I remember about two years ago that I realized that I wasn’t in love with my clothes. I had bought all the clothes that were now sitting in my own closet.  I would see big fashion people purchase items from super cheap stores and look well put together. So I knew that I had the power to change that. But how do you start to have nice clothes? 

I had just finished having my fourth baby, so I had not been looking at the most current styles as much during my pregnancy. I had spent the last decade going up and down in sizes,  going from being  pregnant, to nursing, to pregnant and nursing again. So for the last two to three years I had not been super involved with the fashion world.

I had lots of cute workout outfits because those are stretchy and I can wear them at any stage. But my closet made me kind of go YEEEEEKKK!

So, I cleaned up my closet. I purged of anything that I had not worn for over a year. Including the high school t-shirts and sweaters.

I started doing research on fashion. How to put together outfits, what to combine with what, what style shoes went with what sweaters.

I needed to relearn everything. And I needed big CLOSET MAKEOVER. Fashion had changed so much in a decade. Luckily we also had gone to Paris and Italy recently where the street fashion is absolutely on point and you can finally make sense of how everything should be put together. Because let’s face it, on some websites, I go to buy clothes and I leave more confused and dissatisfied than before.

The first thing I had to figure out, was to set a monthly budget that worked for our family. I knew I didn’t just want to redo my closet from a thrift store and also that I was not going to be done in one day. I wanted to do it right this time. Buy clothes that could last me a life time. I also wanted a minimalist closet. No doubles, no repeats. Lots of staple pieces. 

I also went to work on figuring out what was my style exactly. Which outfits resonated with me and which ones didn’t?

I needed to do it slowly. I also enjoy doing shopping on a monthly basis. It gives me something to look forward to aside from family life. I knew that I didn’t want to have to worry about asking my husband for permission every time I needed to make a purchase, and I don’t like to go into debt for clothes and turn into a shopaholic. I wanted to do it right.

I discussed it with my husband. After we decided which budget I could have I started. I opened a bank account just for my monthly budget where we would place my budget every month.

That budget would include miscellaneous things that most girls want. Nails, eyelashes, hair, wax, facials. Anything girl and mommy time related.

For my personal closet, I told myself I would only purchase the items that I truly loved. If I didn’t love an item I would return it. No questions about it.

I wanted no doubles of anything.

I wanted one sweater in a certain color and style. I would only buy one specific blouse if it was in a current trend.

I went to work on changing that closet of mine.

Let’s face it, fashion can be daunting, there is a reason why there are literally schools and degrees on it.

 

I felt I had some advantage being that I grew up in Italy. Where the news literally trains you on what the latest trends are. 😉

 

I went to work to start making my first purchase.

I looked at many inspiration outfit photos on instagram and Pinterest. I saved my favorite photos by creating an album on my photo app that I could scroll through whenever I needed inspiration. I saved pictures of possible outfits I wanted. I also saved photos of the clothes I liked and planned to buy even later. I would pay attention to the clothes that I already owned in some of the outfits I saw.

 

Then I  made a list of the clothes I didn’t have and wanted to start working towards purchasing. 

I worked on making decisions for my wardrobe while standing in my closet.

I was looking at online inspiration but also constantly checking possible items that I possibly already owned that could work in creating the outfits I liked. 

 

 

 

 

I decided the first thing I often saw women wear that I did not own,  was a BEIGE FUR VEST. I shopped around for that vest for days. I wanted a good quality one, not a cheap one that would turn all scrunched up after a few wears. All of the ones I found looked so cheap. And when I finally found one it was a bit more than I wanted to spend. I made sure I had a coupon for my purchase. I literally sat staring at it for 30 minutes before I clicked the purchase button. I checked my closet to make sure I had some things to wear it with. I made sure it had a good return policy so that I wouldn’t have to pay to ship it back. I am that cheap.

One of the first items I purchased was this white fur vest.

When I got it, I LOVED IT! Finally I got something that I loved. And guess what, it sits in my closet proudly to this day. I wear it every winter and I consider it one of my chic items totally worth buying to complement a minimalist closet.

I wear it with skirts and I wear it on a snowy day sometimes.

I think anyone can work on getting the closet of their dreams. Even if what they wished for is a super expensive purse.

 

Set up a budget, and save your money monthly until you have enough money monthly to buy what you love. Calculate how long it will take you. If it’s going to take too long, reevaluate. Is it worth it to you the wait? If you can’t wait for it maybe it’s because you don’t want it badly enough. Maybe you need to start by purchasing a used one at first.

But don’t give up on what you love by spending your budget on the things that you don’t .

Maybe spend 50% of your budget and save the other 50% for the things you want later on that cost more.

And remember, it’s not about quantity but quality.

If you are going to live on this earth, eventually the years will go by, you want to look back and thank yourself for waiting over the years long enough so that you can buy the things that you truly love.

Once the wait is over, you will thank yourself. You will thank yourself for being patient enough in the moment, so that you can have the things that you truly want later.

And now you get to look back and know that you can finally enjoy the things that you have always longed for!

If you are interested on any ideas for staple items, you can leave a comment below. I can totally put something together for everyone if you want some ideas on where to start.

I love to shop, but I like to do it within reason and I have learned over the years to pace my self so I don’t go crazy and overspend.

PS. I really do still love my white fur vest. I wore it recently as seen in the picture above.