Me vs. Victoria Beckham

Sorry, but the thought of Me vs. Victoria Beckham has brought an evil smile to my face.

It shouldn’t be there. I should be terrified of the thought. After all, how can I compare to Posh Spice?! I like spicy food and I love posh things (even if I can’t afford them) but that would be about as close a contest as it would get…right?

Actually, this is all about a dress.

The Dress – My Version: Yes, it really is a dress. I know it looks like a tube of fabric with some holes in it. But it’s a dress. Back when I did my 90 day shopping ban followed by the lust-have list and haul, this was one of the items from the haul.

The Dress – Victoria Beckham: Being a lover of classic items and lines, I actually do like many of the dresses by Posh. But you know that I tend to be tight with my money so it’s not likely that I will ever buy one unless I can find it greatly reduced in price. After I bought my dress, I saw this dress by Victoria Beckham, and it made me think of my dress and the similarities.

Hang in there, stick with me, there really are similarities…you just have to look beyond the funny looking tube with the holes in it that I bought!

My Dress – Styled: Once my dress gets sorted out with the collar folded down and the styling completed, you should start to see the similarities. Besides just the colour, my dress can be worn as a cowl neck (the way I prefer to wear it) or the cowl can be slid down over the shoulders and it can be worn with open shoulders. It can even be worn pulled out to the shoulders similar to the Beckham dress. And because of the cut it is a bodycon dress that looks equally well with my brown suede boots or my snake-skin wedge heels.

Styling My Dress: The chain belt came with the dress so I decided to use that as my jumping off point in styling this look. It meant gold accessories and things chain related or inspired. Besides the snake-skin Jessica Simpson wedges, I used a vintage alligator skin handbag, a vintage scarf with a chain print (in the style of vintage Hermes), and the gold statement necklace also from my lust have list.

This look can be changed up by how the neckline is worn but also by changing the accessories. In cooler climates it can be worn with a blazer for work and boots as I mentioned above. It could also be worn with gladiator sandals or little beaded sandals while on holiday. I think I would also like to give it a spin with either my leather jacket or maybe even make it casual with my denim jacket. Once again lots of options…just the way I like it!

So in the contest of Me vs. Victoria Beckham, I think I get the win on this one!

What do you think?

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Fulfilling My Lust Have List – The Haul

Yes, it’s true. The last package has arrived. At last I have fulfilled my dreams and completed shopping for the items on my lust have list.

Oh…um…there may even be a few extra items!

What can I say?! I hadn’t shopped for 90 days!

And I barely went over the $1000 limit I set for myself.

But that is only because I have added shipping costs into my prices. If I took them out I would be under budget.

I’m really excited to share everything with you all and to hear your feedback.

Just as a quick refresher you may remember that my Lust Have List went something like this…

Metal Capped Toe Pumps – $200

Denim Jacket – $100

2 or 3 Dress Shirts/Blouses $200

40s style Dress – $150

Black Handbag – $100

Statement Necklace – $100

Cuff Bracelet – $50

Scarves (multiples) – $100

For a Total of $1000

Well, I did a little better than just getting those 8 items from the list.

If I count all 20-something scarves as one item and don’t include the really cool detachable belt that came with the camel coloured dress, there are 15 items! Almost double the original plan.

When I add in the shipping costs my total came to just under $1030. I think that is pretty impressive for all these great clothes!

Unfortunately, there isn’t a single designer piece in the bunch. But then you didn’t really think I would get Ralph Lauren, Chanel or Prada for this budget. Did you? The really good thing, is that this kind of haul is totally attainable.

If you did follow along with the Lust Have series, you should easily spot some of the lust worthy items now gracing my wardrobe.

Let me know if you want to see me mix specific pieces into my existing wardrobe.

Tomorrow, I’ll share with you what I got and from where I got it. I’ll also tell you how I managed to take in such a great haul and stay on budget. Fulfilling my Lust Have List really wasn’t that hard!

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• Lust Have – The Chanel Handbag (astimegoesbuy.me)
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Mission Impossible – Not So!

