Make a Wish List

I am only a recent arrival at the "budgeting" party, meaning that until recently, I haven't been as responsible as I could have about planning my purchases/spending."How's it going?" you might ask. It's going well, except for that whole "not getting what I want when I want it" thing. I don't enjoy having to exercise self-restraint, let's just say.

Now that I've started setting some limits on my clothing spending, I've come to realize that I better also start prioritizing my clothing desires. I started using Polyvore to compile my planned purchases, so that as each month comes along, I can use the budgeted money on the pieces I want most. I admit that I enjoy looking at and trying out new trends, so often the pieces I hope to buy are pieces I've seen in magazines, on TV, on fashion blogs, etc. And thence springs today's blouse:

I was glad to find this on sale at New York and Company, because I'd been hoping to find something just like this for a while now. Since this blouse is really designed to look almost like a pajama shirt, I decided to pair it with wide-leg faux-denim trousers and a black vest to keep it looking professional. Because of the dark blue in the pants, black shoes really just didn't work, so I added a pop of color (you know how I love those!) with burgundy ankle boots.

The contrast trim at the color and cuffs would have been overshadowed by a necklace and/or bracelet, so I kept the jewelry limited to small gold teardrop hoop earrings only. I ended up being completely thrilled with how the outfit turned out, even though I went through several drafts before deciding to go with this version. Some mornings are like that, I think - you're completely ambivalent until suddenly you have no more time to spend choosing an outfit, so you say, "This'll have to do," and then, out of nowhere, you love it.

Of course, other mornings you love the outfit from the start, walk out the front door, and suddenly realize it hikes up in the back and it's too tight in the arms and you can't be totally sure, but you think it might be giving you love handles you did not have before leaving the house this morning.

Let's be grateful for the good days.


Get the look for yourself:
Blouse - New York and Company, available here.
Pants - New York and Company; similar here and here.
Vest - Gap; similar here.
Boots - Target; similar here.
Earrings - The Limited, available here.