Fashion - Pocketful of Joules

4 True&Co Favs and a Giveaway

I’ve talked about True&Co a couple times before, here and here. However, now that I’ve lived in their stuff for a while, I wanted to give you my list of favorites that have stood the test of time.

If by ‘test of time’ I mean wearing their stuff nonstop. Washing it. Then wearing it some more.

And, because I want you guys to be just as comfy as I am, I’m giving TWO of you $100 each to spend at True&Co!

Here are my 4 ABSOLUTE favorite items that are in heavy rotation in my life:

Favorite #1: The Marielle
I love this bra. The first time I tried it on (in white) I liked it, but didn’t totally love it. Then, they came out with a blue polka dotted version! Oh my goodness, it’s the prefect mix of supportive, sexy and cute (kinda like my husband…hubba hubba). I liked it so much I bought it in ALL three colors!

Favorite #2: Cute & Comfy Hipsters
These are pretty much the only panties I wear now. They look a bit large in the picture, but they are quite sassy, while still holding your butt in check. You probably won’t like them if you’re a thong kinda girl… but I’ve NEVER been a thong kinda girl so I really don’t know what it is that you like about having fabric up your crack.

Favorite #3: The Pure Plus
This is one of the first items I purchased from True&Co and it’s still getting lots of wear. It has just a hint of padding, which makes it perfect for those chilly days. Also, it’s a gorgeous bright pink… who doesn’t want to see THAT when they change their clothes?!

Favorite #4: Sheer Even More Shaper
Sometimes my tummy needs a little help. Maybe it’s because my pencil skirt is a little unforgiving. Perhaps I shouldn’t have had that extra (few) handfuls of candy corn before slipping on a dress for my friend’s wedding. I LOVE this shaper. It holds everything in where it should be and smoothes it all out too. The best part is that the leg openings have silicone grip that keeps them from sliding up! It’s super comfortable and it gets the job done, what’s not to love?

I have to give an honorable mention to the She Walks in Beauty and Light Made in Stars bra the nice people at True&Co sent me a surprise goodie box of some items from their fall collection and this was one of the ones that I tried on and didn’t bother to take it back off. The fit is great, the fabric is soft and the color is SO PRETTY. It also has a pair of sexy-as-all-get-out matching panties. Va-va-VOOM!

Does your lingerie drawer need an overhaul? Well, I’m giving away $100 for you to spend at True&Co on ANYTHING you want. Two of you will be winners, so tell your friends!

For your first entry all you have to do is leave a comment below telling me what makes you feel sassy and then click through to Rafflecopter to let them know that you commented. You can also earn extra entries by following me elsewhere on the web. The winner will be chosen on Friday, November 14th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you’d like to check out True&Co they gave me a special referral link for my readers to use where you can save $25 off your order (no minimum purchase limit and no expiration date). Please note, I will receive a small referral reward if you use the link. So thank you to anyone who chooses to click through and support my shopping addiction.

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by True&Co, I just LOVE their service so much that I wanted to tell you all about my favorites. I do receive referral rewards when readers click through my special referral link, which is how I earned the credits to give away $200 to the winners.

A Closet Purge & a New Plan

I have way too many clothes.

Actually, I should amend that sentence… I have way too many clothes that I don’t wear.

Even though, I do a bit of a clothing purge when I switch my closet over for each season (twice a year) somehow I have a big ol’ pile of clothes that I keep packing up, unpacking, never wearing and then packing up again.

I’m so over it.

Part of what I’ve learned over the past year of using Stitch Fix is to only buy what I love. In order to pass my tests, I have to not only love each item, but it has to go with stuff already in my closet AND it has to make me feel pretty great about myself. This new way of shopping has really helped me avoid that ‘fast fashion’ and clothes that I buy because they’re on sale… only to never really like wearing them.

Unfortunately, I still have a bunch of clothes that I bought BEFORE I learned that… so what to do?

Well, I’m getting rid of them all.

Here’s my closet before I started cleaning it out.

It’s PACKED and it doesn’t even contain any of my winter clothes. Many of the items have been in there since spring and I never even wore them at all. I like my shoe organizers, but they are so low I can’t really find what I’m looking for, so I just keep wearing the same few pairs over and over again.

I decided that instead of just pulling out a few things and throwing in my winter stuff, I’d start fresh.

Yup, I took every darn thing out of that closet. The shoe shelves were still bothering me though, so I tried a few different configurations and ended up with this.

It was dangerous as heck though – especially because Jack likes to poke around in my closet – so I secured the top two organizers to the wall with these Safety 1st Furniture Wall Straps. Luckily I had a couple left over from when I childproofed the house. The cubbies are off center because there is a bar in the middle that is just a little bit lower than the top organizer. It works though, because it divides the closet into two areas. You can’t really see it, but there is a couple feet of space to the left of the cubbies.

