So, I have a bit of a dicey question. How much do you spend on clothes? Or on shoes? I’ve been inspired by your columns and am starting to upgrade my wardrobe, but it seems to involve such major investments of cash. I don’t have thousands to spend- I might not even have hundreds to spend during one season. I’m just not sure what the range of reasonable is.

I love this question, because it gets right to the heart of what I believe about having a really functional wardrobe — a working closet, if you will. Having the right clothes isn’t about how much you spend, it’s about how you shop, but shopping costs money, and in this economy, having a strategy for your spending is crucial.

I am hesitant to put a dollar amount on my shopping, or to say that I spend X each month or year. I don’t have a specific shopping budget, nor do I track what I have spent. Instead, I constantly assess and reassess my closet, looking to see what is and isn’t working, and I don’t buy anything that I can’t easily incorporate into my current closet. I keep a running list of pieces I could really use (honestly, I only rarely NEED anything, but there are always gaps) and I shop off that list.

Read the rest of this entry

Hello, and welcome to Part Three of what may very well be a never ending series on suits! Which will be useful come fall when the Casual Friday look is replaced by the sheath dress and her cousin, the suit.

I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.

Stara started this whole thing with a question about what kind of suit to buy for a job interview, specifically an interview for a fairly conservative office; she also asked what she might wear UNDER the suit. She specifically wanted options that were NOT a button front shirt, and I have to agree that the button up shirt, while always appropriate, isn’t very exciting.

So let’s talk about what the other options are!

Read the rest of this entry