It’s been almost two months since my session with a stylist. After my previous post, the change had a little bit of time to set in, and I started feeling really bad. Look at all of those women crying on Trinny & Susannah or Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style and you’ll get an idea of what it felt like in the days and weeks afterwards. Even though I’ve gone through it, I can’t quite explain the feeling, I guess you just have to try it yourself to understand. Because it really is quite traumatic.
However, I did eventually get over the shock. When I put on clothes that I thought weren’t that bad and looked in the mirror – I saw what the stylist was talking about, they just weren’t flattering. That’s when I realized I had internalized the change and cleaned out my closet. Nothing less than perfect is left, except for casual hanging around the house wit the kids clothes.
Then I went shopping. I knew exactly the shapes and colors I needed, and didn’t stray one bit. It made the whole process much more focused, easy and fun. I added two questions to the shopping process: Not only is this nice, but also 1. Is it flattering to me? and 2. Is this consistent with my style?
I looked at a nice light blue button down shirt with a flower pattern, the shape was right, the colors were right, but I decided that it’s not the right style, so I put it back without even trying it on. What a time saver.
I looked at a really nice chiffon turquoise blouse with a satin ribbon, the color was great, the style was right but when I tried it on I saw that the sleeves were too long and the neckline was too high. I didn’t even consider buying it, I took it right off. Nothing less than perfect.
Then, I saw a light blue lacy top, it was really nice, and it looked nice on me too. But then I looked at the price tag. I took it right off and put it back. Way too expensive. Next time I’m looking at the price first…
After two similar shopping trips I ended up with two shirts and two skirts. But what really changed is that I went shopping for accessories for the first time in my life. I mean, I have some jewelry, but I never wore any of it, and most of what I had was more appropriate for special occasions, not casual wear. I bought 4 or 5 necklaces and some earrings. Even though they were cheep, they don’t look cheep, and when they wear out – well, they were cheep – I’ll just replace them. I also got a few belts, because even though I’ve always been against them, I’m wearing my shirts tucked in now (in a few of my outfits), and that really requires a belt.
Now I have all these accessories – I need a place to store them. I kept them in a drawer and some boxes for a while, but they got all tangled up in each other. So I made a jewelry organizer!
It’s really easy, so I’ll just explain what I did:
1. I got a regular cork message board, and slipped out the cork and cardboard from the frame.
2. I wrapped fabric around the cork and cardboard and glued it in the back.
3. I added a ribbon about a 1/4 of the way down from the top and glued it to the back.
4. I slipped the wrapped cork and cardboard back into the frame.
5. I painted the frame black to match my fabric.
6. I took a nail and made holes where I wanted my hooks to go, and then opened jewelry making rings to make hooks, You could use small screws or screw in hooks if you want, I just happened to have these lying around so I decided to use them.
7. Hang it up!
