Recipe for Making Love

Or rather, for making me love my clothes more. Here are the pieces I'm working with, and then the next outfit I have to show.

Shirts: Stripes: H&M, red w/bow: Loft, white: Loft, blue turtle: NY&Co, black: Loft, green button-up: Ralph Lauren kids, white ruffley: Loft, blue/white button-up: NY&Co, white button-up: Loft

Sweaters: Camel: NY&Co, crocheted: Calvin Klein, navy cable: Loft, black ruffley: NY&Co, Brown cable: Gap

Skirts/Dresses: Khaki: Loft, black: Loft (scuba), ivory dress: Alex Evenings, purple dress: Loft, purple sweater (I forgot it before): Loft

Jackets: Hunter green: H&M, denim blazer: Loft, tan/gold swing coat: Target

Pants: Cords: Loft, brown: Loft, grey: Loft, trouser jeans: Loft, khakis: AE, skinnies: Old Navy, jeans: AE   (I also picked a pair of dark blue chinos. You can imagine them. It wasn't worth retaking the picture.)

So. Especially as I look at everyone else's picks for this, it's almost embarrassing to put mine online. I mean, I allowed myself 30 clothing picks and didn't include shoes to make it easier, but now that I'm partway through this and looking at these choices, I could easily cut pieces out. Plain white and black shirts? Gone. Both pair of jeans? Peace out. Plain white button-up? Sayonara!  

And I notice almost immediately that if you compare my stacks to most others', you see A LOT less pattern. I mean, I literally have four patterned pieces. What the heck? My biggest fashion challenge for the last 6 years or so has been toning down an all-pattern wardrobe! Crazy. Well, I guess it's on to new challenges, then. I am learning from even this, realizing that I could do this challenge with fewer pants, fewer shirts, fewer pieces overall, and some really bold and interesting pieces, for heaven's sake!

Anyway, here is my ninth outfit since I started the challenge, even though it's the first since the challenge officially began. The day we went to take these pictures, it had snowed. Like, snowed for real. It was so beautiful! We turned in to a nice little housing development (Plantation Estates . . . only in the South.) that happened to have this pretty little stream running through. I kid you not, we came in on Rhett Butler Street and turned into Scarlett O'Hara Court. Ridiculous!

Note the scarf adding necessary interest. The socks are not intended to be so attention-grabbing, that just sort of happened. (They were warm.)

Turtleneck & Belt: New York & Company

Scarf: H&M

Pants: Ann Taylor Loft 

A couple of things you may not have known: the dog spent this photo shoot dashing as deep as she could into that forest-y area, then bounding back at full speed. She is visible in one of these pictures, extra points if you find her. Also, I did in fact fall down immediately following that first picture. We have a nice sequence of pictures as I go down and my husband watches and continues documenting. Okay, I have to admit, it's pretty funny to see.

: P