Love, Lydia - Notes from a geeky, plus sized artist.: shopping
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts

Monday, October 5, 2015

Travel 101: Flights

Hi folks,

First off I want to let you all know upfront that I'm just covering domestic travel in the USA. Someday I might do an international post, I think I might have to go renew my passport before that!

Just after touching down in Salt Lake City, UT

Flights

Google

The number one way to travel distances along with being generally the most costly.  If I'm trying to plan a plane trip I always start by visiting Google's Flight Matrix.  (Originally created by a company called ITA software as an independent flight tool, meaning it's programing offers unbiased information allowing you all the facts to choose what's best for you.)  It searches all the Airlines, minus Southwest (They don't let anyone except their own site publish fare information.) and has an easy system allowing many different search options.
Search Options Include:

  • Round Trip, One Way, and Multi-City
  • Multiple Airports for each destination
  • Economy, Premium Economy, Business, and First Class flights
  • Number of Passengers
  • Number of Stops
  • Price
  • Airline
  • Time of Day
  • Flight Duration
Other cool features include a map where you can choose your departure city and hover over other cities to find interesting and unexpected deals on destinations around the world.  Though if you look internationally please know that there will be some airlines omitted from listings, similar to Southwest.

Using your own location there are prices for popular destinations further down the main page, as well as access to your two most recent searches.  Plus once you've started a search you can open a calendar and compare prices for different dates with no limits on what you can search except what airlines have published.

Flying over the city of Roanoke, VA

Southwest

If Southwest flies to and from the destinations you need I would always check their prices, they're often very close to the competition, sometimes a bit more expensive, other a bargain.  But the big draws of Southwest are free checked bags, and free changes to flights.  On the other hand all their planes have narrow seats, only 17" in width, and they have at times been discriminatory towards larger customers (though after a few well publicized events this now happens much less frequently).

Seat Guru

SeatGuru is the third website I might turn to while planning.  Once you've narrowed down your flight options it can help you choose between similar flights if being comfortable is one of your concerns.  You can input information for each flight you're evaluating and see a map of the plane, measurements for the seats and legroom too.

If you're like me and larger sized you may even want to start with SeatGuru to figure out which airlines you prefer.  The seat sizes and pitch of the seats (legroom) vary by the model of plane and each particular airline.  There are comparison charts organized by short and long haul flights and ticket class.  They also list amenities such as video screens (including type whether it's overhead, seat back, or on-demand), if laptop power is available and whether it's AC or DC current, and if there's WiFi available.  And you can sort the chart by whichever category is important to you.  

Leaving Atlanta, GA, Delta's hub city.

Other Tidbits

Beyond the three resources above note that flying on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday will get you the cheapest ticket.  Additionally book 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 months in advance of your trip usually yields the best price on fare.  The only exception is the week before and after Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.  Around those holidays it's best to get the flight 3-4 months in advance because they fill up faster.

I should note that I no longer book on sites like Orbitz, Priceline, or Travelocity.  They sell third party bookings and your flight isn't 100% guaranteed because if they're overbooked you will be the first to be cut and put on standby.  No one wants that!  So I check the prices on Google and Southwest, and buy directly from the airline when I know which flight I want.

If you think you might be spending some time in an airport for a layover or as you wait for your initial flight you may want to research the airport in advance.  It may make the choice for you if there are several layover airports to choose from and one airport is particularly pleasant when the other choice is in need of updating.  I look for three things when I visit an airport website:
  1. Free WiFi, you really want then to have this if you'll be stuck there for 4 hours, if not bring a good book.
  2. A map of the airport, if it's a larger airport you may even want to have a printed map handy.  Knowing how to get from terminal A over the D might be further than you think!
  3. Know what food is there.  If you need to eat in an airport it's nice to know how many or few options there may be.  Some airports are delightful, and some just sad.  I like knowing in advance so I can choose something that's healthier or that will hit the spot after a long day.

Finally on the day of my flight I like to make sure I have a change of clothes in my carry on if I have a checked bag, just in case luggage gets lost.  I try to print my ticket in advance if possible, or allow plenty of time to be in line to print it at the airport and check any bags.  Do you think I left something out?  Let me know in the comments!

