One-Dollar Wonders

Nothing too fancy here; just adding to the log! 

1 - Woodgrain print silk top - $1 at flea market
   - Airport Greeting cardi - Modcloth
   - Free People ruched mini - Nordies
   - Brahmin Vivian Vineyard satchel - Nordies
   - Born pumps - Nordies
   - Madewell cat necklace - Madewell

2/3 - BCBGeneration army jacket (Yep, I removed the lining, and it is mine! The weight and drape are still 100% to my liking though, as Claire predicted, I will need to bring it in to have some raw seams taped). 
   - Michael Stars tank - $1 at flea market
   - Men's belt - flea market
   - Rolled destroyed shorts - $1 at flea market
   - Worishofer sandals... ? And yes, I'm still wearing those crumbly things.

4 - This outfit reminded me a little of a symphony conductor, with his white shirt and tails. :)
   - Cutaway blazer - Modcloth
   - Hi-lo top - local shop
   - Gap denim leggings - Ebay
   - Miista oxfords - YLF Godmothers <3 <3 <3

One of the perils of buying and selling clothing... eventually there will come a time when you want to keep something. 

Had bought this rose gold Muubaa at a really fab price to resell on Ebay and make a quick little profit to put into my clothing fund. But it is much lighter weight than expected, so I slipped it on... 

It would actually be a great topper to wear with my bridesmaid dress in September (outdoor reception at night), and with the cotton lined body and scrunchable sleeves, I can wear it to work, too. It's much less shiny than in the modeled pictures I had seen. 

What do you think? I can shift it over to the "wedding outfit" budget and be good accounting-wise. Thinking of it with plain tops and solid bottoms for work. Maybe my sloans, midi skirts, Boss slacks... 

ETA: Close up on face and a couple styled photos. Nothing too warm, unfortunately, since it's 95 here with no a/c. DH says the color is good... maybe it's not the same in pictures? A la what Angie says about her ability to wear beige as long as it is shiny?

Similar to the rushing seasons thread, I think it is still technically summer in LA, but I'm invoking a Fall vibe anyway. Hopefully the bare legs and arms, along with the short boots, mean I don't look too seasonally inappropriate.

Also wearing a new $2 wrap watch from the flea market... Got extras to sell, so this find actually made me money. ;-) At least that is the girl math standpoint.

Talk about slow to adopt a trend... AJ introduced the forum to this scarf-cum-vest trick 2 years ago, and I just now tried it out. Brilliant! Got a lot of compliments on my new "vest" and revived last year's scarf, which has been languishing due to my warm workplace. 

Something about the pattern of the scarf when worn open like this reminded me of these McQ designs in pic 3, so of course I had to pair the scarf/vest with my citron shell and black skirt. Also? Man, if Nordies sold Worishofers, my worries about meeting my shoe sale requirements might be over, lol. Who knew these would be such eye-catchers?

The tulip hem part of the skirt might be too short for some tastes, but I desperately needed a change from midis, which I've been wearing almost exclusively for about a year now. The mini feels new again, and I figured why not wear it while I still feel comfortable. *shrug*

BR citron shell - BR
gauze scarf - Rack
FP ruched skirt - Nordies
Worishofer sandals - DNA Footwear
Brahmin satchel - Nordies
Nixon watch - flea market
Elizabeth & James sunnies - Nordies

Not hi-low or a shirttail hem like I originally wanted, but this is a non-iron Brooks Bros. Black Fleece that is much much higher quality than ye dress that would not iron. Plus, you know... this one's non-iron. I'm hoping it will look nice with tights and my triple-lace boots come winter, too. I tried them today, but they just stood out way too much on bare legs... they are definitely dark/cold/wintry-vibe boots. 

I'm not sure if this outfit is classic, edgy, 00Noir, preppy, or what. I don't feel overly anything, so maybe that is a good sign that it is a mix of elements and not costumey? Or maybe it just means that I'm still sleepy after celebrating my 2nd anniversary with DH for the last 2 days - Korean BBQ, flea market, movies, and baking a red velvet cake (RVC was our wedding cake but, sadly, our bakery went under and now I have to bake the cake until we find a new one). 

Black Fleece shirt dress - Ebay
Men's belt - flea market
Nine West silver bag - flea market
Nixon watch - Rack
Faux tortie necklace - flea market
Frye Jenna cap toe boots - Amazon

While lusting over everyone's circus striped skirts, I decided to keep enjoying the striped tube skirt I bought last year. Originally purchased to go with my teal Rack uniform, the skirt has proven to go far beyond that and pair with just about anything.

