I Drew A Line For You

Good evening. This will be quick but we must announce ze winner! Drum roll si vous plait…The winner is…

Yellow Coat #2!

By about 10 votes, and overall popular demand, I’m going with #2. This was my first inclination, but thanks very very much to those of you who voted and gave input. There will be more important decisions to come.

In celebration of #2′s inauguration into the Perfect Closet project, I blatantly stole this outfit idea off of Pinterest got dressed up and donned it for the occasion. Toby the Wonderdog gives his stamp of approval. What say the rest of you?

Title courtesy of Coldplay – “Yellow”

Now You Could Get With This, or You Could Get With That

Hola! Happy Monday!

So here is the part where I admit that I’m just a bit dismayed with my inability to get going on this project in a lively manner. It will happen, trust. I have lots of fun things in the works, features, giveaways. The gettin’ is just getting going. Believe.

However, I may have mentioned before, how much I want this project to be reader interactive and make this blog a living thing again. So this is also the part where I ask you to be active participants! I am by no means a comment whore, since I personally realize the impracticality of leaving comments on random blogs, to no avail. It seems pointless, I know. That said, I’m introducing a new feature for PHASE ONE of The Perfect Closet Project. And I’m asking for your help.

Welcome to the This or That portion of the blog. This is where I ask your input in deciding what items I should keep or ditch. In many cases, when weeding out extraneous items in one’s wardrobe, we discover that some of the items we own are so similar as to make one or the other unncessary. It’s an easy mistake to make. But to that end, it’s easily corrected and a great way to pare down the old closet. Time for a FACEOFF!

Let’s begin, shall we?

This or That: Yellow Coat Edition

    vs.    

Will this be more exciting if I write it like an epic Shakespearean saga? Gather round, ye! ‘Tis a tale of two fair yellow coats. Both alike in dignity, in fair Denver where we lay our scene. From ancient Candie’s thrift store find, break to new yellowness. Where civil outfitting make civil overcoating that much more difficult.

Okay forget it. I suck at iambic pentameter. Let’s just discuss pros and cons.

Yellow coat #1…

Coat #1 is a fun find, that I once acquired via thrift. It’s a sort of lightweight canvas material. Three quarter sleeves. Worn a handful of times on the previous Closet365 project.

PROS: Cute. Oversized buttons. Light. YELLOW. Flared peplum shape. Name brand.

CONS: Not really warm. Buttons awkwardly. Is missing one button on the right sleeve. Another button coming off on the front (and I rarely can be arsed to repair my items). Wrinkles badly with every wear and doesn’t wash easily to correct this.

Yellow Coat #2…

Coat #2 is a coat I once loved so much that I sold several other favored items to Plato’s closet, so that I might justify it’s purchase according to the Closet365 budget. I felt like a smack addict, the way I lusted after this coat. It is polished cotton bubble trench, with 3/4 peplum sleeves, sash and lining.

PROS: Cute. YELLOW. Nice buttons. Sash. Warm-ish. Can be dressed up or down easily. Washes and wears nicely. More outdoor-friendly than Coat #1.

CONS: Bubble shape does not always lay the way I would like it to and can look cupcakey. (Which is a pro or a con, depending on the day. And also my hair is icky in this picture. But I guess that isn’t the fault of the coat.

So now you get to help me decide. Will it be Coat 1 or 2? Which yellowness should hold a place in The Perfect Closet?

Poll is below. All you have to do is vote, but additional feedback in the comments will be taken into consideration. I will make a final decision and post it within the next 48 hours. Thank you!

Title courtesy of Traphik feat. T-Pain – “Everybody Else”

Talkin’ Bout Hey Boo, How You Do?

Tags

blue beaded necklace, brown belt, brown knot kitten heels, brown pin dot dress, Heavy D & The Boyz

Happy Wednesday!

Well now. I hope everyone is having a good week and also tolerating the slow-goings around here at Closet365. I started my new job yesterday and hope that things will settle into a better routine for life and blogging and all of the things, shortly. Thus far, there is no real rhyme or reason to the posting schedule. Much to my own irritation. We’ll get this though. We will, guys.

Until then, I have managed to put together the first straight up outfit post, to tide you over. Here is one of the dresses that made the first cut. I had fond memories of it from previous runs with it and today proved no different.

You will also have to forgive the fact that I’m repeating items you’ve already seen. I’m hoping that in my year sans blogging, my loyal readers will have forgotten. But in case you’re me and are OCD about these things, my apologies. I promise I own lots more new things that I’ll be showing you as we go along. But if the point of the project is to make the best of the current wardrobe, then I for one, am going to enjoy doing just that.

I like this outfit because I feel it’s rather indicative of where I’ve been with fashion lately and the style I’m moving towards cultivating. In the past, my outfits were very much about bells and whistles. Influenced by the demands of creating something new and different every single day. When the fact is, some of the best outfits are the simple ones. I have become hugely addicted to statement necklaces in the last year, and often, I feel like the best way to wear these pieces is against a more subdued backdrop.

Obviously, there is still some pattern mixing here. And a big ol’ belt. And big sunglasses. So you see? Some things never really change!

Other than that, I got nuthin’. How be ye, readership? What are your thoughts? What would you like to see here at Closet365? What are you reading? Tell me things!

Title courtesy of Heavy D & The Boyz – “Nuttin’ But Love”

So I’ll Be Back For Good Someday

Hey hey hey, guys!

It’s late, and and I’m terribly tired and distracted. Thanks for playing along so far. We’ve made it through the week (And then some. Oops) and now it’s time to wrap this up, so that the whole shebang can get underway. Yippee skippy! Away we go!

