Stylebook Closet Update

I've gotten some requests for an update on my Stylebook Closet App statistics. You can see my 30 Day update here, and my initial review of the app here.  I've now used the app every day for 6 months and I still love it. 

If you aren't familiar with Stylebook yet, here's the rundown. If you know it and love it just skip down to my Updates.  It's an app where you can keep track of all of your clothes, create outfits, and keep track of what you've worn when.  If you love data as much as you love fashion you will love this app! If you struggle to come up with new outfits, you'll love this app.  And if you tend to wear the same outfits over and over and want to break out of that habit, you'll love this app.

Getting everything thing uploaded initially is an arduous task. You have to take a picture of everything, and if the background isn't right you'll have to manually edit the photo (I offer some tips here, and there are some tips on their website here as well). Once you have it up and running though it is easy to keep up with. As I buy new things for my real closet and add them to my virtual closet app I just copy the picture from online and add it, it's much easier that way, and often looks better too.

I've also started using the app to track my clothes budget. Whenever I get something new I type in the notes section the month and year of the purchase. At the end of the month I just search for that month and year combo and I instantly see everything I added that month. 

UPDATES
583: Total items in the app
133: Number of items never worn since I started tracking in April (22.4%)
1474: Number of outfit combinations I've created using my own clothes, that is 4 years worth!
62: Number of times I've carried my black Prada hobo, my most worn item, my LV is 2nd at 59
43: Number of blazers in my closet
31: Number of skirts I own
92: Pairs of shoes I have, 38 pairs are heels
61: Necklaces I've worn
13: Handbags I carry

My never worn list is still pretty long at 133 items, but in my defense, a lot of that list is cold weather items. It's still getting up to the 90's here, so except for the few things I wore in Northern Europe over the summer I haven't had an opportunity to wear them. I also have about 20 items for Rodeo season. Yes, that's a thing here in Houston. The Rodeo comes to town for 3 weeks in March, and it calls for a distinctively western wardrobe! 

Some of the other items on the never worn list include 3 white, long sleeve, button down shirts. This app has taught me that I apparently buy these classic shirts, but never wear them, so I'm not going to buy any more. I really love the classic look of a crisp white shirt on others on Instagram and Pinterest, but in reality I'm very uncomfortable in button down shirts and they don't compliment my body type.

I diligently work my Never Worn list.  I really want to get that list down to 0!  There is no point in having something that I never wear, especially since I have 583 items, and 1474 outfits! So each morning when I get dressed I pick out something from that list and give it a go.  If I can't make it work into something I want to wear it goes in the donate pile. 

Here's what I came up with today using that strategy.  This darling top has been on my never worn list since April!  I bought it last year at White House Black Market.  I kept trying to wear it for work, but it just doesn't work under a blazer with the flap down, and with it zipped all the way up it is unflattering on me. I tried it today with cropped jeans and liked it!  Today was the fall festival at my daughters school, this was casual, comfortable, cool (yes it is still 90 here), and easy.  Score!

Recreate the Look:
TOP: White House Black Market, Current version
JEANS: White House Black Market, similar with leather trim but darker wash
SHOES: Converse, similar
BAG: mine is an unknown brand, really cute one with red handles, really cute one with pink accents

If you happen to live somewhere with fall weather you could throw a cute jacket over this and be good to go.  I'm in love with this olive green suede one.


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Style Statistics

What I love most about the Stylebook Closet app is the statistics it gives me on my wardrobe (see previous app reviews here and here). When I first started using the app 5 months ago I worked on my "Never Worn" list. It took a couple of months to wear everything in my closet once...and actually there are still 143 items on that list. Those last remaining items are sweaters, corduroy pants, boots and jackets, so once the weather gets cooler I'll clear out my "never worn" list.

In the meantime I've been working my "Worst Cost per Wear" list. This list takes the price you paid for an item and divides it by the number of times you've worn it, and then ranks the top 25 items. There's also a "Best Cost per Wear" list. Most of the items on that list tend to be my less expensive pieces like shorts and tee-shirts, but my top item on that list is a black pencil skirt that is currently $1.11 per wear! I've obviously gotten my money's worth out of it! Which is exactly what this app is helping me do. I want to get my money's worth out of my clothes. I don't mind spending a little more on an item if I know I'm going to wear it many times, but I hate to see high end items languishing on the "Worst Cost per Wear" list.

My outfit today includes three items on my "Worst Cost per Wear" list: the blouse, purse, and necklace.