The skirt is pilling and has a couple snags, but in the name of SYC I think it can stretch through the rest of our warm season.

Bonus pic without the jacket at DFS, which is how I ended up after much fluttering about.

Statement pants, statement shoes, statement bag, classic shirt. Really relying a lot on black and white lately, especially since I have more colored pants in my life on the job. I'm feeling like one color per outfit is my limit on many days. 

A coworker today asked if my Jolt jeans were Rag & Bone - yay, look for less! 

Didn't take a close up, but I'm also wearing the cat necklace in pic. 2. 

Brooks Brothers Spago shirt - BB
Men's belt - flea market
Jolt jeans - Marshall's
Brahmin bag - Nordies
Worishofer sandals - DNA
Cat necklace - flea market
Elizabeth & James sunnies - Nordies

Well, I made it all of... two weeks without placing any orders or buying anything new. But I guess the title of this post says it all. o_0

My SYC transgressions from yesterday, per my original plan to return only and not repurchase:

- Exchange: Very sadly returned my Topshop hi-low shirt dress because the fabric will. not. stay. ironed. And I was even willing to iron it rather than steam! Ordered a BB non-iron shirt dress off Ebay for less than half the cost. 

- Exchange: Returned the Modcloth cat dress, as I felt like I was settling for "good enough." I want to hold out for a cat dress that I feel as great about as the Equipment cat shirt. The failure, though, is that I love my Airport Greeting cardi so much that I ordered a duplicate in burgundy. 

- Possible Exchange: Sold an unworn jacket on Ebay and stupidly started browsing utility jackets, thinking I was safe since I hadn't seen one I liked online in a couple years. But then I saw this BCBGeneration version that looks perfect in the pic and says 100% cotton, and it was only available at one retailer. I even called in to ask about the lining material, hoping a poly lining might deter me, but they said it was cotton. With extra $ floating around, I could not help but at least give it a try for something I've waited 15 years for. 

- Finally, I straight-up cracked and ordered the Ara black patent booties after seeing them on Shannon and nursing my sore feet for the Nth week in a row and finding them at an extra 20% off. BUT this literally kept me awake last night, and I emailed the company asking for a cancellation. They are working on it, but they may not be able to stop the process in time. Very small victory for SYC.

So, I came out at a wash monetarily (assuming the Aras can be cancelled), but it is a little bit of a mental disappointment. I wanted to be able to say I could pass up anything this time. Objectively, the first year at a new job is not a great time for a shopping ban, and two of these items will make existing wardrobe items work for work. But still... you know. 

I am not looking for floggings this time around, and I know that I am the one who has to want to do a thing in order to do it. All I can do is reset the X-days-since-last-purchase counter and see if I can beat my previous score.
I hope that, as I iron out the kinks in my wardrobe for on the job comfort and function, the days between orders will gradually increase. 

Words of wisdom and tips welcome - how do you go about changing old habits, editing and re-editing in a new environment, or sticking to a goal?

Not the best photo, but I have been super tired and sleeping in way too much to catch an outfit shot before work. :( 

Once again, comfort was the name of the game today - seems like I always reach for this dress when I wish I could rest at home in my jammies. I keep thinking that work is going to slow down now that NAS is over, but I run around just as much - so very glad I decided to keep these boots! Even my Lucky sandals and Report booties have been killing me lately. 

Michael Michael Kors agate dress - 6pm.com
Airport Greeting cardi - Modcloth
Vintage Shoe Co. Veronica boots - Planetshoes
Nixon watch - $1 at flea market
Nine West bag - flea market

Another post and run - sorry! That's what I get for doing this before work. 

It has been 12 (?) days since my last purchase, and I'm jonesing for sure. I returned almost everything... all the different khakis I tried, a pair of black NAS boots, Topshop tube skirt. Still thinking about the panther dress; not sure on that one. Returns make it easier to eye an army jacket that might actually fit the bill, but I am trying to be good on account of it being tough to wear jackets to work. Part of me wonders if I should still try something I've been looking for for ages, but I have not succumbed yet!

This cardigan is two sizes too big, but it's an item the SAs all got at work, so I'm trying to make it happen. It's a little bit Star Wars worn belted like this, so I wore my Raebot droid necklace and ran with it. 

TTFN!