Storage Solutions

I think most of us would agree that I have accumulated a lot of shit over the past few years. I have no idea how it happened, all I can say is that it has. Recently, I got rid of a LOT of clothes. I gave Su 2 or 3 large bags full and the rest I gave to another friend as I just couldn't be bothered sifting through them for myself. To put the amount in perspective, we loaded the bags (shopping bags of various sizes) in the boot of the car her husband was driving; it was a Holden something-or-other and suffice to say, it had a big boot. We filled up the boot and had to move on to the back seat of the car.

So yeah, now that we've taken car of how much I've given away (I think maybe about 50lbs in weight? Maybe more?) we can tackle what I still have. I've taken a few pictures of some of the things I have. Make that most of the things I have. I still have some dresses and nearly all my coats in storage, plus I didn't include a picture of my 'cardigan tub' - literally a plastic box containing the bulk of my cardigans, though I also have an extra bag of the lighter ones. Anyway, shall we begin?

This is the infamous rack that was needed to house my dresses. As you can see near the top right hand corner of the photo, that rack is in serious danger of collapsing. I'm sure its not the weight of the clothes, it had done that from day 1. I suppose I can't complain, it was only about $25 from Ikea. There was another clothes rack but I didn't like how it looked so I have to deal with this and pray it doesn't fall apart before I've had a chance to find another. My original idea was to have all my dresses on one (hahaha, that is so never going to happen, I still have lots more dresses that will never make it on there due to the fear of it breaking apart there and then) and my coats and cardigans on another. Suffice to say I chose not to keep the other rack.

This is the closet to the left of the clothes rack. Yes, those are shoe boxes that you see. There are 2 main columns of them, and another much shorter third column of mostly empty boxes. I must confess that these do not include my boots either. And I have more clothes hanging in there too. In my defense, I do mean to give away some shoes too. I just haven't got round to sorting through them yet. But I will one day. Also, Scott has some clothes also hanging so its not just me. :)

Given we have seasons over here, I tend to mainly have a particular season in my walk-in-robe in my bedroom. The rest either get stored away in boxes in the same robe, or they get put here. With the shoe boxes, I originally had planned on keeping all the shoes in their respective boxes and taking pictures of all my shoes and sticking it on the boxes. Of course, this wasn't always practical so I now have my most often worn shoes on a rack (or 2) in the kitchen.

Which beings us to this. On this rack are the shoes I wear a little more often (other than boots, including my new oh-so-gorgeous pair of booties) and have been colour-coded just to make it look prettier. :) As you can see, they are in the main, work shoes.

Although to be perfectly honest, I rarely wear the reds. The ones one the far left are absolutely comfortable LK Bennett ones, but I rarely wear anything that flat anymore. And if I do wear flats, they're either flip flops or ballet flats. The pointy patents only work with tights as the heel comes up really high and chafes (I tried recently and went barefoot in the office most of the time), the peep-toes have stretched so much its not even funny and the final pair I probably wear the most often.

I get pretty much even wear out of the rest, except maybe for the bronze sandals on the 3rd row. And the ridiculously high (5" or 6" high) black 2nd from the right are only worn when I know for sure I won't have to do much walking. I'm no fool after all. :) The tan peep-toes on the fair right are my latest tan-shoe buy and probably one of the best as I wear them a lot.

In the 2nd shoe rack, I'd say the most worn are on the top, and the pale blue sandals on the centre of the bottom row (you can just about make it out). Also in the bottom row are some vintage (including Ferragamo) shoes courtesy of my mum. I should explain the trainers being on the top row. I do actually wear them pretty often, maybe once or twice a week when I go for a run. And that's actually a lot more often than some other shoes I have. Of course, it'll soon get too cold for me to run at all, in which case they'll be left for spring.

Next comes the stuff in my room. Scott and I share the walk-in-robe. When I say share, I mean I take up most of the space of course. Well, I do have a lot more stuff though I think he's starting to expand his collection of clothes as well. Anyway, hanging up I have 3 jackets that I'm currently wearing a fair bit, followed by tops that are sorted by colour, then skirts and finally trousers.