PHASE SIX: UTILIZE

To The Type of Ish That We On, We On…

Happy Sunday!

I swear eventually, I am going to hammer all of these out! I suppose the beauty of this new project is that I’m not adhering to such a strict posting schedule. Definitely more conducive to everyday whims. But on the other hand, I’d like to finish this outline for your behalf and then get it started! I’m very anxious to begin the actual project, especially since April is already halfway over. Eep! Okay, let’s do this.

PHASE FIVE: STRATEGIZE

I Wish The Way That I Dressed Was Your Favorite Kind of Style

Good Saturday Morning, people!

First off, my apologies for the delay on this post. It should have been up yesterday, but I was thwarted by a long and exhausting day. I then spent my evening attending to such pressing matters as bathing the dog and finishing up my income tax return. Good stuff. But I do apologize for not getting this posted. Here it is!

PHASE FOUR: OPTIMIZE

Them Hustlas Like My Fashion

Hello friends!

Are you so glad that I’m back and already struggling for unique greetings, with which to commence every post? Yeah. Me neither. Let’s distract ourselves. HEY LOOK UP TOP! I gots me a new banner! I am super excited about this, for several reasons: a) It signals a new era here at Closet365, while still paying homage to the original and b) It just looks totally neat. Thanks and love to my collaborator on this one. We done good.

I don’t know why I’m talking so backwoodsy today. Let’s just move on to the good stuff.

PHASE THREE: DIGITIZE

DIY… Just Meet Me Up in Paradise

And we meet again! They say it takes three days (or is it three weeks?) to form a habit. Getting back into a blogging schedule is taking some getting used to. I’m also in the midst of some more life shake-up. I know. It’s a sickness of mine. But I expect things will calm down in a reasonable amount of time. Which brings us to our next chapter.

PHASE TWO: ORGANIZE

You Start With a Simple Stock of All the Waste

Happy Monday, all! Thank you to those of you who have welcomed me back, so kindly. Returning to this space has been somewhat scary for me, and it’s so nice to see some happy faces upon rejoining the fold.

As promised, I’m about to start outlining my project for you. Let’s hop to it, shall we?

PHASE ONE: MINIMIZE

Shadows of the Mountain, Don’t Tell Them What’s In Store

Tags

black and white optic dress, black knot wedges, Feist, green bauble earrings, green bauble necklace, The Perfect Closet Project

Details, friends. And a new dress that I may or may not have justified buying for the sole purpose of inaugurating a new era….

Welcome to Closet365 2012 Edition: The Perfect Closet Project

You heard correct. The blog is back and there is an entirely new project on the horizon. What is this new venture? Oh, I’m so glad you asked! Because I’ma tell you right now! (The new project does not entail any more or less ghetto slang. You have been informed.)

It is April 8, 2012. In 2010, I sought out to do something I myself wasn’t sure I could do. I spent a year blogging daily and wearing 365 different outfits. When I finished, I was very tired. And a I had A LOT of clothing. Still, I had very little else to show for myself. This blog was then and remains to be a source of pride for me. A body of work in personal style and as a sometimes writer. A chaotic year has passed in between and I sometimes question whether or not it even really happened.

When the project ended, I pondered how I might top it or how I might proceed going forward. I had no answers and so I did nothing instead. I took a fast-paced job and a high-end, intensely corporate clothing store and poured myself into fashion in a different way. But of course, the experience of doing the Closet365 Project has never left me. Which is why I’ve decided to put my experiences to use in a whole new light.

On March 31st, I celebrated my 29th birthday. And as I ponder my goals for entering my 30th year, there are a lot of things I want to accomplish, but the one thing kept coming back to me was my desire to express myself through fashion.

With that in mind, 2012/2013 my attention turns to the closet once again. But this time, I’m looking at it with new and more focused eyes. The original rendition of Closet365 was all about go go go. It didn’t stop. It didn’t pause. It didn’t edit or refine. It didn’t think. It was a wonderful flourish of energy and creativity, but it lacked introspect.

Enter, the new challenge. This year, with the resources I have at hand, and by the grace of this blog, I seek to create The Perfect Closet. Not just in terms of physical space, although that is part of it, but in terms of content and context. I am out to create the perfect closet, but also the perfect wardrobe. One that can not only be revered but enjoyed and utilized.

In keeping with the original 365 challenge, this is about functionality in fashion. About using one’s resources wisely, whether it’s the contents of your wallet or the depth of your inspiration pool. That part of the original intent remains in tact. But for all purposes, this new challenge is about taking it to the next level. About walking the walk and talking the talk. It is about pure personal style and developing a concept that works day in and day out.

This will not be as intensive as the original Closet365 Challenge. It’s about practicality. 2010 frequently found me scrambling to put together an outfit and a blog post. Often to the detriment of actually enjoying the outfits or the occasions they rose to. This time is different. The Perfect Closet Project is…still a project. Yet it’s also a lifestyle. My vision is about creating a wardrobe that works in real-time and can be enjoyed as such.

So how does it work? Well. There’s a plan. There is always a plan. In six phases. Spanning the approximate course of one year. Each day this week, I’ll be outlining a phase of the project as well as donning an outfit that represents that concept. DID SOMEBODY SAY THEME WEEK?! YOU BETCHA! This should give you a better idea of how this is going to work. So stay tuned as I outline the shenanigans this week.

And then the fun begins. I do hope you’ll join me.

Title courtesy of Feist – “The Undiscovered First”