I'm in a Black and White State of Mind

Welcome to Monday!

I mentioned Saturday that we had friends over for dinner. I am not sure why, but we always end up searching through my shoe closet! It is like little girls playing dress up in Mommy's clothes!

My friend Chris, Gretchen's husband, asked "How do you decide which one to wear?"

"They talk to me. I open the closet door and say 'Hello girls, who wants to play today?' "

Today's shoes have been asking to come out to play since Saturday night.

As often happens, I decide which pair of shoes I want to wear first, and then build up from there.

With these shoes being ivory/black the choice was easy...black dress with ivory (faux) pearls.

As with everything I seem to own, the dress has a story. It is from a consignment store; I paid $2.00 for it last spring. I have worn it quite a few times. It is the perfect LBD...little black dress. I have quite a few LBDs. I like blank canvases - what can I say?

Taking pictures in the morning is proving to be a challenge. I looked at the shots and thought "what is up with my hair today?" Ben was quite patient with me as I critiqued picture after picture. Let's try this corner; how about sitting? BTW, ignore the couple making out behind me!

I love the dress and shoes - how about voting on the statue today? Should it stay or go?

Have a great evening!

xoxo

Kel

The Other Side of Fashion!

Welcome to weekend wear!

Nothing stellar about today's ensemble. I will tell you - no voting here!

In the pic are me and my sistas! Well, they are actually sisters to each other; to me they are my BFFs.

Me, Gretchen and Erika...Hi ladies!!

Hat - Athleta...purchased on-line. I think I needed one more item to get me free shipping, and this was it!

T-Shirt...courtesy of the 5K I ran in today.

Running Skort - Target C9 brand.

Running Shoes - Asics. I love them!

We went to the MN State Fair after the run, and I kept my sunglasses on for the rest of the day, so that I would not be recognized. What happens? Of course you need to see someone from work! No worries - they are probably thinking the same thing!

I am at home now, and the outfit has not changed. It is Sunday after all!

Laundry, relaxation, and reading blogs awaits!

Have a great day!

xo

Kel

Ben's Birthday Party!

I love Saturdays, don't you?

We are having a belated birthday party for my sweet Ben today. Happy Belated Birthday my love!

The majority of the day was spent in cycling shorts and jersey. I baked, Ben cleaned.

It is funny to me; as I dress I seem to remember where and when I made all these purchases. The shirt was on-line from Michaelstars.com. I will miss them :(. The jeans? They are Joe jeans. I LOVE Joe jeans. I bought these at a cute boutique in Excelsior when my friend Sherri was visiting. November '08 if I remember currectly! The shoes - they were quite a find! I got these at Heartbreakers in Uptown (a section of Minneapolis). Ben picked them out. Comfortable, adorable and they were cheap! $8!! For the number of times I have worn them, they have averaged about 12 cents a wearing. (In other words, that is normally how I would justify an expensive purchase. Take the purchase price and divide it by the number of times you will wear it. )

BTW -cosmetic find of the week? The new Revlon Colorstay Lipstick - or is it a gloss? Anyways, I love red lipstick. However, I HATE that when I wear red it bleeds after a short time...wrinkles, unfortunately :( . This product does not move! I was wearing it for quite some time before these pics were taken, and I really was sipping that cocktail. None on the glass. Nice, huh? Ben even got a kiss or two, and no transfer. He liked that!

Off to finish prepping for my guests. I love entertaining, and I love to cook. However, that my friends would be an entirely different blog!

Have a great night!

And remember, it takes just as long to put on something cute as it does something, well, not so cute!

Take note of the voting poll at the bottom! I welcome your vote and your comment!

Thanks!

xoxo

Kel

My first Blog!

Welcome to my blog!

Kel's closet is inspired by a lot of things.

I have a lot of clothes. I love shoes, and have a lot of those too. My shoes have their own closet! I love jewelry. I have collected large volumes of all of the aforementioned throughout the years.

Like many people in our economy, I am having to cut back. I can no longer afford to buy clothes, shoes, or accessories just because "I have to have that!"

On August 12, 2009, I began a challenge. I will not buy any new clothes, shoes, or accessories for a year! Gasp! My heart beats just a little faster when I think about it...I have defined a few items that I can buy. I have a wedding in October, and I get to buy new shoes and earrings for that. I have a bachelorette party to attend, and I get to buy a dress for that. I love exercise, especially running, so I get to buy ONE pair of new running shoes when they are needed. They last about 500 miles, so I may end up with 2 pair in the next year. That is it. Nothing more! Wow...seriously, you have no idea what a challenge this is for me!

JCrew and Banana Republic? If you have stock in any of these companies, I would recommend it be sold! Just kidding - I do want them around when I am making new purchases again!

The other part of this challenge for me, and where the fun comes in for You my dear friends? I am going to wear a different outfit every Monday through Friday for the next year! I will document the outfits here. I will also show you pictures whenever possible. Good thing my boyfriend loves to take my picture! I'll share some weekend outfits too! I can't guarantee there won't be a repeat in that mix. We all have our favorite weekend ensembles, don't we?

Now, my definition of an outfit? An outfit is the clothes, a pair of shoes and jewelry. If I wear the same dress twice, but wear it with a different shoe and necklace? It is a different outfit. Are you with me? Hey, these are my rules. When you do this, you can make your own! See, I am already cranky about no new clothes. Please forgive my outburst.

One more rule. Ben (my boyfriend) made sure that he is allowed to buy me the banned items as gifts. I can't ask him to buy me anything. It must be a true gift.

Ultimately, I want you to get a say in this! I will give you voting rights. I need to clean out my closets in this process. After I have worn an outfit, I will let you decide if it is a keep in the closet, or a go to someone else's closet! Some items will be donated, some will be brought to consignment, and some will go on EBay. This chica has some bills to pay!

I will also share "the items that got away". Just because I am not buying does not mean I am not shopping! If I see a great item, I'll covertly snap a picture and tell you where you can buy it.

In time, I will actually take you into the closet, and perhaps introduce you to some of the different personalities that emerge from there!

I hope you are ready for the ride! This is going to be fun!

xo

Kel