Love,
Lydia

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Capsule Wardrobe Woes

Hi friends,

This week has been a busy one for me.  And maybe it's just the season, but it seems like I've got more on my plate and mostly that's great.  I'm finding myself able to deal with more stress and getting better organized too.  I finally found a planner to carry with me that I really love too!  I heard of it though Scruffy-Little Nerdherder's Blog and I can't wait to get it in the mail from Ruskerville's Etsy shop!  This is the planner I went with:


I love it because not only is it awesomely Harry Potter themed, with quotes and lovely details put into it, (and Ravenclaw!!) but it also consists of just monthly calendar pages and notes (he makes other kinds with days too).  I find that looking at a whole month is much easier for me than trying to do things day by day.  Which might sound a little funny, but I think it's because I'm detail oriented enough that it makes me crazy to try planning every second of my day.  Plus all the times I've tried to plan out my days I feel discouraged because they never go as planned anyway and I feel doomed to fail before I even start if it feels too busy.

Capsule Wardrobe Woes

Anyway, I wanted to start off this post with something more positive because I can't help but feel like I'm going to be more negative than I'd like as I assess the failings for my fall capsule wardrobe.   (Which you can take a peek at here!)  Maybe it will turn out to be in your advantage that things haven't worked as well.  So, the biggest problem I've had is with my tops.  I feel like I don't have enough variety or perhaps enough flexibility with them.  I think going forward than means I need to have a couple more basic pieces, which is something I managed to do much better in my summer capsule wardrobe.  Here's a quick comparison:

                                              Tops                 Layering                   Bottoms
Summer                                14                      3                               11
Fall                                        16                      3                               10

As you can see things look pretty good if we're going by the numbers.  But let's break this down some more and see if we can make sense of it.  Of the 16 tops 3 can only be worn in colder weather.  So that puts me at 13 tops the can be worn and layered.  I've found that this layering piece from Forever21 really only works with 4 of my tops, and it's not very useful.


So it will be one of my first pieces to go up on Poshmark! (an app/site for buying and selling new and gently used clothing)  I'll be replacing it with this Old Navy Perfect Henley:



My other problem, which doesn't feel so bad, but is still in need of change is that I added these corduroy Toms to my capsule wardrobe without first checking to see if they fit properly.  *facepalm*  They don't fit me, they're a half size too small and will be finding a new home via Poshmark!


So I'm left without a sneaker or other warm shoe other than boots.  And boots aren't for everything....plus as much as I now love my boots I don't want to wear them out too fast.  I think I'll be replacing the Toms with some Converse Chuck Taylors in purple as my first Purchase on Poshmark.

I'm hoping the one new top will make all the difference, but I think in some ways my problem is simply the wild weather here in North Carolina.  I may reconsider this later, but right now I feel like I could-

  1. Have smaller summer and winter capsules, and larger fall and spring ones, rather than the typical capsule.
  2. Try my changeovers at a different time, so that summer might be July-September, fall October-December, winter January-March, and spring April-June.
  3. Have two main capsules and two mini transitional ones.  Summer would be in use April-September, and winter October-March.  The mini wardrobes would be laying pieces and pants in fall, and tanks and shorts in spring.
For now I'll still be planning my winter capsule wardrobe to start in December, and I may do a whole year before trying to change my methods.  My problem may be that I have too many unique pieces less suitable for laying.  If so spending a whole year on this project will help me cull them at least.  I'm really not sure what I'll end up doing, but writing down my options allows you all to give feedback if you have any ideas.  So please feel free to send any tips my way!

Love,
Lydia

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Unboxing Fun

Hi everyone,

So today I'm going to do a bit of a beauty post.  I love the concept of getting curated boxes in the mail, and I've tried a bunch of different ones over the last two years.  I've done art supplies, snack, and some of my favorites are beauty boxes.  I really enjoy these kinds of boxes because for beauty items Bryan gets bored if he goes shopping with me, and I don't really want to drag him out to specialty stores like Ulta, Sephora, and the like to make it even worse.  Additionally I'm not always sure what to try, so trying a bunch of smaller samples can be great for someone like me since I don't usually wear a lot of makeup in the first place.

