Slice of Pink

Black & Gray, Day 30

It's the last day in the black and gray series and I'm wearing all things you've seen before. The project to reduce my closet to an ultra-simple color palette went splendidly and I plan to continue to limit myself to things that will work with the scheme. It's a little boring, yes, but I like that everything works with everything else. I don't really need my clothes to complicate my life.

Now that this series is over, maybe I'll start showing you my weekend wear. It's mostly jeans and black sweaters, but maybe posting here will force me to get a little more creative. Plus I have a new pair of riding boots (and a pair of legging jeans) to show you.

Black & Gray, Day 29

Pants: Express
Ruffled Tank: Old Navy
Sweater: Old Navy

Black & Gray, Day 28

This series has got to be over soon because I am clearly running out of poses (this is why I could never be a fashion blogger. That, and my general inability to construct outfits that consist of colors other than black and gray). I cannot explain to you why I am leaning so far back or why my hands are so stiffly at my sides. Awkward!

Skirt: Target
Top: Banana Republic
Sweater: Old Navy
Shoes: T.J. Maxx
Tights: Banana Republic
Necklace: a gift from Stacey, made in Africa

Black & Gray, Day 27

Dress: Liz Claiborne
Tights: Target
Shoes: My ruby red slippers

Black & Gray, Day 26

Hi! My outfit doesn't know if it's hot and summery or cold and breezy! The Banana Republic turtleneck says chilly, the skirt says sunny. Welcome to coastal living!

Black & Gray, Day 25

Skirt: Calvin Klein
Sweater: Old Navy
Tights: Vera Wang for Kohls
Shoes: Target
iPhone case: Kate Spade

Black & Gray, Day 24

Tank: Old Navy
Sweater: Old Navy
Skirt: Vintage
Tights: Vera Wang for Kohls
Shoes: Target
Earrings: Brighton

I've been wearing a ton of Old Navy lately. I hadn't been in an Old Navy store for three or four years, but popped in to the one in SLO before I started my job and bought half a dozen tank tops and a few sweaters. I went back a few weeks later to return a sweater and bought a few more tank tops that had since gone on sale. I have that ruffled tank top in lilac, coral, black, gray, and tan--two of which I bought full price and three for, like, $5 each. The place is a serious bargain.

Black & Gray, Day 23

Pants: Express
Tank: Target
Shirt: New York and Co.
Shoes: Antonio Melani
Necklace: Lime Green Modern

Black & Gray, Day 22

Black & Gray, Day 21

Suit: Limited
Blouse: Nordstrom
Tights: Vera Wang for Kohls
Shoes: Target (but I changed to heels at work)
Umbrella: Gift from Will

Black & Gray, Day 20

Skirt: Vintage
Blouse: Gap
Sweater: T.J. Maxx
Belt: Ann Taylor
Shoes: Isaac Mizrahi for Target

Black & Gray, Day 19

These are all items you've seen before, remixed. I'm now noticing that the black shirt and the black sweater are two different colors of black, which is one of the problems with wearing mainly black.

Black & Gray, Day 18

Dress: The Magic Castle Dress
Scarf: Tea Collection
Shoes: Tieks

Black & Gray, Day 17

Skirt: Almost vintage (how old does something need to be before it is considered vintage?)
Sweater: Old Navy
Tank: Old Navy
Shoes: Tieks
Necklace: from Africa (a gift from my lovely friend Stacey)

Black & Gray, Day 16

Pants: Calvin Klein
Jacket: Gap
Earrings: Jen Jems

Black & Gray, Day 15

Skirt: Ann Taylor
Sweater: Ann Taylor
Shirt: Gap
Tights: Vera Wang for Kohl's
Shoes: Target
Umbrella: Gift from Will
Earrings and Bracelet: Made by me!

Doesn't our courtyard look pretty in the rain? We can park our car in the courtyard, but I think it is be better suited for an outdoor movie night using a white sheet for a screen and data projector (of course not on a rainy night!).

Black & Gray, Day 14

Dress: Liz Claiborne
Sweater: Old Navy
Tights: Vera Wang for Kohl's
Shoes: Target
Pumpkin: Trader Joe's

Black & Gray, Day 13

These are all pieces you've seen before, remixed into a new outfit. Things are starting to get repetitive! And boring! And, yet, I am going to continue with this project for 30 days as proof of my efforts to simplify my wardrobe. Plus, since this is actually several days behind, I can assure you that new items are coming up, including tights. Tights are my favorite wardrobe item, so let's at least get into the (black and gray) tights before I shut this project down.

(Not) Black & Gray, Day 12

I've kept out a few items that aren't black or gray, including this cream and brown dress that Will bought me for my birthday many years ago. It's from Banana Republic and, actually, I have the same dress in black with gray polka dots (it's in the queue!). The flats are Gap, the tank from Target.

(Not) Black & Gray, Day 11

I broke all the rules and wore this green dress. It's another one of those dresses that I picked up on the mega-mega-cheap. I brought it to wear on Christmas two years ago and then it just lingered in my closet, unworn, for a year and a half. The day after the Bar Exam, I met my girlfriends downtown for mimosas and I wore the dress because it felt like exactly the kind of thing to wear for morning champagne. To my surprise, I received three (THREE!) compliments on the dress from strangers on the street. What a wasted year it spent with the tags still on.

Black & Gray, Day 10

Shirt: Forever 21
Skirt: Calvin Klein
Belt: Ann Taylor
Earrings: Made by me!

Black & Gray, Day 9

Dress: Max Studio
Earrings: Made by me!

Black & Gray (and Pink Hydrangeas), Day 8

I got a little wild with some pink hydrangeas. The skirt is one of my all-time favorite items of clothing so it made it into my closet despite not being black or gray.

