Closet Orphans: An Update

For a while, I posted a lot about incorporating closet orphans into my everyday wardrobe. (In case you don't know what a 'closet orphan' is, it's an article of clothing that you love, but is really difficult to style. You had to have it, but it just sits in your closet, alone and sad.)

I haven't posted one in a while and I'm not sure why that is. It's not because I have fewer closet orphans, I probably have more. But somewhere along the way, I think I've finally started to get a grasp of my personal style. Things started to fall into place and my clothes are beginning to reflect who I am. That may not sound like much, but it really can be. Take it from the girl who everyone assumed was slutty in high school even though she really wasn't. It can be a huge pain when you don't have a grip on how to best represent yourself.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Here are five outfits where I've been able to incorporate five hard to style items in my closet.

- The Ruffled Blouse: I love this flesh-toned ruffle front blouse, but because it's got tiny, thin straps (this image is not the exact top), 1) It's not exactly work appropriate and 2) It's hard to wear a bra. However, with this great cardigan from Target and some skinny pants, it's suddenly safe for work!

- The Argyle Sweater. I love the colors in this sweater, but it always looked odd when paired with jeans. However, it really works with gray corduroy pants. I don't know why it makes all the difference, but it really does.

 

- The Easter Dress. While I love my Easter dress, I was having a hard time finding other excuses to wear it. Thankfully, my Stitch Fix blazer makes it almost professional. Because the blazer is so much more professional than just a cardigan, I can get away with wearing this to work.

- The Red Pants and the Amber Necklace. This outfit is a two for one. Do you know how hard it is to try and style red pants? I wish I'd given it more thought before I bought these ones. You can't see it in this picture, but the pants actually are covered in tiny orange polka dots. Fortunately, the polka dots are the exact color of the amber in my amber necklace, a closet orphan on its own. Keeping everything else very simple lets these two pieces work together.

- The Orange Top and the Blue Earrings. These two closet orphans combine to make two casual pieces a little more fancy for the weekend. Warm weather appropriate, yet still pretty cute. Perfect for about half dozen trips to Home Depot.