Fall Fashion~Planning Works for Me!!!

I’ve never written a post on clothes. I love clothes and enjoy shopping for them but since I don’t work right now I don’t need a whole lot. I was chatting about how to add a few articles of clothing on a budget with a friend the other day and thought I’d throw that question out there to all my blog-peeps. Will you buy anything new for Autumn this year? Will you look for sales? How do you shop? Do you just go and buy something you like or do you plan?

What works for me when buying clothes is PLANNING!

I think even if I had loads of money to spend on clothes, I’d still plan a little. I look through catalogs to see what I like, sometimes I tear out a page or two and stick them in my purse to look at when I’m shopping. I get JCrew and Anthropoligie catalogs. You can sign up online for catalogs from any of your favorite stores but  you may find you like looking around their website just as well.

Here’s a few of my favorite looks for Fall. I’ll only buy a few (on sale) things from JCrew and probably nothing from Anthropoligie, but I’ll copy whatever look I like. By knowing what you’re looking for and shopping Marshall’s, TJ Max, Old Navy or good old Macy’s you can get the look way cheaper!

My favorite thing is the little sweater. I’ve loved this look since seeing Bewitched, Nichole Kidman’s clothes in that movie were right up my alley. I do of course adjust the look a bit since I don’t weigh 80 lbs. like Nichole!

I ‘m also looking for brown boots this year. My last pair are 4 years old and pretty worn out. I’m leaning towards these or something close. I’ll be doing a flat heel. Since becoming a Gigi I’ve shied  away from higher heels. I can’t very well hold Ellie while power-walking  and feeding her a bottle in high heels. That’s just silly.

Bags are my favorite thing…I love the hobo type bag. (Remember, my term of endearment for these kinds of bags: HoBags!)I keep looking for The One that will change my life but I’m more fickle with purses than I am with hair-stylists.  This year I’m going to look for one that will go with blacks and browns… I love gunmetal or bronze colors for this reason. They can sooo be used as  a neutral color.

But really some other colors can (almost) work as a neutral. Just the right shade of teal can go with blacks or browns too. Look at this one from New York & Company, it isn’t leather but it’s a great price and so cute~

And don’t forget about this vintage-hue of mustard. You can also carry this color with about everything. I’m just careful with teal and mustard not to go bright. I like soft hues when using them as a neutral. Just my opinion though!

~One more thing…Jeans~

*****Soap-Box Alert*****

Okay, I know this is a budget year Peeps, but if you can save your pennies and maybe some birthday money and some money from Christmas, skip your lattes , WHATEVER but…don’t skimp on jeans.  One or two really good pairs of jeans will change your life. You think I’m being dramatic? Not this time. My favorite brands are Seven For All Mankind and Joe’s Jeans. I‘ve heard great things about Not Your Daughter’s Jeans, but I haven’t tried them on yet. I went to Bloomingdale’s where I don’t usually shop but where they have tons of high-end jeans in every size known to woman. I took a Valium.  Just kidding. And proceeded to try on approximately 82 pairs of jeans till I found the exact right pairs. It was almost as bad as trying on bathing suits. But in the end it was worth it.

These are some Seven jeans…too bad she doesn’t have a muffin top to make it more real. But with a shirt on, even a muffin top looks okay with these puppies on.

This is an example of Joe’s Jeans…

And these are Not Your Daughter’s Jeans…

The ones I picked out had to be hemmed and the waistband of the Joe’s had to be removed and adjusted but let me tell you something…IT’S WORTH IT! I wear jeans everywhere all the time. You can dress them way up or not. I have probably 15 pairs of jeans at every price-point, but the Joe’s and the Seven’s  are my go-to wardrobe staples.

I’ve had them for about a year and a half, I get the Seven’s dry cleaned but not the Joe’s and they both still look perfect and fit exactly the same. (Excpet both pairs are too tight right now, but I’m working on that!)

Again, just my opinion on the jeans thing.

(And a side note: I bought these jeans: BPC: (Before our Pay Cut)but I would truly be patient and take months to save for them if I didn’t have them already.)

Okay, you’re turn. Any suggestions on buying a few things for Fall!?!?!?

(ps…look at these Lucky Brand flats I found…I so love these, may have to get them. Lucky Brand has introduced a whole line of cute shoes…)

I’m linking to Works for Me Wednesday. There are loads of links with all sorts of things that work for your Blog-Peeps!