Given there's a fair bit of stuff, its fair to say there's been some uh, 'overflow' into other areas. The first is directly under the picture above. I'm a big fan of these stackable boxes and drawers. In 1 box I have what I call my warm weather tops (strappy tops, casual short sleeve tops and light cardis) and the other would have my cold weather tops. These boxes are opened and brought out and closed and ouched to the back of the robe depending on what season it is. Soon, I'll have to close up this box here and move it to under the skirts and trousers. The plastic bags contain pyjames, excercise clothes, cardigans, grandpa cardigans (I went a little overboard and bought maybe 5 or 6 new ones in different colours and styles) and more hangers. And in the cupboard that sits opposite of the foot of the bed, I have the tops that serve me equally for work and play, in both winter and summer. And also a stack of shorts, some of which I have worn to work as well.

And now we come to the bags. The bags in the picture on the left are the ones I use more often and hang on my bedroom door. Oh, I do have 2 more bags that I use very often (a sand Chloe Bay and a gray Sportsgirl tote) - so much so that they're on the floor beside my bed. :) The picture on the right shows the space above the clothes in my walk-in-robe and I think I have enough of a mix of well-covered bags and those that are unfortunately left exposed to the dust. Again, some of these get much more use than others but I can't seem to let go, just in case I do want to use them again. The space right above used to be filled with bags and bags of clothes that hadn't been worn in years. Only now, I'm not sure what to put up there since they'd then be rather inaccessible without a chair to boost my rather meager height.


I suppose we should talk accessories next. In a nutshell, I have sitting on top of my cupboard - a large porcelain bowl with my chunky necklaces, a tray with some of my rings and bracelets and a stand for my earrings. I used to have these on my bedside table but Kimi was very adept at rattling them about to wake me up at all odd hours of the morning. I actually have more necklaces and a whole lot of brooches but Some of the former and all of the latter are in my bedside drawers.

I noticed since coming here that I went through phases. First I used to just wear earrings and even then, I figured 1 of each colour was more than sufficient. Soon after, the trend to wear cultiple strands of beaded necklaces came and and I jumped on the bandwagon. Next came the more restrained and ladylike brooches, which I paired with earrings. After that, were lockets on long chains, along with bracelets, bangles and now also over-sized cocktail rings.

I still wear my long chains a fair bit. These are hard to store are the chains would tangle, and I noticed that most stands do not cater for the length. So my solution is to hang them off the side of my bed. Again, not the best idea as Kimi delights in sitting on my table and flicking them but I think I ignore her well enough. Plus I've managed to drastically scale back the contents of my table top.

Now all I have there nightly would be a perfume bottle (Estee Lauder Emerald Dream), a giant tub of petroleum jelly for a very cheap and very effective lipbalm (also good for drier areas like your heels and elbows), a thermostat gauge because there's nothing like knowing you've been forced out of bed when its 2 degrees outside, a table lamp that also doubles as a bangle holder and some papers (now these, Kimi tends to paw at every single morning. She has been known to send them flying if she feels I'm not responding fast enough).
Now finally the belts. I've also had a bit of changes with these over the years. I suppose like with the beads, the more relaxed bohemian look of the early 2000's called for belts to be casually slung low on the hips. These belts were also usually thick and more of ten than not, ethnic-inspired. Around the mid-2000's the look become more sharp and tailored, with the waist being the area of emphasis. Belts were now preferred cinched around the waist, in thin bands. Well, that called for and update of belts, obviously. And now in 2008, the waist is still as important than ever, but with the high-drama that fashion now entails, we've also moved on to exaggerated cinching with wide corset-like belts.

I think the 1 style I have the most of would be the plaited belt. The reason for this is that I can use these both at my waist and on my hips, and also that most belts that are made for either are usually still too big for me. With some, you can have extra holes put in but that isn't always the case.

So there you have it. My clothes, shoes, jewelery, belts and bags. Yes, my look is still evolving. I went through a very "Carrie Bradshaw" period where I loved pretty, floaty, feminine frocks. now I like clothes with more structure. I used to go very minimal on jewelery, just using a belt and earrings. Then I used to pile on 3 or 4 necklaces for a layered look. Now, I just find a happy medium that is still fresh with the trends but essentially still me - comfortable, stylish and flattering. Because even though the look now calls for emphasized waists, there's still nothing like a good wide belt slung low at your hips to disguise the signs of a pot-belly.

Booty-licious!

