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| This is #2 on my list below--the Generation Love Jenny Pearls top. Isn't it amazing? It came in beautiful black, too, but the one on sale in XL was this grey. |
STITCH graced our town for one and a half years. In that time, the owner, Caitlin, taught me so much about style just through her edit--what she chose to show in the window or hang on the racks. What she chose to wear. She upped our style quotient so much. The original location still stands in Madison, New Jersey, about 30 minutes from here.
You know I have battled my weight, tried to slim down. Still working on that. Have not given up. Sometimes I think I buy new clothes--four of the garments happen to be black--because I think they make me look less fat. Illusion? But who am I fooling? Myself? I also reach for earrings, because they always fit, and costume jewelry won't break the bank.
I've become concerned about overspending. It's not healthy, productive or fair to my family. I would like to be more frugal about fashion--and other things--this year. It's not so unrelated to overindulging in cupcakes and chocolate, a change I have also been working on, and succeeding at.
Dan has said, Alice, I don't understand why you would want to buy more clothing. You have so much in your closet already, you would never be able to wear it all in your lifetime.
He is right.. But I understand why I want to buy more clothing. It's why fashion designers reveal new collections again and again. The high heel has a different shape, the hemline falls longer or shorter, the neckline is cut with a sassy edge. The weave might be new--nubby or cotton-soft--the color is fresh, the belt is cute, the earrings are chandeliers, or tiny minimalist posts.
So I follow fashion; my fickle self tracks trends. I've decided to list here just the items that I purchased at STITCH in the 1.5 years it was here. It closed before Christmas, and everything was 50 or 60 percent off retail [or sale price] at that point. It was crazy. But look at this list, a lesson to myself. These are items I bought, or wanted to, in 18 months. I do not recall all brand names off the top of my head.
- Long, black quarter-sleeve cardigan from Cupcakes and Cashmere. I had heard of the brand but never seen it in person until Caitlin came to town. The cardigan looks professional. The front is drapey and slimming, no buttons. I figured I could use for a job interview, or an office job.
- Pearl-grey Generation Love sweater with white pearls of varying sizes scattered on front and sleeves. So cozy and feminine. I love it. They say styles always come back--maxi dresses, bell bottoms, miniskirts, tie dye. This reminds me of a sweater I loved 30 years ago, but now with a modern neckline [closing sale, 50 percent off].
- Lemon-patterned white wrap dress with ruffly edge. So lovely but am too heavy for it. I think I can make it work in the summer as a pretty layer.
- Open-toe black suede shoes with ankle ties [closing sale].
- Oversized, dangling Kenneth Jay Lane earrings with long faux turquoise beads. I wore these so much, including to the Hillary Clinton book signing in town.
- Gray sleeveless top with side tie at hip.
- Small mauve shoulder bag.
- Long Bauble Bar earrings.
- Pastel tasseled earrings.
- Turquoise [color] leaf-shaped earrings.
- Earrings with real flowers pressed inside.
- Black V-neck sweater, so soft and comfortable.
- Pink flamingo sweater, PJ-softee and fun. Wore on a rainy Cape Cod night by lighthouse. I texted Dan a photo. Where did you get that shirt? he texted back. I think he likes it, though.
- Julie Brown short black dress with 3/4 sleeves; nice with opaque tights [size XL, sale, $99].
- Burgundy Cupcakes and Cashmere jumpsuit [closing sale, originally $130, 60 percent off].
- Sleek black Commando tights--well, I wanted to buy them, but the store didn't carry up to size XL. The website does and I love the tights. Pricey, but good tummy coverage and supersoft. Feel so feminine wearing them. Will wear tomorrow! I do not skip the underwear.
- Sleeveless creamy-oatmeal-colored turtleneck sweater [sidewalk sale].
- Pinky orange Julie Brown poncho. I somehow think of Marcia, Jan and Cindy from "The Brady Bunch"--it's 70s pop color. A color I would have wanted as a girl and am still drawn to--what can I say?
- Fuchsia Julie Brown poncho [sale].
- Sky-blue, sleeveless swingy summer top with nice neckline.
- Hot pink O-venture hands-free leather key ring. [Still have not used it, but plan to.]
- Aqua/coral/gray/white paisley cold shoulder top w 3/4 bell sleeves--size XL. [I was shy of cold shoulder style, still am, waited for it to be on sale.]
- And let's not forget that in a Ladies' Night raffle, I won a $150 gift card and went back and got a hot pink and orange V-neck cashmere tennis sweater that I had been eyeing. It cost more than $150.