I have done it! The Mission Impossible of not shopping for 90 days has turned out to be possible!

At last my 90 days in the wilderness are complete!

Not that I am excited to have survived my 90 days in the wilderness!

Over this past week I have been sharing with you items on my Lust Have List and less expensive options for achieving those looks. Today I will give you the full list and what I have budgeted for each item.

Then if I am able to search out the looks for less that I want I will share those items with you and begin incorporating them into my wardrobe with follow-up posts that include pics.

Of course all of this will occur during the next couple of weeks and on into the next 90 days. As I mentioned before. I have set myself a budget of $1000 to update my wardrobe and find the items on my list after which I will be putting myself into shopping exile again for another 90 days. That will bring me to just before our trip to Spain and then all bets are off!

So, on to the list and the budget…

1. Metal Capped Toe Pumps/Heels – $200 – There is no way I can go through the next 90 days without buying into this trend. As I have said in my post last week about the look – I have to have it!

2. Denim Jacket – $100 – Not sure if I will go for a new jacket that looks vintage or just go vintage. It’s going to depend on the price.

3. A couple of shirts/blouses – colours to look for burgundy, mustard or taupe – $200 – I want some shirts/blouses that are flexible to wear to work or play and work into my wardrobe which is why I have chosen these colours. Plus the burgundy is one of the current must have colours happening in all the fashion magazines. I would like to get at least two new blouses for the $200 but will have to see what I find.

4. 40s style (below the knee) Dress  – $150 – No need to tell you all about this one, you know I love the Miu Miu 40s style dresses and that is what I am looking for. At a much smaller price!

5. Black Handbag – $100 – I know, $100 is not going to get me a Chanel and not likely to get me anything quilted or with a chain, but I need a plain black bag that can get me through to next August when I can make the big purchase of the real thing!

6. A Statement Necklace – $100 – I need something to add a bit of pizzazz to the more plain looks in my wardrobe. As I have a fair few beaded statement pieces and a hammered gold neck cuff, I’ll be looking for something gold and big!

7. The Cuff Bracelet – $50 – I will be looking for something silver because I really don’t have many silver bangles. Well I do have three but they are very thin so I want something big and bold.

8. Scarves – $100 -I know, $100 seems like a lot to be spending on scarves. But after thinking long and hard about how to change-up my wardrobe, and the fact that it is now winter here in the Southern Hemisphere, scarves seemed like a pretty smart investment. I’m hoping to get 4 or 5 good ones on this budget but will take what I can get and go with what I find.

If you were totaling that up, you’ll see that is the $1000 budget!

I’m really hoping that I can do a little better than that and either not spend the whole budget or get a couple of other items that I have been keeping my eye on.

Wish me well and please share any tips you have for where I might find items from my Lust Have list at or near the budget.

How do you think I’ll go? Will I be able to get everything on my list? Or will it be Mission Impossible?

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90 Day Challenge Nearly Complete

This blog started because of a 90 day challenge I set for myself, and that 90 days is nearly complete!

I wanted to get through 90 days without purchasing any items of clothing or accessories. So no shoes, handbags, scarves or jewelry either! I was going to spend 90 days looking at current fashion trends and creating those looks (or my version) from the clothing I already had in my wardrobe. And I thought, why not blog about it. After all, I was going to need something to do with my time since I wouldn’t be heading out to the shops on my days off! That is how As Time Goes, Buy was born.

The first two weeks were hard HARD! All I could think about was going to the shops, looking at my favourite online shops and making a big HUGE list of what I was going to buy when my 90 days in the wilderness were up. All of this was compounded by attending L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival where I fell in love with a number of designers and most of their collection!

However, with time and encouragement from all my new blogosphere friends and followers, I pressed on, determined to make it.

A few weeks ago, I realised I was getting close to being finished with the challenge and actually had mixed feelings. “What would this mean to my shopping habits?”, “Did I really need to go back to shopping the way I had before?”, “What had I learned about myself and my wardrobe during the challenge?”, and “What would this mean to the blog that I actually had become quite fond of?”!!