I bought my necklace at the Gold and Diamond Mall in Dubai. It was pricey, but I wear it often, and will continue to for decades, so it may one day be $1.11 per wear too!

I also love my Celine Nano Tote. It was a little pricey too, so even though I've carried it 10 times since April it is still on the list. I carry it much more in the fall and winter, so it will be in heavy rotation soon, and will work it's way off the list in no time.

My blouse on the other hand is a reasonably priced item but prior to today I had only worn it twice. This black wrap top is from M M Lafleur, and it is one of the most comfortable, yet polished business tops I own (see previously styled here), so I don't know why I don't wear every week! I love the 3/4 length sleeves, and the front draping. Another plus is that the wrap part it fully sewn so I'm not fussing with it all day to insure I'm not flashing any cleavage.  It looks polished enough to wear on its own as I did here, but it also looks great under a blazer, and it pairs well with jeans too.

M.M. LaFleur is an interesting company (read their story here), started by a woman in finance who wanted a more inspired wardrobe. They design and manufacturing professional women's wear, and pay a lot of attention comfort, quality, and ease of care.  On top of that their customer service is excellent.

If you want to give them a try I recommend ordering a Bento Box. A stylist will curate and send you some items. You get to try everything on and keep what you like. My first box wasn't quite me and I ended up sending everything back. Then I got a sweet email from their marketing director, apologizing for missing the mark and asked if she could send out another box. I of course accepted their gracious offer and ended up with this lovely blouse. It currently comes in wine and ivory as well as black, and both are on my wish list.

Blouse - M.M. LaFleur Deneuve Blouse

Skirt - White House Black Market

Spectator Pumps - Lauren by Ralph Lauren

Bag - Celine Nano

 

Charity - I use affiliate links in this blog.  That means each time you click on a link to a product I get a few cents, even if you don't purchase anything.  I have a full time job and I keep this blog purely for fun.  All proceeds I make here I donate to charity, so please click away and know it's for a great cause! Also, please tell me what your favorite charities are in the comments.  I will donate to the ones that are most popular. Many thanks!

Red, White, and Oops! I Forgot the Blue!

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!  We usually go to Austin for the 4th, but this year we'll be on our way to Europe, so I haven't really gotten into the spirit.  When I got to work today everyone was in red, white, and blue outfits.  Just by chance I'm in red and white, I could have put on some navy shoes and I would have been set!

 

As it is, I'm still working through my "never worn" list from my Stylebook Closet App (you can read more about my adventures with the app here  and here), and this skirt and top were both on there.  I've never paired this top with this jacket, but I think it works, even if it is bright.  The skirt, top, jacket, and even the necklace are all from White House Black Market.

 

 

I was really trying to put together a great outfit for my new shoes.  I love, love, love these new shoes.  My last look-book from Keaton Row included them. I wasn't going to buy them, but I kept dreaming about them. I kept looking them up online and smiling at them, so I went ahead and ordered them.  They arrived last night.  I was worried that all that leather crisscrossing might be uncomfortable, but they are remarkably comfortable. I decided they were keepers. If you're as dreamy-eyed as me you can still get them on Amazon.

 

 

 

Dolce Vita Harper Sandals

 

 

Charity - I use affiliate links in this blog.  That means each time you click on a link to a product I get a few cents, even if you don't purchase anything.  I have a full time job and I keep this blog purely for fun.  All proceeds I make here I donate to charity, so please click away and know it's for a great cause! Also, please tell me what your favorite charities are in the comments.  I will donate to the ones that are most popular. Many thanks!

Sometimes Custom Made isn't Great

This isn't actually a suit. The blazer is from Brooks Brothers. I have the matching skirt to make it a great summer suit, but it is a little tight on me right now (the struggle is real!). I paired it with this tan pencil skirt from White House Black Market today, for a little more casual look, and because it fits!

My French Blue blouse I had custom made in Thailand.  That's a thing there, there's a tailor on every corner. You can get beautiful clothes custom made for a fraction of the cost. My sister and I vacationed there several years ago. You can read about the trip on our travel blog, Two Traveling Blondes.

Unfortunately, my custom made blouse didn't turn out quite like I hoped. I took my favorite shirt for them to copy, but my shirt was a knit material and the tailor didn't have any stretchy fabric to choose from, so I picked out this silk in my favorite blue to try. The blouse doesn't work as well without the stretch. I have to wear a cami under it, as you can see, for both the front and the underarms, which gives it a much more casual appearance. It looks fine under a blazer for summer, but I usually pair it with jeans or shorts for a polished but casual weekend look.

