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It has been a crazy couple of weeks with school starting again, a couple auditions, and first concerts of the season, so I’ve been having a hard time sitting down and writing. And we just celebrated Dave’s birthday last weekend with an impromptu St. Louis trip, all put together by yours truly. Working on a post right now to tell you all about where we went and give you some awesome recommendations if you’re ever in the St. Louis area. It’s rainy here in Springfield today, and I’m still working on our home. If you’re new here, the hubby and I recently moved into a rental home after living in our cute little apartment for 7 years. ( Here’s a tour of our old apartment) It has been an adjustment, but has also been so much fun to rethink the living areas and slightly re-decorate. Working on some posts about new decor and you’ll get to see some pics of the new place very soon… so excited! But today I thought I’d chat about clothing and some staples I think every woman should have in her closet!
I probably have WAY too many items and pieces of clothing in my closet, and I’m quickly realizing this as I’m unpacking and placing items in my closet at our new place. I mean it literally took me an hour to go through part of my closet, folding sweaters and other items I won’t wear over the next 3 weeks, and placing them in bags before our move…. not fun! But while I know I have WAY too many pieces of clothing, I just love clothes and all the many styles and ways you can mix and match items to create new looks. One of my favorite things to do is to mix and match the same items over and over in different ways and totally stump my students. It’s the best! My students are constantly telling me I have too many clothes… or “we never see you wearing the same things”… BUT truth is… I just know how to mix and match well enough that they don’t realize I’m wearing the same items. So I thought I’d share a couple of my favorite mix and match selections using some staples that every woman should have in their closet. I’ll be placing some links for similar items at the bottom of the post if you like anything and need it in your closet!
So what are these staples that every woman should have in their closet???!!!
- A denim jacket or shirt
- A Maxi Dress and Skirt
- A little black dress
- A couple graphic tees
- A couple pairs of Jeans: Dark and Light, different styles
- A couple comfy tanks or camisoles ( no pics, but great for layering)
- A blazer
- A long Cardigan
- A Jumpsuit
I love denim and absolutely love the denim on denim trend!!! To successfully pull this look off, all you have to remember is to choose two different shades of denim. Denim jackets are all the rage right now! And with it getting chiller outside- hello fall, they are the perfect jackets to layer over whatever you’re wearing.
The Maxi dress is like your base! I have a lot of maxi dresses, but I love this mustard maxi- It’s perfect for fall! You can rock it alone or style it with a fun denim jacket or a couple graphic tees over the top to create another fun look. I like to tie a little knot at the bottom of my graphic tees and tops to cinch the material at my waist. Even adding something as simple as a bandana to your neck or hair, can change the look of an outfit.
Maxi Skirts, similar to maxi dresses, are so comfortable and easy to style. I love wearing graphic tees and flannel with my maxi skirts to create different looks. I wear maxi skirts with tank tops, or camisoles a lot during the summer and will usually take a similar look into the school year, but make it school appropriate by adding a cardigan.
A Little black dress can be worn so many different ways. These are just a couple styles I did mixing up the look with some accessories and different boots, but if you check the ( little black dress) link you’ll be able to see a couple more looks! I got this black dress from Old Navy and I’m so glad I bought it- It has always been a favorite of mine. Want to make the dress a little less dressy? Style it was a cardigan wrapped around your waist, some tennis shoes and a baseball cap and you’re ready to go grocery shopping in style!
Graphic tees are are super “in” right now and definitely easy to wear and style! You can’t really go wrong with wearing a graphic tee and jeans, but one of my favorite things to do with a graphic tee is pair it with a fun skirt or over the top of one of my maxi dresses- This is an easy on the go look!
A blazer is always in and it’s recently made a big comeback! I personally love adding a graphic tee under my blazers and styling it with jeans! I used the same blazer for the first two pics but added different jeans and changed out the shoes!
Add a blazer to a maxi dress or another dress to change up the look! I added the same blazer to my little black dress and styled with my L.l. bean leather boots.
This look is one of my favorites! I used the same graphic tee and skinny jeans as above, and added my longer gray tweed blazer to create yet another outfit.
A long sweater is a MUST! I have so many and love layering them over all kinds of dresses, pants and even jumpsuits!!! With the weather getting a little brisker, it helps pull my look together and keep me warm! I’m also a teacher and I live with a sweater around my waist, on or on the back of my chair every day!!!!
I am obsessed with jumpsuits! They are so much fun to wear! They have become some of my favorite pieces to mix and match and style. Similar to a maxi dress, you can add a graphic tee over the top of a jumpsuit to create a totally different look and you can always add a t-shirt, cardigan or denim jacket to make it school appropriate.
Both of these jumpsuits are from Target!
There are so many outfits you can make with the options I’ve provided above! I hope I gave you some ideas on how to reinvent or mix and match items you have in your closet. Have fun with fashion and don’t be scared to try something new… you may just find some of your favorite outfits that way! Okay, so I told ya’ll I’d provide some links below, so here are some links of similar items and some that I have fallen in love with!
Levis Jacket baggy
Black Dress (short sleeve)
Black Dress ( sleeveless)
Maxi ( long sleeve- I love this one! )
Maxi ( sleeveless)
Graphic Tees ( Amazon has some awesome graphic tees)
Long Cardigan ( rusty orange- I love this one! Great for the fall! )
Jumpsuit ( this is one of my favorite jumpsuits- so comfy!)
erin!! love this post and all of the photos you included – your style is amazingggg especially your outfit with the grey hat! i’ve never owned a jumpsuit but you’ve convinced me – ordering one asap 🙂 x
Thanks so much, girl!!! I had so much fun with this post!!! Love that gray hat so much and jumpsuits are my fav!!! Can’t wait to see what jumpsuits your order!