It's not because I don't enjoy wearing makeup, but mostly because I'm really pale so foundation and concealer are near impossible to find.  I once tried to get makeup from MAC, but everything they made was just a shade or two too dark and probably oxidized on my skin before I left the mall.  Not that I even knew it could oxidize, I thought it was just different in the sunlight than under artificial lights, and maybe I was right.  It's been to long to know for sure.  Plus my skin is rather sensitive, so that's another thing to work around.  But with beauty boxes most of the items are less skin focused other than general skin care.

Without further ado let's get on with the unboxing!

The first box I want to share with you all is this month's Glossybox.  The advantages of Glossybox are getting 5 (usually full size, if not travel size) items each month for $21.  I find they're usually very good about picking things I would enjoy, and the more I fill out surveys the better my boxes are!  Their products are also premium quality, mostly items that are found in specialty beauty stores, with some exceptions.


This lovely box comes packed inside a more sturdy shipping box.


Inside there's a product explanation and use sheet, and sometimes a coupon or other fun item of some sort.

In this box I received Emite blush in shade 108 (it came damaged, so I contacted Glossybox and they gave me my choice of a new item, pictured later below, since they had run out of the blush.  I was actually happier about this because the blush was too dark for my skin anyway, which was a first for Glossybox items.), 12 Benefits Love At First Lather Shampoo, Biossanse Revitalizer serum, Nails Inc Uptown Nail Polish, and Julep's Luxe Up Your Lips in Sheer Pink.  Here's what the information card was like folded open:



It has a ton of great info, I love how detailed it is and often refer back to it if I'm unsure of anything.


I was excited to get this because I really love lip products, and Julep makes very good ones, which you'll see more of later.


And this is the item I chose to replace the Emite blush, Nexxus Color Assure Shampoo.  This is actually a size larger than what I'll be getting, but I received one a few months back and realized how well it worked on my brightly dyed hair and made the switch.  I was using Herbal Essences Color Me Happy, which smells great, but doesn't work half as well as this!  If you use more temporary colored dyes in bright shades like me I highly recommend it!  This full size bottle can be found for about $14 at Kroger or other grocery stores (they recently had an online coupon for $3 off) or on Amazon too◊.  If you like the sounds of Glossbox I feel it's definitely worth a try.  If you do join I'd love it if you could use this link to tell them I sent you!

Next up is the Julep Maven Program's Jule Box

This is how it comes in the mail, a bit simpler than some boxes, but packed quite safely.  It's my favorite beauty box for several reasons. 1 you can skip a month anytime you want, for as many month as you want.  It's perfect for someone on a budget.  2. There are two box options, one gets you the monthly curated selections for your chosen profile for $20, which sometimes allows you to select a color for certain items like lip or eye color.  Or you can pay $5 more and get to choose from about 100 different options for your box contents, usually ending up with 3 items, plus any add ons you might choose at a discounted price.  3. They specialize in nail polish!  I may not be super when it comes to makeup, but with my nails I really try to be on point and keep them beautiful.  So this is the perfect box for me!  But if you only want a little nail polish that's ok too, they usually have boxes with both things and at least one with just makeup too!



When you open up the box it's got recyclable paper packing material inside, your items, plus a monthly card highlighting the items and sometimes a technique related to some of them, and sometimes an additional goodie or coupon.  In this box I got a Plush Pout lip crayon in Magenta Plum Creme, and 3 nail polishes, one of which was an add on item.


It looks pretty dark, and I was a little scared it wouldn't suit me when I pulled it out, but as you can see below it's a great color for me!


This month's card has a couple lip techniques plus how to get the dewy look.  And yes, feel free to use that code if you're already a Julep member, but if you're not keep scrolling down because there's a better deal for new members below.