My nude Louboutins round out today's outfit. They look custom made for me too! I don't think you could match my skin color any better! I knew I wore these shoes a lot, but since getting my Stylebook Closet App, I've found out that they are well worth the price tag, as they are the most worn shoes in my wardrobe.

Minimalist Shinimalist!

There's been a real trend towards minimalism in the last few years. Fashion blogs and Pinterest are littered with how to create a Causal Wardrobe, or as some like to claim, how to dress like a French woman.

Then there's Marie Kondo's New York Times best seller that espouses that if you get rid of everything that doesn't spark joy in your life you will free yourself and only greatness will follow.

I've read numerous flow charts to help you decide what to keep and what to ditch. I've tried the system of turning all of your hangers backwards, the hang them back up normally after you wear something and after 6 month you'll be able easily identify what you haven't worn and get rid of it.

I've tried all of these ideas. In January after reading Kondo's book I did a big purge and took six bags to Good Will.  But I still have so many clothes.  When I started using my Stylebook Closet App, and it gave me an actual count of everything in my closet and the combined value...holy cow! 

I really started to weigh on me. The volume of my possessions was making me a little depressed. I started obsessing a little bit about it. Am I too materialistic? Am I a shopaholic? Am I hoarder? 

What is a reasonable amount of clothes to have anyway? Looking at my statistics in my closet app I have 502 items logged. And that's not everything, but it does include bags, shoes, necklaces, belts, and scarves. 

I've been using the app for 2 months. I haven't repeated a work outfit once, and I've only repeated a casual outfit once. Out of my 502 items, I still haven't worn 204 items after 2 months. About 65 of that 204 are winter items, so that doesn't really count. So, I have about 150 items still to wear.  That will probably still take me at least 2 more months to wear everything in season in my closet.

With those 502 items I've created 665 outfits so far, without much effort. If I really tried I could probably get up to 1000 unique outfits. And I'm not splitting hairs here and counting an outfit with different shoes or a different necklace as a different outfit. These are distinctively different outfits.

There's only 365 days in the year, though. I could go over 2 years without ever wearing the same outfit! My mom would say that's obscene (that's also how she describes our Christmases with 100's of presents, hmm maybe my comfort with excess stems from that!)! 

Anyway, I was lamenting to my coworker today about how I need to get rid of half my wardrobe because I have too much and she said, "Who cares?" I thought about that for a moment, and you know what, she's right! Who cares? 

I have the space for my stuff. I don't go into debt buying things. I wear my stuff. Why does it matter that I have too much, and who's to say what too much is anyway? I'm sure it's less than any of the Kardashions!

When I got home I changed out of my work clothes and into errond clothes as I do everyday. I created a new outfit combination that utilized 2 items from my never worn list, and a great pair of wedges that I've owned for years, but have also gone years with never wearing. If I'd had followed all that minimalist advice I would have gotten rid of these shoes years ago. Instead they were the perfect shoes for my outfit today and that brought me joy! 

 

Black, Gray, and Red

I'm still working my Style Book Closet App . I've been using it for about 6 weeks, and I still have about half of my total items that have never been worn. I'm enjoying the challenge of not just reaching for my tried and true outfits, and coming up with different combinations to wear those less worn pieces.

Each morning I look at my "Never Logged to Calendar" list. Once I select a piece of clothing I want to wear, I then look at all of the outfits it is in and pick one. The app is really becoming a valuable tool!

I've had this Venician glass bead necklace since I was 5 or 6 years old. My mom bought if for me on our first trip to Venice, Itlay while we were living overseas. Can you believe I still have it!?  My original necklace is actually only half of this. My mom found a second necklace, probably on eBay, with the same colors and restrung the two of them together so I could wrap it around 3 times. Thanks mom!

Feeling Nautical

I haven't worn this white jacket in probably over a year. I've almost gotten rid of it a couple of times, but somehow it always made its way back into the closet from my donate pile.  My Stylebook Closet App manages to keep everything in my closet top of mind. Since getting the app I've managed to wear a lot of items in my closet that haven't been in rotation!  It's a great feeling. 

I got this J Crew navy skirt on eBay at the beginning of May and have already worn it 3 times. I'd been looking for a navy pencil skirt for sometime. You'd think it is such a wardrobe basic that I would be able to find one anywhere...and how do I not already own a navy skirt to begin with!? I even asked Sheila, my personal shopper at Trunk Club (Post 1, Post 2) to send me one, and

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and she came up empty too. So I headed to eBay, filtered by my go-to brands like J Crew and Banana Republic, and got this one for $37 including shipping. I love a good find! 