The answers to those questions, “I don’t want to go back to my old shopping habits, I want to be more thoughtful about what I buy”, “No, I don’t need or want to go back to the old ways”, “This challenge has taught me that I don’t NEED more stuff and that in fact I already have quite a bit. Plus there is more of a challenge in keeping the purchasing to a minimum and making it work than there is in simply going out and buying all the time”.

The last question was the toughest to answer.

But it all boiled down to, “How could I stop it all now”…so I won’t! What I will do, is have a serious look at that big long list of items I wanted and narrow it down to the items I think I really need or want that will add a bit more versatility to my wardrobe and maybe give it a bit more style. I have set myself a budget and will see how much of what I want I am actually able to get. Then I will spend the next 90 days, incorporating those items into my wardrobe, creating new looks and modifying for the change of seasons from winter to the beginning of spring.

Near the end of the next 90 days, the Fashion Mister and I will be spending month in Spain. Where I plan to spend a lot of money shopping at Zara, Loewe‘s and any cool Spanish boutiques I can find!

So in this last week of my first 90 days in the wilderness challenge, I will be blogging about the items that are on my MUST HAVE LUST HAVE list. I have a week to plot how I can get them all for less than $1000.

I’m open to suggestions and advice so please share!

p.s. None of the above wardrobes/closets are mine. Although I would be more than happy to remedy that!

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Vintage Looks – The 3 Cardigans

As we continue our journey through vintage looks from my wardrobe, I wanted to make sure I included the 3 cardigans.

You may have noticed by now, I’m a huge fan of cardigans, vintage or not, I love them! So easy to throw on when you need to keep off the chill or tie a look together, even finish a look with a little polish or professionalism. A cardigan can really give you a classic finish.

These 3 cardigans are particular favourites for all those reasons, as well as they were hard to resist. I think the greenish one was the most expensive of the lot and it cost $7.99! Bargain!!

Vintage Cardigan – Brown with Orange Flecks – If you know me, then you know I fell in love with this cardigan because it has orange flecks in it. Which of course means that it will go with my vast array of orange clothing. I particularly like the cardigan belted over this orange vintage inspired dress. by wearing it with the leopard print shoes it makes a great work look. But lets face it, a cardigan is just as at home on the weekend with a pair of jeans which is another reason to have a great selection of them.

Vintage Cardigan/Jacket – You can better see the colours of this cardigan/jacket in the above pic. I like the black and brown mix but it was the large button/snaps and the almost blazer look of the cardigan that got me to purchase it even though it needed a little stitching around the collar. For under $5 I thought I could take the ten minutes to re-stitch the collar in the two spots where it was a bit loose. For this look I have paired the cardigan with a vintage brown t-shirt ($2 from the Salvation Army) and the brown and black zig-zag print a-line skirt (pattern seen better above) that came from a second-hand shop and cost about$5. To bring it all together I have used a wide brown belt purchased as part of another outfit, brown necklace purchased for $5 while on the Nile in Egypt, my Coach handbag and brown suede boots. The Coach bag was purchased at an outlet store in Southern California 18 months ago for $150 (original price $499) and the boots are about 3 years old, purchased in Melbourne for $300 (1/2 price from $600). So without the handbag and boots the look cost $17. One of the many reasons I love vintage!

Vintage Cardigan goes Romantic – You should remember seeing the furry green cardigan last week when I did the maxi skirt 3 ways. This furry lovely is soooo warm and it makes you feel like you are getting a big cuddle. I also like the colours as they are versatile and can be worn with a wide variety of other colours. Who would have thought pale yellow, olive, aqua and beige could look this nice together. Another Salvation Army find. It’s actually a size too big but that allows me to wear it over a light weight jumper/sweater which doubles the warmth factor. The sleeves are a 3/4 length and even though the cardi is big on me they still don’t hang down and look sloppy.