Some things were impulse buys/retail therapy, for sure. Misguided attempts to take care of myself when I felt busy, unappreciated, low--or just wanted to glam up my life. Consumerism, I know. Heating oil tank almost empty, and waiting for freelance paychecks? Mortgage late? We may not have $2,000 for our monthly payment, but I did have $29 for an accessory. Not rational, I know. I bought numbers 6, 7 and 8 in a hurry on a Saturday afternoon before heading to my college newspaper reunion that night.
Also loved the Julie Vos jewelry but haven't bought yet. Beautiful, but an investment. And--I got Punchy a dainty cord bracelet at STITCH. Offered to get Fig something, but she prefers Valley Girl store up the road.
Can you see how many brands I met through STITCH, through Caitlin's eye on style?
I realize after this post that I have purchased and followed far less Tory Burch than in previous years...through STITCH, I felt sophisticated in the suburbs. When I worked in the Hearst building in NYC, for 10 years, I loved to walk to upscale stores on 57th Street on my lunch hour: Bergdorf Goodman, arche [French shoes], etc. Often just browsing, sometimes buying items on sale. Having this boutique in town gave me that lunch-hour fix.
I have to get Punch up to bed, and go to bed myself.
I hope that by inventory, I can be more mindful and waste less money.
Good night.
TCOY
- Made oatmeal for breakfast.
- Walked around block.
- Bought healthy groceries, including tangerines, bananas, cashews, fish, yams.
- Walked 45 minutes at park.
- Read NY Times a bit.
- Met Anne for coffee--and mushroom soup--at Marcel.
- Made healthy dinner.
- Raspberries and whipped cream, no sugar, in glass goblets for dessert.
Posts
Sigh. I scaled down to ebay for clothes, but still more than I need and definitely a sign of boredom/retail therapy. But hoping for better balance this year. I wish you luck!
ReplyDeleteLiz
Liz, I thought of you when I wrote this post, because I know you have mentioned that you vowed to stop buying clothes. Thank you. One day at a time. Love Alice
ReplyDelete3 things that help me with spending.
ReplyDelete1) Shop the closet. It's fun to really rethink what you own and reappropriate time spent in the shops to really organizing and looking at your closet and making new outfits.
2) Write every damn spending thing down. Whenever I feel spending inching up, I employ this device. it's like food tracking. A good way to do it is to collect a receipt for every single cash purchase and then add it up end of week. I see in your later post you doing that. That has often worked for me.
3) Really think long and hard about the kind of person I want to be. I don't want to support rampant consumerism. I want to be more like a French woman with an edited closet of "good" things worn cleverly. I am far from that, but thinking about the kind of "ugly American" wasteful consumerism curbs the impulse.
4) We budget. We keep track of spending and set goals. Don't always work, but like weight, at its most sloppy, it keeps me mindful at least and not totally off the farm.
Oh, that's 4!
lol
Good resolutions, Alice. I welcome hearing your thoughts about finances as well as get-fit goals. F and I are focusing efforts this year to think about retirement and so spending and saving is in our vocabularly too!
Thank you, Kim. I love the image of a French woman and her edited closet instead of an "ugly American" over consuming. When you say you set goals, what do you mean? As in put away/save a certain amount of money in a certain period of time? That's a problem Dan and I have. We make enough money to pay our bills--usually, not always. And we generally stick to family road trips, not plane vacations. But I am looking for a full-time staff job so to use words you and F. employ, "Let's see." I find Dan hard to pair with on financial plans, even after all these years. He might say the same of me. xoxo to us all.
DeleteGoals have shifted over years. Save for our wedding, a renovation. Pay off debt (which at times in our life has been significant). We're not great at steady saving, frankly. It's super hard to do as a freelancer also. Having an IRA and certain yearly saving goals helped, but not as much as now just having $ taken out of paycheck. Much easier to never see it. I like your idea of road trips and saving $ on flights. I want to do more domestic travel in the next few years and that is worth thinking about. But mostly, we do set a yearly budget, often blow past it or get lazy tracking it, but just the process of setting it makes space for more mindfulness than we would otherwise have.
ReplyDeleteI hear you. Thanks. Absolutely, we are so grateful I put as much money as we could afford to, even the max, at Hearst and other staff jobs. That is a definite benefit of being on staff. And then we spent way too much on Parsons, even though Fig had a generous scholarship. The apts she shared w her cousin, etc. We were caught between a rock and a hard spot. Plus: medical, therapy, etc bills. Oh well, can’t turn back time. Stay in the present. Xo
ReplyDeleteoh, yes, out of pocket expenses for health care over the years, ESPECIALY mental health care has been EXORBITANT! And , caught between..... totally feel you on that, sister.
ReplyDelete