Here's what my spare room (aka closet) has looked like for most of the month.
please excuse the crappy iphone photo!
My neighbors must think I really have a problem! It's my birthday month, so with the extra gift money that's going into my clothing budget, I wanted to add a few high quality pieces to my wardrobe. I wrote this post over at Fashion St. Louis about how buying quality is the best way to avoid impulse buys, and it certainly is. Making a decision about whether a $200 dress is worth it is way more anxiety provoking than whether the $20 dress is worth it. Like with any shopping, most of these pieces just weren't right, and most of it has gone back already. It can certainly be frustrating, because it takes patience to build a wardrobe full of "love" pieces and patience is not my strong suit. I think there's a middle way, with some high pressure decisions and some fun (cheaper) pieces thrown in to add a little variety.
One piece that I included in my picks from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale post and that I loved immediately was this Vince blouse. It's "me", it's simple but an interesting shape, it's black (yes, I'm fine with the fact that this is my staple), it's a beautiful silk, and it can be dressed up or down. For the ultimate high/low pairing, this $275 blouse (of course I didn't pay this much because of the sale) is paired with jeans that cost $3 from a thrift store and $20 wedges from Target. The bag is somewhere in the middle, from Urban Outfitters a few years ago.
How do you guys mix high and low and balance high quality with fun, trendy pieces?
PS I'm going on vacation! I'll be enjoying the fresh mountain air in Boulder, Colorado for the next two weeks, so expect blog posts to slow down quite a bit. Keep in touch by liking the mindful closet facebook page and twitter feed!