There are so many cardigan choices when shopping for vintage. I tend to be attracted to those that are just that little bit different or not what you would find in the stores. I also seem to have an attraction to the most granny looking cardigans. When I was shopping with Sarah a couple of weeks ago I pulled out a cardigan that I loved only to see her curl up her face in disgust and say, “I would look like my mother in that,” to which I replied, “I actually like it for me”. She was shocked and horrified. Of course I didn’t buy it but wouldn’t have let her assessment stop me if I was at the end of my shopping break.

What do you think of cardigans? Especially vintage ones? Can you rock the granny cardi?

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Vintage or Modern?

It shouldn’t be difficult to tell if this skirt is vintage or modern. After all, if you have been following the past couple of days you know we are looking at some of my vintage items!

Today I am using this skirt specifically at the request of our stylish friend Paula at dettamoda, because she has a passion for bright colours.

Can you guess which one she requested?!

As much as I love this skirt I have only ever worn it one way. Granted, I have worn it that way many times, but I just don’t seem to have a lot of items that will go with it, so this will be a bit of a challenge.

If you have been reading this blog since the Gypsy Trend you will remember seeing this look before. The only variation on this look I have done in the past is using a red cardigan instead of the red jumper/sweater.

So, I guess we should get started and see what I can find in my wardrobe!

The Fringe of Vintage – One of the things I love about this skirt and the reason I bought it is because of the colours and print. The tangerine, red and pink all used together is such a big trend this season. As you know I am in love with orange, have recently discovered the attitude to wear red and am currently having a girlie crush on bright pink…so this skirt was destined to be mine. For this look I have also used a red fitted tank top, a lacy fringe overlay, and a pair of my beloved orange suede pumps.

Accessories for this look include an orange beaded cuff bracelet, tan & brown tribal inspired clutch and my orange double wrap watch. I also have an orange glass bead necklace made by a friend.

To me this look is fresh and carefree. Good for spring and summer and especially for a weekend!

Vintage Office Brights – Even though this look would work for a fun weekend away, the tailored white shirt keeps it crisp enough to wear to work. I like the ruffled treatment on the shirt that runs up the front and widens at the shoulders which gives it a very modern look. The co-stars of this look are the vintage pink, red and orange scarf, the red suede ankle boots and the bright orange tote (which was free as from L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival). I like that the tote is big enough to throw in a cardigan if the office gets chilly. It’s also plenty big enough to fit your lunch for those days you have to stay in the office.

The scarf is actually very pretty and would look just as lovely tied in your hair or wrapped as a headband. Scarves are such a great way to express some individuality and add colour to your looks. If you have a lot of basics in your wardrobe a scarf can update any look and cover any seasonal trend without costing a fortune.

Vintage Winter Brights – Okay, I know this doesn’t look that much different from the first look…but it is winter here and I do have to create a few looks that I can wear now! Even though it may be hard to tell in this pic, underneath is a pale yellow cashmere jumper/sweater by Ralph Lauren that I wear with everything! On top is a felted red jacket, but a cardigan would work too, and a red necklace purchased on the Nile in Egypt. Then to finish it off I used my tried and true big red Guess bag and well-worn red cowboy boots. What can I say, sometimes you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!

Paula, I hope I didn’t disappoint. This one was much harder for me and my brights challenged wardrobe than it would have been for you!

I have to say that I am really looking forward to warmer weather to wear the look with the white sleeveless shirt…but I may get away with adding a red cardigan this winter if I can’t wait until October!

More vintage from my wardrobe tomorrow. See you then!

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The Vintage Trend – In the Beginning

As I mentioned yesterday, the beginning of my vintage trend once in Australia was the crocodile handbag, so I thought I would use it and the vintage Cue top to get this series started.

Obviously the handbag is TOO stylish! Such a retro profile an in such great condition! How could I have resisted its voice calling to me? And the top, lovely summer top, cut down to there, corset waist to show off the curves, and polka dots! Such a hot trend. I clearly remember that it only cost $10. I’m sure you can understand.