Sweater: Gap
Skirt: INC
Shoes: Target
Necklace: Graduation gift from my in-laws

Black & Gray, Day 7

Are you guys getting tired of seeing my black and gray outfits yet? The outfits all look basically the same and I am so not good at this fashion stuff. I don't even know how to stand in these photos, which is complicated by the fact that my house faces an elementary school and I get my photo snapped at the exact time that dozens of little kids are getting dropped off at kindergarten. Hello parents! I'm just taking another photo here, same as yesterday!

(Which! By the way! Kindergarteners! They have so! much! energy! Will says they look like little molecules bouncing around the playground! They scream! They run really fast in circles! They are wild and crazy! They must drive their teachers bonkers!)

In any event, the skirt is circa 1997, the shirt is Old Navy, the sweater is a T.J. Maxx find, the shoes are Tieks and the necklace is Lime Green Modern.

Black & Gray, Day 6

Skirt: T.J. Maxx
Sweater: Ann Taylor
Shirt: Gap
Eyeliner: Forgotten, apparently

(P.S. I fixed the broken links on this post in case you were trying to enter to win a bunch of money.)

Black & Gray, Day 5

Dress: Purchased for a trip to the Magic Castle
Jacket: Gap
Necklace: Borrowed from my sister (I use the term "borrowed" rather loosely here, since I don't think I even ever asked my sister if I could take the necklace. I found it in the bathroom at my mom's house and, since my sister moved out of my mom's house a couple years ago, I feel that anything left behind is FAIR GAME.)

Black & Gray, Day 4

This outfit is 100 percent Target with the exception of the earrings which I made myself. I'm not sure if you guys know, but I hate shopping. Hate the mall. Hate trying things on and waiting in line and carrying around shopping bags. It's just not my gig. I would estimate that half of my wardrobe consists of items I threw in the cart at Target while there to pick up Windex or Ziplock Bags.

Also, you guys, this dress was $6. SIX DOLLARS! I am so amazed by this. I know it's not proper to blurt out the price of things, but whatever. SIX DOLLARS! The tag had it marked down from $24 to $12, but when I got to the cashier it rung up at $6. I have the same dress in a different color, which I paid full price for (or, technically, sent my sister to pay full price for since my local store was sold out in my size), so I was thrilled to get the second one for basically free. You can't tell, but the top is a lycra tank and the skirt is some silky type material. It's got a tiny bit of a ballerina feel to it. I like to feel 95 percent lawyer, 5 percent ballerina on any given day.

Black & Gray, Day 3

Skirt: Calvin Klein
Shirt: Forever 21
Sweater: Target
Shoes: Target
Earrings: Made by me!

(I need a cuter door mat, no?)

Black & Gray, Day 2

This is Day Two of my Project Wardrobe Simplification (aka Project Black & Gray).

Skirt: Thalian (from T.J. Maxx)
Shirt: Old Navy
Sweater: Old Navy
Shoes: Tieks
Earrings: A Santa Barbara artist

Note our mailbox! We don't have a proper mailbox yet, so Will fashioned one out of two file stackers and a safety pin. There's a piece of masking tape with our house number on it. The postmaster came by a few weeks ago and approved our makeshift mailbox. It's fun living in a small town and having the postmaster himself stop by to say hello.

Black & Gray, Day 1

One of my 31 Before 31 goals is to simplify my wardrobe. For the last ten years I've had a spacious walk-in closet in which to accumulate dozens of tank tops and dresses and cheap shoes. And, also, pink pants. Y'all, I have three pair of pink pants--one from Express, one from Ann Taylor, one from Target--and I never wear any of them. For some reason, when I see pink pants in the store, I think they are fabulous and, for some reason, the person shopping with me always encourages me to buy them. Why do people do this? Friends, if we are shopping together and I notice a pair of pink pants on the rack, no matter how cheap they are, no matter how pretty the pink, MAKE ME STEP AWAY FROM THE PINK PANTS. I simply will not wear them, because really? Pink pants? Never as cute in real life as they are in the store.

These days my closet is tiny--tiny!--and, so, I am going through my wardrobe, piece by piece, filling bags for the Goodwill with wacky sequined pants and and purple heels and too-tight jeans and shirts from 1998 and three pair of pink pants. I hope somebody in the world will appreciate the pink pants.

In addition to cleaning out my closet, I've implemented rules for my work wardrobe. I've decided that I'm building a work wardrobe that is nearly exclusively black and gray. I'll add a few bright accessories here and there, and the occasional colored top or tights, but 95 percent of the clothing is going to be 1) black or 2) gray. Maybe it's a little boring, but I like the idea of everything going together. I can mix and match all the pieces, I won't have to switch purses, and I can keep a single pair of black pumps under the desk in my office that I can toss on with any outfit, should I need to go someplace important (otherwise, I just wear black, silver, or gray flats). It's fabulously uncomplicated, somewhat sophisticated, and (hopefully) slimming.

To document the simplification of my wardrobe, I am going to show you my daily outfits. This documentation project probably won't very last long because a) how interesting can a bunch of remixing of black and gray actually be? (my guess: not very) and b) if Will starts leaving for work before me I won't have a photographer to snap my photo each morning.

Also, you should know that the photos will be a few days behind. This is not what I wore today, but what I wore several days ago. Not that it really matters since the outfits are all basically the same, as you'll soon see.

Here I am, Day One of Black and Gray:

Pants: Express
Shirt: Old Navy
Sweater: Old Navy
Shoes: Alfani
Necklace: Tiffany & Co.
Bag: Gift from my awesome sister

Do you have any tricks, tips, or rules for keeping a simple wardrobe? I could use some help.