Weekly Weigh In #10: Lookin' for my bling.

I have always loved fall.  I love the cooler weather, the foods that happen inside the kitchen on colder days, and the free pass to wear as much pumpkin orange as I want.  I love Halloween, and Thanksgiving, and enjoy watching the leaves turn lots of different shades of red and gold.  And now, I have a new reason to love fall:  boots.  Let me explain.

This week, I weighed in, and had a fantastic week:

Weight:  231

6 pounds lost

37 pounds total.

To celebrate, rather than have a cheesesteak (which is what I really wanted), I decided to try and update my style a bit.  This was one part necessity - my pants are no longer close to fitting - and one part desire.  So, I went out and got two new pairs of pants that actually fit, and dug a little deeper into the back of my closet for those shirts that had not been worn in ages.  They now fit beautifully - they button without gaping at the stress points, and hang the way they should.  In fact, my boxy tee shirts are looking less and less appealing every day compared to the tailored shirts of my past.

The reality here is that at some point, everything that fits me now will be taken to Goodwill before I'm through.  At some point, I will have an entirely new wardrobe.  For most women, this is a great perk - new clothes!  Woo hoo!  But for me, someone who has never been good at choosing clothes or assembling outfits, this is something daunting... and so, I will approach it like I do any project:  research and planning.

I'm reading magazines, paying more attention to what stylish people wear, making an effort to take steps now that I can, like accessorizing with jewelry instead of scarves that hide my entire upper half.  But, most importantly, I'm watching the fabulous Stacey London and Clinton Kelly on What Not To Wear with a whole new attitude: research.


On this week's show, they gave us a formula that was so simple, but so brilliant, I have memorized it already:  


LOVE-LIKE-COMPLETER PIECE-BLING-BLING.


This was a revelation.


Pick a top you love, put a neutral bottom with it, and then a completer piece - a sweater, jacket, or the like - to tie it together and maybe interject some color.  (Any of these three pieces can be the "LOVE" item, it doesn't always have to be the top.  Then, put some amazing shoes (bling!) and another killer accessory like bangles or a sweet necklace (bling!) with a great bag (my own addition) and you have an honest-to-God outfit.


I have never thought about it like this.  I have a closet of pieces, most of them interchangeable because they're either black or khaki... but I have few actual outfits.  And now, it's time to change that.


So, I inventoried my closet and realized that while my clothes may need to wait to be replaced, I can begin with the bling bling now.  I surveyed the wall of shoes, and almost immediately I had a miniature heart attack when I realized they're both boring and uninformed - and not one damn shoe is a part of an outfit.  I immediately started scrolling through my memory of the show, and realized that my problem was COLOR.  Oh, Stacey and Clinton - you put saffron yellow shoes with a red dress?  GENIUS!  A great little animal print wedge with jeans and a dark blue shirt, you say?  WHY, YES!  I have a whole new interest in shoes now, and so, decided I'd go try and find a pair that the dynamic duo would approve of.


I journeyed out to find some shoes that might be bling-worthy, but also wearable across the many acres of my museum on a daily basis.  I have some reliable clogs that are black leather from Land's End that are trusty and comfortable for when I'm on my feet all day, but I wanted more than just that.  I wanted dark red suede wedges and leopard print strappy sandals and... boots.  Real, awesome boots.

My boot desire is new.  I think I never wanted them before because I couldn't zip them over my ample calves.  So, I went out in search of a low boot that could be worn under pants, but give my outfits a kick.  And to my surprise, I found some great, distressed-leather dark blue boots that are mid-height - and comfortable.  They're kinda biker kick-ass, but would look great with jeans.  And, they were on sale.  DONE.  


And then, I saw another pair:  some tough but tailored gray suede boots, that go all the way to the knee.  And I began to sweat.  Should I try them on?  Do I DARE?  My internal monologue was very negative, and I nearly walked away... and then, I did the unthinkable.  I put them on, and zipped them up.  AND THEY FIT.  Suddenly, a whole world of options opened before me:  a skirt, in winter?  WELL, SURE!  Some capri-length pants in fall?  HECK YEAH!  I now understood all those magazine images of people in fantastic boots, looking happy to be toasty warm and devastatingly cool.  And now, I might be one step closer to being just like them.


As if Mother Nature herself was proud of my weight loss achievements, this morning, the weather was dramatically cooler outside.  Gone were the 90+ degree days of earlier this week - and a cool 48 degree morning was here.  It's going to linger a bit before getting warm again, they say - sounds like pretty good boot weather to me.