A few days ago, I went into a shoe shop - Emporium (4 floors of shoes - 3 for women and 1 for men) and sought out a pair of ankle boots. I have already spoken of this mission before and believe me, what a mission it was. I saw nothing I liked on both the first 2 floors but seemed to have a hint of success on the third. They were by Mollini; black, platform, had a gloriously high heel and were low cut enough that my ankles would not be covered. However, I wasn't quite sure if they would translate well as work-wear. Consequently, I chose not to buy them at that point.

Something I had bought previously was there really dinky pair of 2-toned Mary Jane's from Charles & Keith in Singapore. When I was there in December last year, I fell in love with a pair of light grey and white ones and when I was once again there in February, I swung by the outlet in Changi Airport. I had tried on countless pairs of shoes and in the end, bought the same thing only in black and white (though I really should say off-white for both). These I wore yesterday with with tights and I thought they looked really cute. Although I have to admit that my foot slides forward a bit too much, causing my left big toenail to be pressed up against the top of the shoe. Makes it very uncomfortable after a while.

Anyway, I was suuposed to stay on later at work yesterday as well, so I decided to actually go out for a lunch break. This means I go out and shop, though this was only because Scott had a meeting on and wasn't able to join me. I stopped in Valley Girl first and tried on quite a lot of chunky knit cardigans. Somehow, nothing seemed right. Though I have enough of those anyway, and really shouldn't even be thinking about buying more. I wound up buying a lovely cotton floral summer dress, though it looked hot with tights as well.

The next (unplanned) stop was Zu and in there I saw this pair of black ankle boots. Once again, they were not a shiny patent, they were at least 4" if not more, had a decent platform, were neither too pointy nor too round, had this cute little gold zip detail on 1 side, were low enough around the ankle and most importantly, were in my size. Though this doesn't mean much, given its still going to be a bit big anyway. Anyway, I tried, I liked and I bought. I'm planning on bringing them into work on Monday, just to wear in the office itself (I'd wear flats on the train and walking to work) so I can see what the wearability is like and I won't be scuffing the soles and can still return them if I chose to. So yeah, now there's just those tan boots to procure.

I did see a nice pair of cognac ones in Zu though. Oh, the possibilities...

New Winter Looks

Yesterday we had our first really cool day, dare I even say cold. It was wet, windy and downright miserable if like me, you were waiting for a late train on an open platform. Had I been warmly curled up in bed, I'm sure I would have had a different outlook on it. Anyway, this change of season means a change in wardrobe, more or less.

Last year I noticed that my wummer clothes translated quite well into winter, them back to summer and again, winter this year. Obviously, I don't wear trousers in the summer months but I do still wear my skirts in both summer and winter; I just whack on some tights and maybe boots to keep warmer. With the current look in layering, many summer dresses now have an extended wardrobe life as well, the same goes for silk blouses and strappy tops.

In that sense, I suppose it could be harder for one to 'create' a new wardrobe. Or okay, maybe most people don't but I know I do. As it is, I try not to wear the exact same outfit more than once in a 3 month rotation at work. Oufit encapsulates shoes and accessories so its actually easier to do than one would think.

Anyway, I haven't done that much buying for this winter. I know that shift dresses are out, but I still have a fair few that I think would work well this season. I already have enugh sweaters and pencil skirts for the new anti-volume, body con (body conscious) look but I do still want something a little on-trend. I've decided it might be time for me to try ankle boots.

Yes, I know its a hard look to pull off, especially if you're more than just a little vertically challenged like me. But I think, with the right cut and height, and in the right outfit, they can work. First and foremost, I cannot buy anything that covers my ankle. Second, something with an aopening that slopes towards my toes would help to elongate my legs, instead of just cutting them off at the ankle. Welcome to the new shoe boot, or shoot. :) I will also need to find something at least 4 inches high and preferably with a platform - I like to tell myself they're better for avoiding puddles.

Another winter look that I've thought about are long socks, as opposed to tights. These can also be worn with anble boots or sticking out over normal high boots. Another way of wearing them is to layer 1 thin sock over another or slightly different length. I'm just afraid I'll wind up looking too school-girl. NOT a good look when you're pushing 30. Its as bad as squeezing yourself into a bikini you have no reason to be wearing. 1 pieces have been in for some time and some people should just learn to make use of them. Cover ups too. Or just not pour themselves into swimwear.

So yeah, I will be on the lookout for the perfect pair of shoots, along with the perfect pair of tan boots that continue to evade me.