Showing posts with label trench coat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trench coat. Show all posts

Friday, March 12, 2010

Yes, It's What's On the Outside that Counts

First of all, following the lead of so many others, I started a secondary blog for selling clothes.  It's Heidi G - From My Closet.  As I say in my sub-header: "Because the post office is closet than the consignment shop."  (It really is.)  Browse all you want.  I'll still list on the JCA Weekly Exchange and Polyvore, but this will have more than just J Crew-wear.  And I'll be adding to it regularly.

Secondly - my Public Service Announcement for the Day/Week/Month/Year:

Clean out your dryer lint - the lint screen and the outtake hose!  My neighbor across the street had her dryer catch on fire earlier this week.  Not a fun experience at all.  Fortunately everyone is ok.  Which brings me to my next point - don't turn on your washer/dryer/dishwasher and leave the house...unless you are 100% sure that everything will be perfect.  This will be a definite mindset change for me!!

Enough lecturing...and back to regularly scheduled blogging...

How much time do we waste on just the clothes, yu know, the shirt/sweater/pants without stopping to consider the outer and the under and the with?  I'm certainly not going to pretend to be an expert on the underpinnings to put with an outfit (that's why we have Cleo's blog, Trousseau Adventures).  But I am pretty comfortable talking about the "outer" and the "with" stuff...at least as it relates to my style.

Sometimes it is really is all about the outerwear and accessories.  Remember in Silence of the Lambs when Hannibal Lechter made the comment to Clarice about "your good bag and your cheap shoes"? 

We do love our clothes...but if you're throwing on a crappy coat or cruddy shoes, it will ruin the whole look.  And when it's cold, rainy, snowy, or just not 75 degrees outside, most of what others see is your outerwear and accessories.

To illustrate here on the left. First picture: Before, perfectly fine, simple, standard type of outfit for me (I do adore this Cambridge cable turtle!) Second picture: After, with sunglasses, trench, & bag.  C'est plus chic, non? (then again, didn't we learn that from Jackie O, Audrey, Grace, et al?)

Starting with the outerwear...How many coats do you have?  How many do you wear?  How many are actually flattering on you?  Which ones improve your outfit instead of actually competing with it? 

I do try to make sure my outerwear at least works with my outfit for the day - if not actually taking my look up a notch.  In fact, if all I'm going to be doing is running errands, it's easy to just slip on a plain, simple (i.e., typical me) outfit, but add a coat that is either bright/happy/cheery as the focal point of the outfit - yes that would be the Winnie coat - or in warmer temps, the green Gap corduroy coat I wore today.  Conversely, I find that my charcoal gray heather hooded car coat from Bloomies 10 years ago (aka my pregnancy coat), adds wonderful texture to ensembles.  It all depends on mood.  And weather.  But you don't have to spend a fortune on coats.  It's something to work on over time.  And the way sales happen so soon in the season...you hardly ever have to pay full price, unless it's something that you are just *dying* over.  But the great thing about coats is that when you talk CPW (cost per wear), you get a lot of value for your money because you were them so often.

The quickest way add luxury to an outfit is with a big, cozy scarf.  Even if it's not super cold outside, a generous but lightweight scarf always chics up a look.  And if you're always cold like me, it keeps you warm!!  This is not a wardrobe item that has to cost much.  If you want to lay out a ton of cash, be my guest.  I won't judge.  But you really don't need to.  Most malls have that kiosk in the middle where they sell the pashminas rather inexpensively.  And just about every store, or at least the ones I go to, has a wide selection of scarves, wraps, etc.  The beauty of the scarf is that it comes in so many different colors, textures, fabrics, patterns - you are sure to find something that's right for you.  One of my favorites is a damask hot pink wrap that I got from Old Navy about 5 or 6 years ago for $10 on mega-sale.  I'd say the CPW of that one is down to pennies, or at least dimes.  And the light gray cashmere wrap I got from Banana Republic right after Christmas for $30?  Definitely under a dollar per wear and dropping rapidly.  Of course, you don't always need one with a turtleneck like I have here.

Shoes?  Bags?  Hats?  Sunglasses? Oy, I could go on for a while...but it's been a crazy busy week, and I'm done. Good night all! No, I'm not going to bed quite this early, but will be pretty soon. So I will probably try to catch up on blog reading until my eyelids close...

Polyvore from March 2:
3/2/10
3/2/10 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew