 was definitely not painful, but I knew deep down that it was an impulse purchase to make up for my MIA CameronD blazer. After 40 days of no shopping, I started to ask myself a series of questions as I walked around the store wearing the purse to justify the purchase.

Q: Where would I wear said new purse?

A: During my upcoming trips to Kelowna, BC and Las Vegas, Nevada of course!

Q: And during what activities would I wear said new purse that my existing goldie-beige Coach purse (à la tax refund 2007) and cream wristlet would not suffice?

A: In the desert of course! I determined that perhaps my Eye Candy and I would take a hiking trip to the Grand Canyon and in which case, I would certainly need a mini-purse that I could wear over my shoulders as my existing Coach purse and wristlet have to be carried over the inside of my wrist as there are no shoulder straps. Clearly my existing purse collection is not practical for rock climbing.

Having successfuly convinced myself of the genuine need for the mini-purse, I waited in line to make my purchase. And upon further reflection, I then realized that the Grand Canyon is a 7 hour drive from Las Vegas and we will likely not go on a spur of the moment hiking trip. And if we did, I would certainly need a backpack to carry bottles of water, food, and supplies… not a mini-purse that barely fits an iPhone, $5 bill, and lipgloss. While the mini-purse is pain-free, it was not worth the $11 hit to my wallet when my other purses would do.

With that realization, I put the mini-purse back on the rack and walked out of the store. Blazer-less and purse-less, but at least my wallet remained $11 heavier.

*Rosie*