Here are the three nail polishes.  Julep names their polish colors after women, so these colors are Ellis, Delores, and Lydia!  They're really beautiful shades with Eliis being a soft pinkish lavender with silver undertones from the holographic qualities.  It doesn't come off like glitter polish does, but is much easier to remove, which I love!  Delores is also a holographic with a purple and silver finish.  And finally Lydia (yay after 2 years they finally made my name a color!) is a pyrite metallic that shifts between old gold, olive, and brass tones and has a stardust finish.  Julep's stardust finishes are highly textured, with a little less shine, but a bit more glitter mixed in.  They dry really well and there's an example below too.



Here we have Delores on my toenails.


And on my hands I've got Glam Roc a purple black stardust finish, to give you some idea of the level of shine it gets.

  
And here you can see swatches of each color, Delores, Ellis, and Lydia.  Their polishes are free of the 5 big toxic components that have been traditionally used in nail polishes.  And the quality of their polish is amazing.  Without a top or bast coat they last about 3-4 days without chipping, and with the base and top coasts I usually go a week without chipping.  If you use this affiliate link you can get a great deal on your first box◊!  And after that you can skip as many months as you want, though if you do buy anything they do pass a $15 credit on to me, and you can get the same for referring your friend, who can also get free boxes.  There is really nothing to lose in trying this box out, which makes me love it more.  And no, I don't get paid to say anything about the content of this post, just normal customer rewards programs, which you all can take or leave as you wish.

And for those of you who aren't as interested in this type of post, don't worry, I plan to only do one per month of this sort, and I'll be rotating through some other boxes, so perhaps another one may suit your interests better!  Next month I'll show you the goodies I get in my trial of Japan Crate, a box with over a pound of Japanese snacks.  I'll see you all Wednesday for a new book review and more.

Love,
Lydia

Friday, September 18, 2015

All About Color

Hi friends,

Today I have a couple of outfits to share, plus I wanted to talk a bit about color.

Pantone's Fall 2015 Colors


Pantone, a design company whose work revolves around color releases apparel color trend reports for each season.  And I wanted to show you all the one they created for fall.  They call it Fall 2015's "An Evolving Color Landscape"  They basically try to predict what colors will be popular in a given season, and honestly at this point they are some of the people who are setting the color trends because they're so widely viewed.  Over the last few seasons Pantone has noted a trend for men's and women's clothing to use the same color palette, meaning that sometimes colors don't have to feel feminine or masculine because they're using more muted colors overall.

I think it's interesting to look at what they choose and compare it to the colors I wear and also look at it in light of various skintones.  For example, I'm a cool skin tone, my skin has a lot of pinks and blue shades in it so I tend to wear cool or neutral colored clothing.  Those with warmer skin tones have yellow, tan and rich brown shades, some folks are more in the middle with no obvious yellow or blue tones, but they might have olive or green undertones and they can wear many colors well with their base being in neutrals most often.  You can check by looking at the veins on your wrist what you skin tone might be, and you can find out more about this on Pinterest too by searching cool, warm or neutral tone clothing colors.


Personally I can't wear all the colors on this wheel, and maybe you can't either, it depends on skintone as we discussed above.  My personal favorites are 3 Amethyst Orchid and 6 Biscay Bay.  However the ones I definitely can't wear are 9 Oak Buff and 10 Cadmium Orange.  They're very warm and are shades it's hard to influence with surrounding colors to look cool.  Because yes, you can surround one color with another and the lesser color will seem to change in appearance because of what it's next to.  In fact, 7 Desert Sage is the perfect example of this.  Let's take a look:


Reflecting Pond makes Desert sage look nice and cool as it we were preparing for a storm, now let's make it look warm.


Well look at that, now that Desert Sage resembles nice warm sand when it's put beside Cadmium Orange.  Color is magical you guys!  Want to have your mind blown again?  Scroll back up to the color palette.  The text describing each word looks like it's the same color shown in the big circles right?  Nope, it's actually the color shown in the smaller circle, a darkened version of the real color that I made because the white background changes how we perceive small amounts of color on a mainly white background.  The text color works the same way as the small squares of the Desert Sage do.  Because you're only seeing a small amount of color it's influenced by the main color taking up so much more space.  So if you want to make a neutral look warmer or cooler just pair it off with A brighter color, B a greater amount of that bright color, and C if you can place the neutral in the middle of the brighter color rather than at the edge of it.  All of these will help change your neutrals into colors that you can make look just a bit different when you need a "new" look from old clothes.