The yellow top was one of the items I kept from my first Trunk Club trunk that I got in April. It is so soft, like your favorite t-shirt, and the square neck keeps it looking like a blouse. Square necklines aren't flattering on everyone, but I've always liked them.

Navy pencil skirt - J Crew

 Yellow top - Lafayette 148

White jacket - Alfani

Blue silk stripe pumps - Badalino

 

Here's a close up of my shoes. I love them and wear them a lot. They are by Bandalino and I got them at DSW. Don't they look like they are made of neck-tie material? I love menswear inspired items. The only funny thing about them is you can hear me coming and going; the chain clinks with each step!

 

How to Make Louboutins More Comfortable

I have 5 pairs of Louboutins (pronounced loo-boo-ton) in my closet.  These nude Christian Louboutin pumps are my most worn shoe in my closet (my Stylebook Closet App tells me so!).  This particular nude color is perfect for my skin tone and they just blend into my legs, giving me just a tad more visual length.

I have the same shoe in black patent leather too, and wear them almost as often. 

I got married in a darling pair of white satin Louboutins with light blue lined bows. 

I have also two pairs of sky high Louboutins, you know the kind with the high platform and even higher heel that make you feel like you're in pointe shoes! 

While Louboutin's are iconic and can make you feel polished and sharp, they are not known for comfort.  I haven't yet found a way to make the sky high "Loubies" comfy, but I have found a trick for my wear all the time patent leather ones.  Get these rubber half soles put on, it makes all the difference in the world!

It is easy to do. Just take them to your regular shoe repair place where you get your  heel tips replaced. I've heard of people who ship their shoes all over the country to get these put on in just the right shade of red. You don't need to do that, just find an established cobbler. They all carry the same colors of rubber.  

I found my guy by doing a search on Yelp. There were a few reviews from others who had gotten red half soles on their Louboutins, so that's where I went (if you're in Houston it's at Kirby and Richmond near Office Depot). He did have two shades of red on his ring of rubber swatches, but the other one is much more burgundy color, not a primary red.  That little bit of grip on the bottom of the shoe makes them more stable and much easier on your feet.  

Outfit Formula: Matching Blouse and Shoes

Do you ever use formulas to get dressed?  I do. Here are some of the formulas I use most often for office outfits:

1) Matching skirt and blazer with contrasting blouse - this is your most traditional formula.  It is the most similar to a man's power suit where your blouse becomes synonymous with his tie.

2) Matching skirt and blouse with contrasting blazer

3) Matching blouse and blazer with contrasting skirt

4) Matching blouse and statement shoes with any combination of skirt and blazer

I use one of first three formulas when I'm pressed for time or when I have important meetings, because they are easy to put together and always look smart. 

When I'm I feeling creative or want to have a little more fun, like today, I'll use #4! 
Today I wore this black and white striped skirt with a pink blouse and matching statement strappy sandals. 

My skirt is from White House Black Market, the blouse is from Stitch Fix, the Shoes are Kelly and Katie from DSW.  My necklace is white topaz that I got in Sri Lanka (you can read about that trip in my Travel Blog). 

Here's a close up of the blazer.  It is by Elie Tahari, and has these wonderful ribbon details to really make it much more than your ordinary black blazer.

And these shoes are so fun!  They are by Kelly & Katie which is a private label brand created by DSW. They have enough elastic in the strap that I can get them on without having to unbuckle them which is convenient.  They are very comfortable except for a small spot on the top strap that rubbed against the top of my foot.  I actually just put a piece of tape under the strap and the problem was solved.

Stylebook Closet App after 30 days

I've officially been using the Stylebook app for 30 days now, and still love it. I faithfully log my outfits daily. As I mentioned in my first Stylebook Closet App post, the reason I finally purchased the app and started using it was for the stats it provides. As a data lover I knew I would learn valuable information, and I have.

I'm up to 362 items uploaded, and yes, I'm still adding. At this point I mostly shoes, bags, and necklaces left to upload and I just add them as I wear them.  Here's something that blows my mind though, I have 194 tops and 68 dresses.  That equals 13,192 different combinations without even counting how different shoes, accessories, or jackets can change up a look.  And it doesn't include dresses either.  Obviously not all of those combinations would be great or even wearable, but still, I think I have too many clothes!