Oh, and here is what the rest of the room looked like:

I purged pretty relentlessly this time. Out of 10 pairs of black work pants, I cut it down to just the three that really fit me well. So now, instead of pulling them all out to figure out what pair is which, I can actually just grab any of them. I also got rid of a bunch of ill-fitting dresses, a few skirts and a TON of tops that either didn’t fit right, looked kind of worn, or just didn’t make my heart pitter-patter.

RELENTLESS purging for the WIN!

Next, I went through the mountain of unwanted clothes and organized them into three piles: trash, a Goodwill donation, and the nice stuff to go to Twice {If you want to try them out, you can use my special referral link to earn an extra $10}. I ended up with two huge trash bags full to take to Goodwill, so I’ll be getting a receipt to write that off my taxes. I also have a large pile for Twice, but I need to wait until I get a bigger box so I can send it all in!

Here’s my pretty impressive “after” picture:

To the left of the shoe organizers I have my blazers, jeans, and a belt/scarf organizer (from my Ikea trip last week). My statement necklaces are on hooks on the back wall. To the right of the organizer, I have my blouses, sweaters, skirts, pants and dresses.

Although this is a great start, I still have WAY too many clothes. I know for a fact that I don’t love every single piece of clothing in this picture.

So my next goal is to try and wear everything in my closet, instead of just the five items in the front.

At the end of the day of wearing an item I’m going to give myself a little quiz:

At any time throughout the day did I feel uncomfortable because of the item’s fit?
After a full day of work, do I feel messy, disheveled or super wrinkly?
For work clothes, do I feel like I look nice and professional?

If the clothing doesn’t pass the test, it goes in the laundry basket to the left (there is a small one hidden back there), and will be leaving the house by way of Twice or Goodwill.

If you follow me on Instagram, I’m planning to take pictures of each “new” outfit and will be hash-tagging them with #thejoulespurge. If you’d like to play along and purge your own closet, feel free to join in on the hashtag fun!

My hopes are that within a couple months I’ll be left with a wardrobe that I love. Even if I’m left with just a couple dozen items when I’m done, at least those items will make me feel good about myself! Also, by selling my clothes to Twice, I’ll have a little extra cash to go out and buy what I really need… like maybe that pair of Frye boots that I’ve been drooling over!

Do you do a regular closet purge? How do you decide whether to keep or toss an item? Do you want to join in on #thejoulespurge with me?

My Shoe Obsession: Frye

You know when you want something it just kind of lives in the back of your head all day, every day? Well, I’m RIGHT THERE with a pair of boots. And have been for quite a while.

In fact, I’ve been drooling over Frye boots from afar for a couple years now. I’ve even had this pair pinned on my Pinterest board for 2 years. I didn’t even realize I HAD Pinterest for 2 years…

With cooler weather finally coming to Maryland, my boot obsession has reawakened with a vengeance.

I stopped by Nordstrom Rack last week and made the mistake of putting a pair of $350 boots on my feet. I walked around in those shoes for probably a half hour, planning out outfits that would showcase them for the rest of the year. I had tears in my eyes just anticipating the moment that I would have to take them back off. When the moment finally came, I pulled them from my feet to pet them one last time before turning my back and running away.

Obviously I’m not going to spend $350 on a pair of shoes. {Which I’m pretty sure gives you all the proof you need to show that I’m not a REAL style blogger…}

I’m not even going to spend $250 on a pair of shoes. To be honest, $150 even seems like too much for a pair of SHOES. I’ve been checking ebay like a fiend, ‘watching’ every pair that I like. I’ve searched for Fry boots, Fry boot, vintage Frye boots, and more. Unfortunately, it is pretty much impossible to find what I want for less than $150ish.

Here are a few of my favorites. {Don’t let the prices fool you, most of them don’t have any bids yet. As soon as people start bidding the prices just go up and up and up.}

Oooh, they’re SO SASSY and I want them SO BAD!

It’s such a dumb obsession though. I mean, they are BOOTS. Expensive boots. Sure, they are gorgeous and well made… but they are boots.

With the holidays coming, I just don’t have the money to be splurging on a pair of expensive shoes. I like paying off my Visa too much. And frankly, even if I did have a bunch of cash just sitting around wanting to be spent, I would probably choose to spend it on something for the family instead.

Part of me – a selfish little part of me – really wishes I could just treat myself though. So, when I wander into Nordstrom Rack I do a little browsing. And when I’m online, I stop by eBay and click around a little. If I could just find what I want for less than $100, I’d snap them up in an instant!

I am holding out one hope though… I’m going to Austin, Texas for a business trip in a couple of weeks and it only seems to make sense that there will be lots of perfectly worn boots sitting around in the thrift stores just waiting for me to snap them up! Right? Right?!

Do you find yourself obsessed with silly stuff like boots? Do you own a pair of Frye boots? Any tips for finding an awesome deal?