Here’s a video of my current closet situation. Yes, I am a spoiled brat with this enormous closet. The entirety of my life before this house, my closets were about 20% of this size and I had to be extra picky about what I kept. Now that I have more room, I can hold on to more items, but I still try to purge and declutter my closet often because it makes it easier to put outfits together.

I like to dress casually, but I still want my outfits to feel simple yet interesting, with visual presence. For me, the best way to do this is by shopping by silhouette. I look at shapes of pieces because that’s how I like to add interest and combine things. So if I’m getting a heel, I want a heel that is SUPER pointy or very rounded, I want each piece to have a voice.

I like sharp v-neck tees because they are more bossy than a quiet round neck tee. I like jeans to have a recognizable shape–be it flare, boot cut, wide leg or skinny. I’m always picking an extreme because I think it’s easier to look finished and have a defined style with fewer pieces when each one has presence.

Here are some of my favorite pieces:

Jeans are my favorite! I love a light wash, I love Levi’s, I love having options of shape, length, and contrast. If I could only have 3 jeans it would be these:

  1. Levis Ribcage Bell: amazing jeans! Just wide enough to feel in style with a tiny flare here and here.
  2. Crop High Rise: I have both the Collett from Anthro and the Amazon version, they are both soft and stretchy and so cute with boots in the cooler months
  3. Flat front (no button or zipper!) high rise flares, STRETCHY!!! On sale $25! These look great on on everyone

I adore sweaters in the fall and winter. About half of mine are V-necks—again, I love the more dramatic silhouette, and they’re so easy to wear on their own or layered. 

  1. Old Navy Brown Wool Blend Slouchy Cardigan: great price, slightly itchy but tolerable
  2. Sezane Angelo Sweater: (I have it in black-currently sold out) this sweater is exquisite, stunning and looks great with jeans or dressed up. The other available colors are lovely. I also have the Stacy in navy and the Angie in teal. Definitely investments.
  3. Free People Cool of The Night Cardi: Perfectly oversized, not itchy at all. I bought mine at Belk and I have both the Ivory and Mocha colors.

When I’m not in jeans, I’m in soft pants. PRAISE. I wear them with cardigans often.

  1. SOMA: High waist high rise pants in Olive (I  have them in black too) great with a tee, cardigan or sweatshirt
  2. Altar’d State super soft wide leg sweatpants: ADORABLE! They feel like Pjs, but I wear them in public!
  3. Old Navy High Waisted Wide Leg smooth pants: super comfy

This graphic is a lie. Yes, the New Balances are a top pick and even the boots on the left, but the duck boots on the right I don’t own. I tried to find something similar to the second hand boots I showed you in the video.

  1. New Balance 327s here and here, my favorite tennis shoe. I buy a pair once a year and have for four years. Sometimes I get the sea salt, sometimes I get the black.
  2. Sorel Duck Boots: waterproof and warm
  3. LL Bean Duck Boots: (similar to the other pair off Sorels I have that are no longer available)

This is that blouse I have five of. I have three silk, (black, white, green) one white lace, and one chambray stripe. It’s so flattering and lays perfectly. It’s not hot and you can layer it under a cardigan and have that feminine lace collar showing. Yes please. 

  1. Sezane Chlo shirt: I have this in multiple colors, black is my favorite. Great alone or for layering, isn’t hot
  2. Spoon Ring: Rings & Bracelets
  3. Lazarus Artisan Goods: Cecilia Tote (I have black and brown, they last forever)

A little over half my wardrobe is secondhand. I love thrifting, but when I’m searching for something specific or trying to replace a favorite piece that’s no longer available (or find it in another color), I turn to ThredUp.

All of those items above I found with a super quick search on ThredUp. 

I searched through my photos and found these images of different outfits, these are from last winter mostly. Notice the silhouettes of my pieces.

Unsure what to wear or how to put your pieces together?

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I love this app because it helps you shop your own closet to create new outfits. It’s not about buying all new clothes, it’s a fresh perspective to help you style what you already own and recognize any gaps and redundancies.

look how cute! I die!

Here’s an example of a suggested outfit and how someone shopped her closet and styled her own pieces in a new way. So fun!

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