Vintage Summer – Even though we are rugging up because it is so cold here in the Southern Hemisphere, I couldn’t resist using these two lovelies to create a really cute summer look. I have paired the vintage Cue top with my linen Ralph Lauren shorts, the crocodile handbag, long polka-dotted socks, a stack of bracelets, a gold neck cuff and the fiercely heeled hiking boots. Of course these boots weren’t made for hiking! If it were a spring day, I would wear this look with a pair of tights, or even brown fish nets. With the addition of a cream coloured cardigan it can work for spring or autumn.

The Vintage Luncheon – I’ve really gotten the vintage trend going with this look. Again, the vintage Cue shirt and the handbag, this time paired with a vintage brown midi-length skirt purchased from the Salvation Army Thrift Shop for $6.99. I have accessorised with a short strand of vintage pearls, plus a long strand that I have doubled, two vintage gold and pearl necklaces, matching pearl earrings and a vintage pearl bracelet, mostly from my mother and grandmother.

One of the vintage single drop pearl necklaces and the matching earrings were purchased at auction a couple of year ago for $35 and the doubled strand of pearls was purchased in Hong Kong last year for about $40. Besides that one strand of pearls the only thing not vintage are the snake-skin Jessica Simpson wedges purchased at a discount shop in the US for $45. This cute look could be worn for a girls luncheon, to work or even on date night with The Fashion Mister.

The Business of Vintage – The final look using both the Cue and Croc vintage pieces, gets down to business and is a great look for the office. I have used my cream coloured Halston Heritage light-weight wool pants. Although “Heritage” is in the name they are relatively new from Shopbop.com and even on sale at 70% off they weren’t cheap. Over top is a TS jacket purchased from Myer about 7 years ago. I fell in love with the retro look of the print and the mandarin collar. The jacket has had to be altered to fit the newer me. To finish the look are a pair of nude patent leather heels purchased at that same discount shop in the US (honestly can’t remember if it was TJ Maxx or Ross Dress for Less – I know one of them seems to carry more designer stuff), and they were under $50.

Accessories for this look are a large brown beaded necklace on ribbon and a little stack of copper and wire bracelets.  I really like the lime green lining. Just a secret splash of colour!

Don’t you just love the pattern in the jacket?

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Beloved Vintage and Many Midi Trend

If you have been following along over the past couple of months, you know that I love vintage/thrift/op-shop (whatever you choose to call it) finds and they are a beloved part of my personal style.

I’ve never shied away from vintage but as I sold most everything I had before moving to Australia, and lost a lot A LOT of weight over the past few years, most of the vintage in my wardrobe is from the last 5 or 6 years. All in fact, except for my beloved family jewelry that made the trip with me.

When you are a bigger girl, and I don’t just mean bigger in the size marked on your label, but even taller (I am 5’9″ or 176cm and wear a size 9 shoe) there isn’t a lot of really old vintage that fits. So when I was wearing a plus size the only vintage I could get would be handbags and scarves. This brown croc-skin handbag was the first vintage purchase  I made in Australia.

As my size has reduced I have been lucky enough to find a fair few other items. You’ll see that I seem especially drawn to skirts and of the longer midi length, which is very convenient since they are so trendy right now! The brown one with the white zig-zag was the first. The prices on these skirts have ranged from $5 (for the black and white check purchased in the US back in Feb) to $35 for the orange, pink and red one bought at a trendy “vintage” shop. Regardless, they have been great bargains because I wear them all the time. In the spring with wedges and in the winter with boots, they are on high rotation!

In fact, the only one of these items that isn’t on high rotation is the black and pink jacket (best seen in the handbag pic) because other than black or white I don’t have much I can wear it with. I just bought it back in January when it was on sale for $5!! I have a feeling it was the start of my current lust for all things fuchsia/hot pink and if I weren’t on a shopping ban I am certain I would own a number of items that I could wear with this jacket. I liked the print because it made me think a little of some of the vintage Marni prints and because at $5 I couldn’t let it go! I also bought the olive green and blue sweater-dress because it reminded me of a Marni print but I wear it pretty reguarly.

