Earlier this week I issued a Purge Prompt for the Closet Minimalism Game…
Day 21 Closet Minimalism Game #purgeprompt: Closing Night – give an iffy dress(or two or nine) a final wear this week, then bid them adieu. 👗😢 #closetminimalismgame
I went through my dresses and identified NINE iffy dresses…
#1
I immediately ruled out the tie-dye chambray dress – too tight! It barely fit last summer but I went on a liquid diet* and made it work, but now I’m storing up carbs for winter so it’s time to part ways.
(*wine slushies)
#2
I also ruled out the chambray polka-dot Anthro dress – too short! I LOVE the dress but it is just too short to be decent for all that I have to do in my life. I’ve only worn it once and even though it looks okay with leggings, it’s still a “one trick pony” and I can do better than that.
I paid $3.50 for it – with thrifting, you can make these decisions guilt-free!
#3
I also ruled out the black/tan/grey print dress because it has a slight cowl and I don’t like cowls so I hardly ever wear it even though it has pockets.
Nothing against cowls.
#4
I did however keep the hot pink and orange silk dress – I don’t wear it often but it brings back fond memories of thrifting in Livingston where I saw John Mayer and we became best friends*.
And it was only $3 and takes up hardly any space – good reasons to keep it! (*The last part may not be accurate.)
#5
I also kept the mustard/pink Anthro dress because it has pockets and great colours and deserves at least 2 more wears so I can get my $3.50 out of it!
Plus I tried it on and it is fitting a bit better now than when I first wore it.
That left four dresses to try out last week and make some tough decisions…
#6
Striped Anthro dress, scored for $3.50. I thought I would wear it tons but I haven’t. I spent the day feeling like Peter Pan the Referee which definitely does not spark joy. This one is going. But it did give me a good reason to wear my olive Flatter Me: Belt.Suddenly realizing I have a severe case of MMS (Matchy-Matchy Syndrome) from head-to-toe. Oops.
#7
Wednesday I wore this $9.10 grey polka dot dress. It is super comfy and easy to wear. I felt great all day and got some compliments so I decided to keep it – for at least one more season!Love this pashmina-silk blend scarf I scored for $2.80!
#8
The $3.50 velvet dress which actually IS long enough to be a dress. When I wore it before, someone commented that it should be repurposed as a witch costume…But aside from my dog, who clearly loves the dress, several people complimented me and not because they were afraid I would throw them into a cauldron. I didn’t love it with the leggings but I want to give it one more go with plain ol’ tights before I … throw it into the cauldron.
#9
I love the colours and patterns of this silk “dress” (not on me) but the sleeves are a bit pirate-shirt-ish and it doesn’t work with a belt and pants/leggings and I just didn’t feel great in it. It might as well go to someone (shorter) who can wear it as a dress or a tunic and give it the love it deserves.
You may be thinking, “She has 9 iffy dresses! How many dresses does this crazy lady have?” Well, IF you promise no judgment and IF you keep in mind that before I started thrifting I had NO dresses and have accumulated these over the past 5 years, read on as I reveal my dress collection!
5 maxi dresses…5 black dresses including Lida Baday, Liz Claiborne, Theory, and a silk UK brand… (trying to get this to photograph well put me into the Yellow Zone so I gave up, please forgive me)6 black-print dresses…5 neutral dresses including Vince, BCBG, Oxmo, Hugo Boss and Nicole Miller…4 blue-ish dresses…3 green-ish dresses…5 yellow-ish dresses including the first dress I ever thrifted – the yellow colour-block towel dress…9 red-ish dresses (I forgot to put in a fave BCBG one in the shot!)5 solid-colour red-ish dresses including my beloved Isabel Marant (no you cannot have it Adina!)
I do have a few “special” dresses including my vintage black dress, silk J Crew dress scored at Goodwill in the US, beaded French Connection dress, silk new-with-tags J Crew dress with pockets, Lida Baday dress that needs tailoring and my two Madmen dresses that are going to a cocktail party soon…
And there’s one I haven’t worn yet aside from Halloween…
I’m not sure if it all adds up here or not, but I’ve made my list and counted it twice and the grand total is… 60 dresses!! It sounds like a lot (and it is) but my closet can handle it, they’re ALL thrifted and I love dresses. So there.
Wow, you lucky duck! Small closet here, which I share with my dear husband. Loved looking through your collection! I thought, if I could steal a few dresses, which ones would I go for? That navy silk one definitely. If you ever had to pare down to, say, 12 dresses, which ones would you pick?
That is an excellent question and I’ve been giving it some thought since reading my pal Adina’s post on the platonic closet! I would keep the Isabel Marant, the watercolour and striped maxi, the black and navy Lida Baday, the striped, the oxblood Theory, the Beige by eci, the vintage black dress, the peach J Crew one (for my daughter when she gets bigger!), black Liz Claiborne and BCBG with grey band at the waist. But I would do so only under GREAT duress LOL!!
Congratulations on a beautiful dress collection, lovely to see them all.
Perhaps I was too harsh on the black velvet number and it was just the way the light caught the nap in the photo. The dog obviously loves you in it!
Hahaha well it was a fair consideration!! I still don’t feel I nailed a styling I *love* but I’ll give it one more go (and then put it in my Halloween box!). Thanks for reading and commenting – I truly appreciate it!
“My closet can handle it, so there” is my new thrift motto.
(Ps can you tell I caught up on several posts at once?! Sorry to cram your inbox with comments)
8 Comments
Wow, you lucky duck! Small closet here, which I share with my dear husband. Loved looking through your collection! I thought, if I could steal a few dresses, which ones would I go for? That navy silk one definitely. If you ever had to pare down to, say, 12 dresses, which ones would you pick?
That is an excellent question and I’ve been giving it some thought since reading my pal Adina’s post on the platonic closet! I would keep the Isabel Marant, the watercolour and striped maxi, the black and navy Lida Baday, the striped, the oxblood Theory, the Beige by eci, the vintage black dress, the peach J Crew one (for my daughter when she gets bigger!), black Liz Claiborne and BCBG with grey band at the waist. But I would do so only under GREAT duress LOL!!
Congratulations on a beautiful dress collection, lovely to see them all.
Perhaps I was too harsh on the black velvet number and it was just the way the light caught the nap in the photo. The dog obviously loves you in it!
Hahaha well it was a fair consideration!! I still don’t feel I nailed a styling I *love* but I’ll give it one more go (and then put it in my Halloween box!). Thanks for reading and commenting – I truly appreciate it!
“My closet can handle it, so there” is my new thrift motto.
(Ps can you tell I caught up on several posts at once?! Sorry to cram your inbox with comments)
Haha I ❤️ comments anytime!! And it’s a good motto! Thanks for reading!
I need to do this thrifting prompt game. It actually really helped me get rid of things.
That is great to hear!! I am in process of compiling all the prompts into one handy download – stay tuned! xoxoxo
– Nicole