2017 Superlatives

Another year has come and gone, which means it is time for me to look back at what I've purchased. If you'd like to look at last years' superlatives, you can click here.

The Past: Starting in 2014, I have kept an excel chart of my purchases, documenting brand, price, size, and end of year reflections on the item (how much have I worn it, alteration costs, and so on); a few insights:

1. This year, only 35% of my wardrobe was purchased secondhand, which is a bit down from last year. 
2. The single store/website that I purchased the most items from was Nordstrom Rack (16 items) and my most purchased brand was Rag & Bone (8 items). 
3. I ended up going about $100 over my budget (although I did buy a wedding dress this year, which was a one-time purchase and caused the total budget to grow above what I'd normally expect it to be).
4. I did save a whopping 81% off the retail price of my clothing (up from last year)! (For anyone wondering how I calculate that number, some clothes - like from Nordstrom Rack, still have the tags so you can see what the retail price was, and for items that are secondhand, I do a google search to try and locate the exact item, but take a guess when necessary, based on comparables). 

The Future: In looking ahead to 2018, I'd like to increase my second-hand purchases to make up at least a majority of my total overall purchases. I said that last year too, so I guess I want to try to actually achieve it this year. There are a lot of good second-hand and vintage stores in the Bay Area, some of which I already know about, but I bet there are even more, waiting to be discovered. Also, I honestly like mostly everything I bought in 2017 and there isn't anything currently that my heart desires. Usually there is a specific item, or a general category that I want to tackle, but right now I feel pretty content. My plan is to try to capitalize on that feeling and do a better job of  organizing and displaying my clothes, so that I remember what is in there. One of my favorite things about the spreadsheet is that it is always a good reminder about what is in my closet, and what (if I see it on the sheet and haven't thought about it for a whole year) should probably go.

Anyway, enough of that, let's get to the roundup:

New Jeans

Top | Amour Vert
Blazer | Theory
Pants | Rag & Bone Dre Jeans
Belt | Talbots
Shoes | Cole Haan

     For me, 2017 has really been a "the days seem long but the year seems short" kind of year. I've had a bit of a posting hiatus while I sort out a few things and wind down the year. I am, however, looking forward to going through all my 2017 purchases and figuring out my best and worst purchases of the year. 

All Over the Place Lace

Dress | Self Portrait Prairie Dress
Clutch |  Reed Krakoff for Kohls
Coat | Rebecca Taylor

    I've written before about my interest in the brand, Self Portrait, and their use of lace. It is always creative, and they pick such great colors. Thankfully, with each passing season there are more and more of their pieces popping up secondhand or substantially discounted (there are quite a few on TheRealReal and I bought this one for 50% off from Neiman's last year).

Mulberry

Tank - Grana Silk V Neck Camisole (xxs)
Pants - Frame Denim (secondhand)
Shoes - Coclico
Cardigan - Target

     I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving weekend. I didn't do that much Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping, but one of the things I did do was finally place an order with the brand Grana. I have been hearing about them a lot (I just randomly listened to their founder on a podcast) and they had a 50% off flash sale, so I rolled the dice and ordered a few items. I'll do a more in-depth review of what I purchased in short order, but for now, here is a sneak peak at their Silk V-Neck Camisole, which I can already tell I am going to wear all the time.

The Dress I Got Married In

All photos taken by the talented DP.

      There is a lot that I could say about the day I got married. In fact, I think I could probably do a month of posts: describing the groom, the location, our decision not to have a traditional wedding, my friends, our honeymoon, etc. However, that isn't what today's post is about. It is just about the dress. 

     In case you are just joining me here, I love clothes and I love fashion. Once I knew I was getting married, I turned my attention to finding something that would make me feel like a boss. I wasn't having a wedding in the traditional sense (we went to city hall) and I knew I didn't want to wear white. However, I didn't know what I did want to wear, and I didn't have a lot of time to find something. I started out by going on the Real Real, and scouring their dramatic gowns and runway dresses. The only issue was that I had no idea how some of these dresses would fit, and I was concerned about time lost in shipping and returning. I spent a few hours looking at department store websites, seeing if anything jumped out at me. Then, I remembered this dress (the one I ended up wearing) that a friend and I had seen at a consignment store 6 months back. It was on a manikin in the window of the store and, to be totally frank, the owner was a little bit rude when I asked about who the designer was. She simply told me not to touch it. (Helpful.) I figured it was unlikely that it was still there, but I should go back, as the store had a deep selection of gowns and at least I could try them on in person. 

     Well, I'm sure you can guess what happened - the dress was still there! Also, since it had been there for a while, it was on sale, and since I can't help myself sometimes, I ended up talking them down on the price even further. I knew I'd have to get the hem shortened and assumed I'd need to find a tailor who could do a proper job, which probably wouldn't be cheap. (It actually was totally reasonable, and was worth every penny.)

    To back up a step, this dress is from the Antonio Marras 2014 Spring Ready-to-Wear collection, shown in Milan. This is what it looked like on the model, and I think if I'd only seen this photo, I would not have bought this dress, whereas in person, it was totally dreamy.

Dark Florals

Top | Tanya Taylor Nessa (secondhand)
Pants | Citizens of Humanity (secondhand) 

     As someone who generally loves solid colors, and eschews prints, I was shocked that I was so taken by this top. At first glance, it has a lot going on - bright color, embroidery, long sleeves and an off-the-shoulder cut.  That being said, the print has a bit of a nostalgic pull for me. When I was little I took a Ballet Folklorico class (it is Mexican Folkloric Ballet...and pretend there is an accent on the second "o" in Folklorico, I can't figure out how to do it on Blogger), and a lot of the shirts have this same embroidery flower pattern. I don't remember particularly liking or disliking the dancing, as a child, but I did love the outfits.

     Did you ever engage in extra curricular activities solely for the outfits? Honestly, I feel like most of my excitement over youth soccer involved these elaborate fringed ponytail holders that one of the Team Moms made and sprayed with glitter glue.