While I have been on this 90 days in the wilderness (shopping break), I have become really focused on the clothes I own, how much I have purchased in the past and even wonder a bit about the life my vintage items led before they came to me. Sometimes I think my lack of shopping has made me a little “mad” and even imagine writing a story about the life of one of my vintage pieces! I just hope I don’t become fully insane before the end of my fast!

Over the next few days I am going to use many of these pieces in the looks that I will share with you all…hopefully even the black and pink jacket will make an appearance or two!

I’ll start tomorrow with this vintage Cue shirt and the handbag.

Any pieces that you want to see specifically?

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1 Skirt x 3 Ways

The idea for this challenge of 1 Skirt x 3 Ways, came from my 7 Looks x 7 Days – LBD Challenge. You’ll remember the mustard coloured skirt I used in Day One of the challenge. Well I love that skirt but don’t seem to wear it very often. So I thought I could challenge myself to pull together 3 new looks using the skirt.

And what better time than the present? Of course I was even more motivated when the Fashion Mister announced that he was taking me out to dinner. You see, it’s the anniversary of the day we met so he brought home a little bouquet of Gerber Daisies and informed me he had made reservations at the restaurant where we had gotten engaged. I know! How sweet! The Fashion Mister is the romantic one in our house and I am lucky to have him!

But…

…what could I wear that was nice? Something that wasn’t the standard or usual go to?

It is winter after all. I mean autumn just sort of took a pass this year and we have gone straight to freezing cold!

Look 1 – Dressy – I’ve been thinking about putting this Glassons jumper/sweater with this skirt for ages and lately I have seen so many hi-low skirts, that are obviously on trend,  so I modified the look to work for me. I don’t think I would buy a hi-low skirt because most of them remind me too much of the “mullet” hair-style that is just so wrong. It looks fantastic on younger women with great legs, but you know I hate my knees so probably not for me. However, I put on a pair of dark mustard coloured short leggings, folded up the hem on one side and then pinned it with a brooch that was my grandmother’s and that I had used in my bridal bouquet on our wedding day. See, the Fashion Mister isn’t the only one that can be romantic! I had to belt the waist of the jumper to give myself some shape and then finished accessorizing with blue, copper and gold bangles.

Look 2 – Winter Warmer – I did mention that it is winter here in the Southern Hemisphere didn’t I? Even though this skirt is light-weight cotton, which is why it flows so nicely, I wanted a look that could be worn in winter. It was easier than I thought! A turquoise colored top, a big fuzzy jumper that I purchased from the Salvation Army Thrift Shop for less than $6.00, tights and my brown suede boots. Add in some jewelry, a belt to give me a waist and the vintage owl necklace from my mum. There you go. Toasty and warm! The colours in the cardigan pull together the mustards and turquoise which make the whole thing work really nicely together. Plus I love all the vintage and thrifted bits to this look. It makes it more eclectic, more me and my style.

Look 3 – Autumn or Spring – This look would work equally well for Autumn or Spring. The colours say autumn (because they are the colours that work best for me), but the fabrics and floral print work well for spring (all soft, flowing and girlie). I decided to mix into the stack of bangles a couple of purple ones to bring out some of the purple in the floral print. The beaded necklace gives it a gypsy chic, boho chic, vibe and the wide brown belt shows off my curves. You can just see the bottom of my massively high cork wedges that just happen to be a perfect mustardy match for the skirt!

So there you go, one fairly inexpensive cotton skirt from Glassons ($25.00 on sale) styled to give me three different looks for three different times of the year or seasons of my life if you will.

Which was your favourite? What else could I do with this skirt to get more from my 1 Skirt x 3 Ways?

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Remodeling Sarah – Wardrobe Revamp – Going Shopping Part 2

I couldn’t do a wardrobe revamp for Sarah and only take her to the Thrift Shops! That just wouldn’t be right. As I mentioned previously, most of her clothes are hand-me-downs from a friend so it was important that we get into some shops that sold new clothes!

