Happy New Year, fashionable friends! I've missed you! I spent the holidays at a ranch in Texas that didn't have internet (yes folks, internet-less places still exist in this world). Before Winter Break, I had the lofty idea that I would seek-out coffee shops with wifi to update Whitney à la mode. Instead of following through, however, I relaxed in my pajamas while eating delicious food. Do you forgive me? I hope that you will because the waist of my dress pants doesn't feel so forgiving at the moment.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that I popped over to Pasadena, California to watch my Michigan State Spartans win the Rose Bowl! Check-out
this post to recall my extreme Sparty passion.
I've noticed other style bloggers writing about their New Year's resolutions. Since I started this blog to hold myself accountable for dressing more stylishly, I thought that the accountability factor might also hold me to some of my own resolutions. I have lots of goals for myself in 2014 but this is primarily a style blog so I will focus on my fashion resolutions:
1. Create a clothing budget: when I started reading style blogs I went overboard with the spending. I started feeling guilty about this so I put myself on a (mostly successful) spending freeze for October-December. I think that by creating a budget for clothes, I will have a more healthy attitude about buying clothes (as opposed to bingeing and purging) and will be more careful about what I decide to purchase.
2. Only purchase easy, wearable clothing: I don't know about you but the sight of a "Dry Clean" or "Hand Wash" only label fills me with dread. Some of my favorite pieces are high-maintenance items so I'm not promising to rid my closet of these items. I am, however, going to make a conscious effort to read washing directions before I purchase items. I will only purchase high-maintenance items if I absolutely NEED them...if not, it's machine wash only for this girl!
3. No pulling: If an outfit doesn't quite fit correctly, if I have to tug it, yank it, adjust it, retuck it, etc., it is out the door! Sometimes I get an outfit idea that doesn't quite work-out in reality. Often I'm guilty of being too stubborn to give-up on my "brilliant"idea even if I'm uncomfortable all day. From now on, I will refine my wardrobe so that all of my pieces fit well and will only wear outfits that actually work in real life, not just in a picture.
4. Clean out that closet: I have been working on this for a few months now but I have a ways to go! I'm terrible at doing closet purges because I suddenly find myself sentimentally attached to all of my clothes. I have found success, though, in getting rid of two items per week. I find that this method is not as traumatic. I will continue this until I have a closet of purposeful and well fitting items.
5. Dress in a blog-worthy way everyday: I truly wear each and every outfit that I show you. However, you've probably noticed that I don't post every day. There are many days that I just don't feel blog-worthy and a I save my "cute" outfits for picture days. This sort of defeats the purpose of my blog which is to encourage myself to dress more stylishly in real life, not just in blog world. I'm not in a position where I can take pictures every day but that doesn't mean I can't look cute anyways!
So, blog friends, please hold me accountable to these goals! Do you have any style resolutions for yourself? I would love to hear about them!
I'm pretty sure I got the inspiration for this outfit from
Audrey who has this exact same sweater. It follows a pretty simple, go-to outfit formula: button-up + sweater + statement necklace = cute, easy and put together!
What I'm Wearing:
