Retirement Remedies: Stretching A Wardrobe, Part II

Week 1 was a success.  I never felt once that I needed anything new.  I had only small adjustments to make.  I wore the chambray colored tee and white jeans to a birthday party. I added a silvery camisole under the shirt.  As much as I love the gray/black/white pearl drop earrings they didn't work at all with the look.  I swapped them out for pearl studs.

I added a jeans jacket to the Chevron Maxi skirt/white tee just as it was pictured.  It was raining and church is generally pretty cool anyway.  I felt very comfortable.

I've been thinking about something and wanted to share it here because I feel it does apply to our wardrobes.  John sort of brought this home to me this past autumn when he found a great sale on a brand of outerwear tee shirts he especially likes.  The best price was for six.  He told me "I don't really like any of the colors except black and navy."  I didn't faint with shock, having been well aware that is what he wears all the time anyway.  I did encourage him to go ahead and order six of each.  I mean, it's a wardrobe staple for him.  Why buy just one?

Well it's true for us, too.  I don't wear a lot of any one color  (tell that to my closet, ha!) but workhorse pieces for me are white tanks, white tees, black pants and jeans.  Why am I buying these one at a time?  I've had them in my wardrobe for years and I might as well have several.  Case in point I just recently went out to buy a fresh white tank.  My old one was just too stained to continue to use.  I promise I would have bought more than one had I not been limited to the single one in my size, which was all the store had to offer.  I'm watching for a sale, and I mean to stock up in future.

Confession time:  I had a lot harder time making up the look alike outfits this week.  In fact, I ended up deleting some of them and working with new looks.  It was work, let me tell you.  The first outfit was easy enough, since I pinned this one because I essentially have these pieces.  From there, it was a slow and tedious process as I eliminated things and added others and tried to figure out just what it was I needed to accomplish the same feel.

So let's see what I can make up for Part II:

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my version lacks the shoes.  And I haven't worn a watch in years. My earrings are pinned to the pocket flap on the left.  

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I'm not sure what sandals I'll wear. My tank is a little dressier than the one above but it does work well with jeans/casual looks.    Confession:  I was reaching for another taupe cardigan and found this one tucked in next to it...with tags still on it!  It's much lighter weight than the other and will likely work well for summer in restaurants or stores that are cool.

*I wore this to church this week.  It was very comfortable and looked nice.  I wore my sequined flip flops which have a silver/taupe/gold mix atop.

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This outfit is a little dark but I have a chiffon blouse in my closet that I've worn once...and this would make good use of that item.  I like that it's casual but makes good use of dressier pieces.

I think I might like to wear my sequined flip flops and tote my straw bag with this outfit, just to lighten up the colors for spring/summer wear.

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I wore this outfit last week and put it together on the run.  It was based on the above use of orange with the chambray shirt.  I wore my blue jeans instead of white jeans, but I felt it all worked well together.  Just ignore the fan used as dressmaker's dummy...

I'll be able to pair this top and accessories with white jeans, just as in the inspiration photo.

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 This is not the inspiration image I thought I had but I'm afraid I can't find the one I drew from.  However, here's my version:

 I really want to use this skirt as much as I can this year.  I wore it about twice last year and that's why I've styled it two ways this go round.  I used a vintage necklace as my accessory this time.  I used the white tank under the taupe cardigan.

Here's my inspiration and my take on the skirt for the second way to wear.

                                                                                 

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Ignore the green scarf with the turquoise shrug.  I will not be wearing that with the skirt, but I will wear the shrug and the turquoise sandals.  I'm not sure yet what accessories I'll wear with this, but I'll likely carry my white bag, which I failed to get a photo of.

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Just a casual outfit really, not in the least dressy, but suitable for say a local festival, or a quick run into our home town.  Coral Tee, blue flowered necklace and jeans.

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I had a green shirt and a navy jacket/cardigan.  I reversed the colors to suit what I have.  I went with the tissue thin cardigan but the navy cotton jacket would work as well.  I'll wear my dark sandals with this outfit.  I do have a straw bag but opted to use my navy/green patterned purse instead.  Either would work well. I love the earrings which are fairly new to me, bought last winter.

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This last outfit is a sort of bonus of multiples.  I used the photo above this one as my inspiration.  As I set it up I recalled that when I bought the shrug, I also bought the white jeans and a pale green sleeveless pullover.  That's whyI've shown this with both white jeans and blue jeans.  It's two looks with just the change of pants.  I do have a green bag to carry with this outfit.