I Have Too Many Wardrobes: Paring Down Your Clothing

The inevitable result of being a fashion aficionado is that I have found myself with far too many articles of clothing to manage. That said, I’ve recently undertaken the surprisingly difficult pursuit of paring down my wardrobes.

Outfit of the Day: One for the Office, Two for the Show...

It was quite a weekend! Usually I am able to dress up about once a week in frillier fashion because I do try to dress like a normal human being for the office. However, this past week I was able to dress up twice!

Friday

This was a little.. different as an outfit. I dressed up for two different reason. First, I had a large number of deadlines that needed to be met on Friday, so I wanted to dress for battle. Second, I wanted to dress nicely for a play I was attending that evening.

Product Review: The Return of Eat Me Ink Me

I've actually made three Eat Me Ink Me orders over the past several years, but I totally spaced on writing a proper review for the cutsew I purchased from the shop. However, the fact that I was as impressed as I was with my first order and the that I went back for another should tell you that my forgotten second review would have been positive.

About a month ago, I placed my third order for this lovely little skirt.

Source

Make a Wish: Wish Lists and Shopping

I love shopping, but I've started to do it differently in the last several months. Instead of going in broadly, I have started making a wish list.

Why Make a Wist List?

Because it keeps you focused! Having a wish list in mind helps keep me within my budget for clothing and helps keep me from making impulse buys of things I will never use but like to look at. It focuses not only my shopping - when I'm on the hunt for something I can, at times, be single-minded - but my budgeting as well. Do I really need that new black dress? I'd rather spend that money on the thing I've been searching for over the last several months.

Bookish Beauty's Wish List

My wish list at the end of the summer was as follows:

• Green Gingham Skirt
• Plaid Skirt or Sun Dress in Green or Red
• Wool Coat
• Brown Mary Jane Shoes
• Ouji Pants in Brown or Black
• Brown Vest

The pieces in italics are items meant to replace other items that no longer fit properly thanks to weight loss. The piece that is crossed out is the one that I have already managed to find. The list is short and catered almost entirely to the items that will work directly into my wardrobe as it is and into the requirements of my life.

I've tried to keep my list down to things that I could feasibly wear to work. That means nothing costumey and, as tempted as I am by rococo-style OPs, I think that's probably the best way to go about things. The goal here is to get a wardrobe I will wear on a day to day basis, not one stocked with pretty things that gather dust in my closet.

What about you? Are you a focused shopper? If so, what are you on the hunt for right now?

A Scene From My Easter Celebrations

Yesterday I wore Lolita to celebrate Easter. A large part of the reason for this was that I have no other pastel dresses that fit right now, so my pink floral Metamorphose JSK was my only light-colored option. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures; the weekend was too hectic.

While I was at my uncle's house for a family gathering after church (having stripped off my JSK for comfort so that I was wearing my underskirt and blouse), my great aunt turned to me.

My Great Aunt: "Let me see what you're wearing... Do girls really still dress like that?"
My Aunt: "Not really. But Emily does. You should see the dress she had over that earlier; it's so pretty!"

I love that my family has gotten used to me wearing Lolita for special events and that they support my decision. I also love that they've fully accepted my bonkers style as a thing about me. I just felt that was worth sharing in case anyone's reading this blog and wondering if their family will ever accept their style.

Things I Love For Spring

This year, I’m doing a series of posts – one for each season – talking about my essentials for each season of the year. They’re going to be spaced out throughout the year to keep them timely and so you won’t have to read a long string of seasonal favorites posts.

In this edition of "Things I Love...", we're talking about the things I love for spring outfits!

Florals

This is the most obvious springtime wardrobe choice, so I won’t belabor the point. Spring is a time when flowers bloom. Flowers are new life and growth. Flowers are also a classic springtime print. And they’re pretty to boot.

Pastels

Again, pastels for spring are a classic choice. Light colors are delicate and cute.

For me, straight up pastels are out of the question. I look strange in the usual baby pink. For me, spring is a time for dusty shades – gray-blue, peach or rose, sage green. If you’re also not someone who thinks pastels flatter them, this might be a way to get the light, spring-y look without going too terribly bright.

Toile

For some reason, a lot of people don’t actually know what toile is, and that is such a shame because toile is gorgeous. See that print on the leftmost end of the banner above? That’s toile. Toile is a simply colored pattern that usually features images of nature or pastoral scenes. Many of them are dotted with rococo scenes of pretty shepherdesses or young shepherds. Some feature mills or floral scenes.

I love toile. It comes in a lot of colors (generally in cotton). It's light enough to make a great springtime print but richer, darker print colors are available can be coordinated beautifully with darker colors. A navy-on-white toile, for example, looks perfect with touches of navy.

Swiss Dot

I love swiss dot. I really do. It’s a lightweight cotton with a dotted texture. Swiss dot is usually a little bit sheer, so anything made from it either needs to be lined or worn as a layer over something else. But this light and breezy fabric is a lovely choice.

Chiffon

Chiffon! It’s so darn pretty. Long sleeve blouses in chiffon are a great choice for spring because they are warm enough to suit chillier mornings but delicate and breathable for the sunnier days. And this lightweight fabric is just as breezy as swiss dot, so it’s bound to be a springtime favorite of mine.

Do you have any spring essentials that I haven’t mentioned? I’d love to hear about them.