The first thing that stands out to me is that after this first 30 days is that I have worn 147 items out of the 362, or 40%.  That's a whole lot more than I thought I would have.  I do still have 215 items I haven't worn, which seems like a lot though. I'm really going to be strict with myself and if something hasn't been worn in 6 months I am going to get rid of it.

In the first 30 days I've found that I wear this pair of orangey-red ballet flats, that I purchased 2 years ago at Target, all the time. I wear them so often that in 30 days the cost per wear is down to $2. They are falling apart and I should really throw them away, but given how much I wear them I think I'll replace them first. As I search for a replacement pair I plan on upgrading as well, since I know I will wear the heck out of them. Maybe I can find a cute pair by Tory Burch.

The other thing I've learned from this fabulous app is I carry my Louis Vuitton bag quite a bit. It is the first LV bag I ever purchased and I bought it second hand for $500. I've been wanting a new one. Specifically this one,

but I haven't been able to rationalize the purchase. Now, seeing how much I carry my first one, I know I would certainly get my money's worth out of it. Although, if I'm going to buy another designer bag, I've had my eye on a Dior bag and a YSL bag too. Oh, and then there's that Valentino Rockstud that I've been adoring. Sigh...so many bags, so little dough.

I dying to hear from other people who have embraced this app.  How many items have you uploaded?  What features do you use the most?  Does it help you plan what to wear/pack/buy?

Outfit of the Day

Today I wore this black jersey knit T Tahari wrap dress, J Crew camel blazer, and these black and camel t-strap Ivanka Trump pumps. Do you like black and camel together?

I'm still working through my closet using my Stylebook Closet App (see my post about it here ). My list of items "never logged to calendar" is still pretty long, but I'm on a mission!

Style Book Closet App

Have you tried the Style Book Closet App?  I'm so addicted. 

The app allows you to save all the items in your closet, create outfits, and log when you've worn what.  The app is $4, and while I hate to pay for apps, I think this was the best $4 spent in a long time. 

It does take a long time to take pictures of everything.  I spent several hours one Saturday doing it.  The key is to get a good picture so you don't have to go in and manually edit out the background.  What I ended up doing is throwing a sheet over my shower door and hanging the items there one by one on a clear plastic hanger. I used a navy blue sheet for my light things and a white sheet for my dark things.  Clothes with patterns are sometimes harder. I've read that a green sheet works best, but I don't have a green sheet, so I haven't tried it.

So far I've uploaded 348 items, and I'm not even done yet, yikes! I haven't added any winter clothes and I still have a lot of shoes and accessories to add.  As far as jewelry goes I've only added necklaces, and I think that's my limit.  Adding earrings, bracelets and rings just seems overwhelming to me.

The reason I finally decided to buy the app and go through all the time and effort to upload all my cloths is for the statistics the app provides.  The app will divide what you paid for the item by the number of times you've worn it to give you a cost per wear.  I love that idea!  Over time I'll be able to determine if the bargains I get from buying second hand clothing on eBay is really as good as I think it is, as well as if the expensive things I buy at Nordstrom and Neiman's might be a better deal if I use them more often. So far I'm happy to report that the Prada purse I bought a few years ago, my first folly into the world of designer handbags, is my most worn item for two months in a row now! While intuitively I already knew that, to see the actually statistic makes me love my purse even more.

I love how easy it is to put together outfits.  Yesterday, as I was getting out of my car I saw someone in the parking lot who looked really cute.  I immediately thought of my own similar pieces to what she was wearing, so as I was walking into the building I created a new outfit in the app so I could remember the combination!

This app has helped me get dressed in the morning, also. I will usually search for an outfit that's never been logged to the calendar, or if there is a particular piece of clothing I want to wear I will look search for outfits that contain that item.  I've found it most helpful when getting dressed for different events.  Daily work outfits have always been easy for me, but business casual is sometimes hard, and daytime dressy is always tricky.  I have set up a category for day time dressy so when I have those showers or first communions to go to my app helps me remember all the possibilities.

Last week I used the packing function for the first time.  I had a quick trip to Boston.  In the packing list I added a couple of outfits and then "ta da!" there was the list of everything I needed to pack.  I can't wait to use this for my upcoming Northern Europe vacation in July!

I'm hopeful that the App continues to update the statistics functions.  They could easily add a field to put in the date of purchase.  With that information you could track how long you've kept your items as well as what you've spent each month on your wardrobe.

Let me know if you've tried it and what you like about it.  I'd love to hear how may items you have in your closet - I think I might be a hoarder!