Hopefully you all enjoyed this, and if you'd like to learn more about how to manipulate and pair colors let me know in the comments and I may come back to this subject again soon.  I really love talking about color, and when I went to art school we spent a year in one class completed devoted to learning to use color in ways like this.  I'd love to share more with you all.

And Now the Outfits!


Tunic - Isabel+Alice/Gwynnie Bee, Necklace - The Rafiki Foundation, Leggings - Target, Flats - Torrid


 The Rafiki Foundation is a Christian organization that works in Africa providing homes, medical  and educational services to orphans, training to teachers, and helps widows in the community learn various crafts to support themselves.  Their end goal is training communities for a better standard of living that's sustainable and entirely run by the community members themselves.  The widows there make jewelry, bags, clothing, baskets, and home items and then teach others what they've learned.  I heard of them through the church my family went to when I was growing up and love how passionate they are for the work they are doing.

Tunic - Isabel+Alice/Gwynnie Bee, Necklace - The Rafiki Foundation, Jeans - Lane Bryant, Boots - Trendsetter/Hushpuppies 
I'm reading one of the selections for Fight or Flight Comics (My local comic book store! Raleigh, NC) "Word Balloons" discussion group.  Bryan snapped this shot of me last week when we stopped by the store, and tomorrow we'll me up for the discussion group.  I'll tell you all about what I think of the 3 books we're reading by reviewing them next week!
Finally a nice cool day with perfect coffee drinking, flannel wearing weather!  Mug - Mesa Verde National Park, Flannel Shirt - Walmart, Doctor Who/Harry Potter Tee - Once Upon a Tee, Jeans - Lane Bryant, Flats - Torrid
I really love that mug, I got it when my friend Holly and I were on a road trip and visited Mesa Verde National Park.  The designs are from Mimbres tribal designs that originate from the cliff dwellers that used to live at the Mesa Verde site.  You can get a better look at it here◊, I have the one with the quail design, but they're all really lovely!  I had just been studying Mimbres and other Native American pottery the semester before our trip, so I was thrilled to find a keepsake with one of the designs on it.

Top - Forever 21, Necklace - Forever 21, Shorts, Levis/Amazon, Flats - Torrid



9th Doctor Dress - Her Universe, Leggings Target, Boots Trendstter
And lastly here's a peek into my bedroom.  My husband was sweet enough to let me get this big shoe rack so I could store my shoes more easily.  I love having them all visible and it allowed my to go through them all one final time and everything else is going to be donated or sold!  I'm so glad, I was hanging on to shoes I had from 15 years ago, and shoes that didn't even fit me well.  Speaking of things selling my Thred Up order was processed and if you'd like to see the items they accepted (about 1/2-2/3 of what I sent) you can have a peek here and maybe even catch a sale if you like what you see.  (Thred Up is an online consignment shop to buy and sell clothes from, you can get $20 off your first purchase from this link if you want to check them out)  I found that the good stuff goes fast, and you can hold items in your cart for up to a day (thought admins may remove them in some cases).  So you can put some things in your cart that you like, do something in another window, and reload the first page of new items and find new things every 10-15 minutes.  This works especially well if you shop in the evening.  And since I had some credit I did buy a couple of things!  I'm nervous to see how they work out, but will let you know.  Let me know what you think.



Let me know what you think of this batch of Pantone colors in the comments.  Anyhow, that's all for today ladies and gentlemen, thanks for stopping by, and I will see you next week!

Love,
Lydia

Saturday, September 5, 2015

My Fall 2015 Capsule Wardrobe

Hi friends!