However, because she is a busy working mum I wanted to keep it somewhere close to home (I shop in Melbourne all the time – but a 3 hour round trip wasn’t going to work for a mum doing the school drop and pick-up). It was also important that we keep the price reasonable, because most mums can get a case of the guilts when they spend money on themselves.

So after the great thrift shop haul we headed to my two other favourite shops…Target and Glassons.

I have loved Target since my US life and find lots of great basics and some good sale items there. Glassons is a New Zealand based chain who also carry great basics in lots of colours, cardigans, skinny jeans, cute shirts and dresses. Plus another thing about Glassons is they always are bringing in fresh stock, so if you don’t find ten things you like today, come back next week and you will!

One thing we noticed pretty quickly at Target was that they had all their accessories marked down. Sarah went crazy with the costume jewelry! She bought a black and silver beaded necklace, a pink and bronze beaded necklace and several other pieces that would compliment the wardrobe she was building and not one single piece cost more than $10!

She took a few things into the dressing room to try on…black jeans, they were great, she bought them. A lacy pale pink crop top, she originally wanted to try on a size or two bigger but I made her stick to her proper size, good thing she did, she loved it and bought it too! There was a really cool fake fur vest but they only had it in a medium and it looked too big on her so she passed. There was a pair of plaid trousers that looked good on the hanger but with the pleated front and straight legs, they just weren’t flattering as they made Sarah look fat! Trust me, there has to be a lot wrong to make my dear friend look like she has a jelly roll and saddle bags!

The other reject was this striped sweater dress. You can see it looked great on Sarah, that was not the problem. What was, is that she has a grey sweater dress, a red sweater dress and a black and white sweater dress…did she really need to add this one? We decided that she would leave it and if when we finished at Glassons she still wanted it, we would come back…we didn’t go back!

Then on to Glassons. This turquoise colour is a perfect match for Sarah’s eyes. We had collected three different styles all the same colour. Glad to say this dual length shirt with the cut-outs at the front of the shoulders was my pick and ended up going home with Sarah. The colour was perfect, the dual length made it comfortable for her and the fabric meant it could be dressed up or down as Sarah sees fit. She really wanted a pair of white jeans and I talked her int trying on the white skinny jeans. I didn’t win this one. She hated them. Felt too self-conscious about her legs. So we agreed that a white pair of “regular” jeans would be a better option. She tried on another faux fur vest here with better luck in the sizing and found a great pair of light brown ankle boots for less than $50.

Sarah was on a mission to find a white shirt. Even though when I was helping her with the initial Revamp of her wardrobe she had a few. She said that now that she was paying closer attention to her clothes she realised a number of items had stains or were missing buttons so she wanted to replace them. Good thinking was my response!

As we had a mission to find a white shirt and white jeans we went to Myer…no luck there. Any white shirts they had were too much like business shirts and were over a $100. Really not suitable for Sarah’s remodeling. So we found our way to Jeans West were we struck gold on both white articles. Sarah tried on the white bootleg 301 jeans. We went with the bootleg so they wouldn’t be so tight around her calves and would obviously be able to be worn with boots. She liked them…a lot…they were on sale…2 for $100…so she bought some dark brown moleskin ones as well.

The white shirt was just the right amount of dressy and casual which is perfect for Sarah’s lifestyle. She will mostly wear it either over a t-shirt or under a vest, cardigan or jumper/sweater. The sleeves can be rolled up or left down for a more formal look and the best thing…no stains!

Of course with three kids, a dog and 5 acres to look after, not sure how long that will last! At least she knows where she can go to get another one.

Over all it was a pretty successful day. I saw my friend the fashion caterpillar turn into a butterfly, Sarah completed a full on revamp of her wardrobe (with my help) and she spent less than $400 to do it!

I’ll try to catch some update photos in the future if you’re interested.

So, do tell. What do you think? Was this helpful? Did you learn anything? Or is there something that you would have done differently?

I’d love to do more of this! How fun to look through someone else’s wardrobe and then spend their money!

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