I'm super excited to share what I've designed to wear this fall.  Some things I thought as I was planning ended up different than I thought when I laid things out, like my balance of colors and some of my numbers.  I've also decided to have 2 flex items, how it works is they will be in my wardrobe and suitable for mostly summer weather, when it gets too cold for them I'll switch something else in that has the same purpose.  Once I switch it I can't take it back and the item goes into the box of my summer clothes, not to be seen again until spring or summer.  I'm doing this because I'm nervous about how the weather changes will impact what I can wear and I'm not totally sure what I'm doing since this is my first capsule that has any dramatic seasonal change.

So for anyone new a capsule wardrobe is a planned set of seasonal clothes (usually 30-37 pieces per season), that helps you focus on your personal style, not overspending, wearing all of what you own regularly, and getting rid of clothes that don't fit or work well for you.  In the end there's less fuss when you get dressed each day because things work well together, you can experiment more knowing things will pair well together.  It also clears out space if like me you end up with more than you wear and also hold on to things that don't fit.

Now on to the capsule wardobe pictures!



As you can see my colors changed from what I assumed last week before I laid everything out together and sorted through to get my final picks.

1 -  Old Navy ruffle henley tee
2  -  Once Upon a Tee "The Witch in the Fireplace" tee (Doctor Who/Harry Potter mashup)
3  -  Target/Pure Energy V neck sweater
4  -  Torrid Wonder Woman tee
5  -  Target/Mossimo Supply Co feather stripe, V neck tee


6  -  Forever 21+ navy cold shoulder top
7  -  Forever 21+ berry stripe crochet cardigan
8  -  Walmart/Ocean Pacific ruched top with sleeve ties
9  -  Forever 21+ cowl neck, 3/4 sleeve striped sweater
10  -  Anthropologie/T. La olive roll sleeve pocket tee
11  -  City Chic purple bubble hem camisole top
12  -  Torrid chiffon dragonfly print tank
13  -  Target/Merona purple lace sleeve top
14  -  Switchfoot band tee



15  - Target/Pure Energy charcoal lace back hoodie16  -  Forever 21+ indigo striped, 3/4 sleeve, shoulder button top
17  -  Gwynnie Bee/Isabel+Alice assymetrical tunic tank
18  -  Walmart/Faded Glory blue plaid flannel button down shirt
19  -  Maurice's olive and pink military jacket
20  -  Target/Merona olive button skirt
21  -  Amazon/Levis light wash roll cuff shorts
22  -  Amazon/Levis dark wash roll cuff shorts
23  -  Torrid floral print A line skirt



24  -  Her Universe, 9th Doctor dress
25  - Target/Mossimo Supply Co grey leggings
26  -  Cherry Velvet, Paige dress in blue floral



27  -  Lane Bryant, Genius Fit skinny jeans
28  -  Macy's/Style & co olive roll up utility pant
29  -  Dress Barn Woman floral palazzo pant



30  -  Torrid skinny jean
31  -  Torrid brown faux suede ballet flat
32  -  Modcloth/ H.G. Bass floral platform olive sandal
33  -  Torrid zip ankle, embellished skinny jean



34  -  Hushpuppies/Trendsetters black with wood ankle boot
35  -  Payless/American Eagle blue twist ballet flat
36  -  Old Navy indigo paisley flip flops
37  -  Toms pomegranate corduroy classic slip ons

Whew! Tell me what you think of my selections and let me know if I missed anything I should have on my list.  Normally I would have some Converse shoes but when I tried on the pair that I'd set aside for this capsule I found they didn't fit me correctly.  I may buy new ones for my winter capsule since I really love them.

Lastly, I have some news! With the addition of the new banner above my blog makeover is nearly complete.  Feedback is welcome of course!

I have also established a Facebook page where you can follow my posts more easily, you can find it here - http://www.facebook.com/lydiasdesignsblog

And finally there's a poll below I'd love you all to answer!  Thanks, and I'll see you Monday.

Love,
Lydia

What do you think about bloggers making money from their blogs?

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Any way they earn money is great as long as they're upfront about it and not preachy.
I don't mind ads in the sidebar or between posts.
I don't mind items or stores being promoted in posts.
I would prefer a page that lists the items and stores a blogger likes for long term reference.
I don't want to feel like a blogger has ads, just a link to recommended items or stores when relevant to a post.
I don't want to see anything that looks like an ad.
I don't want to see ads and I don't think bloggers should earn money from their blogs.
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Saturday, August 29, 2015

Making My Second Capsule Wardrobe

Hi folks,

So this week I've been putting together my capsule wardrobe for fall.  This has mostly involved going through my clothes that I wasn't sure about, or hadn't unpacked in a long time.  I think all said and done I have kept about 1/3 of all the clothing I originally had before moving in May.  Mostly that's consisted of things that just didn't fit right or I didn't like as much as I thought.  Back in June I sent off two boxes of clothes to Goodwill.  Now I have this sitting in my bedroom:


The basket contents are the more visibly worn items, headed to Goodwill, the small box is all shoes in good condition, and the bog box is all the nicer clothes.  The nicer things and shoes will be sent off to Thred Up, an online consignment store I think I've mentioned before.  They give you a bag to mail your items to them, they buy the best of them, and you can buy new clothing with the credit. They only take items that are on trend an in like new condition, which hopefully will get me a good amount of credit towards pieces I might need in my winter and spring capsules.  This is my first time using their site, though I've done some browsing and really like many items I've seen for sale.  If you'd like to check them out you can use the link above to get $20 off your first order!

Tuesday is when I'm aiming to have my fall wardrobe fully picked out and ready to wear, then I'll be sharing more with you all about it next week.  I've be spending the past few days trying to photograph what I'm keeping or find better photos online so when I compile everything people can understand all the little details.

I wanted to show you what process I've been using beyond simply trying everything and tossing whatever doesn't fit.  I found this tool at Unfancy to help plan a wardrobe, and I've been using it to help me as I progress to choosing my items to include for fall.  I feel like fall is a lot harder to plan for since weather can be so different from early Septembers 90 degree weather to late November when I could be cold enough for snow (though it's very uncommon to get snow it's no usual to be that cold).  However, we won't get the true bite of winter until further into the season, so I'm leaning towards not including my wool coat, but having more flexible layering pieces and my lighter weight jacket instead.  Here's a peek at my planner sheets so you can get a feel for how it works:





Of my summer capsule I should note that I never wore these items:
 

I actually really like all three items, but didn't find as many occasions for wearing them since they're more formal.  I don't think I'm going to pass them on yet, though I'm debating about the dress.  I also had several items I didn't wear much and plan to cycle out (geometric top, and black tank with sheer details.  You can read about my first capsule for summer 2015 here and see all of what I picked.




The color scheme above is tentative, but quite likely what I will go with.  I'm at the stage now where I'm starting to pull my pieces and hang them together in my closet to see how the colors and styles work together.  I want to make sure the pieces are versatile for combining and not too many prints vs solid items.

When I made my first capsule I didn't know there was a planner, so I just looked at what other people were doing and came up with a list of how many of each piece I might need.  This worked fairly well as a simple way of planning, and I used that as my way of approximating in my planner above too.

This time around I've also included a flex item, which is something I didn't officially do before.  It might end up being the colored jeans as I get further into fall if I can find a pair and for now I may add an extra summer shirt since 8 hot weather appropriate tops makes it harder to have a little leeway between laundry days.  I know this will also be something that will change the feel of my capsule since I will be more limited in selection at first than I was during the summer capsule.  Additionally I am not including accessories like bags or scarves in my capsule, though I aim to have 3 of each that will work with the capsule selections, and will likely limit myself to those.

It's a lot to think about, but a couple days of thought means I'll have a solid set of clothing to choose from and have a lot less fuss later.   Honestly I think I'm spending more time now than I will in the future because it's still my first year planning capsule wardrobes, and until I've been through all the seasons I won't really know how things will go.  And the largest chunks of my time are sorting things since I'd been procrastinating about that, and then documenting it all so I have images I usable for my blog.  Fall will be much more minimalist than summer though, and as I sort through things I imagine I'll be sending even more away than I thought.  I can't wait to see how much space I'll have free when I'm done though!

Please let me know if you have any thoughts about my choices or advice to share in the comments below.  I'll see you again Monday!

Love,
Lydia