You might recognize Andrea from my recent clothing exchange post. Andrea appreciates a bargain as much as I do and she has great tips on how to get a deal. As a fellow clothes horse, I knew Andrea had a lot of great styles in her closet so I challenged her to remix a few of her favorite pieces. The following outfits are items that Andrea hadn’t worn in a while and hadn’t combined in these ways.
Blazer: Clothing Exchange
Turtleneck and boots: Ross Dress for Less
Jewelry: Fred Meyer
Jeans: Paige via Marshall’s
Overcoat: Nordstrom
Hat: Boutique in Portland
Poncho: Marshall’s
Hat: San Francisco Hat Company via PCC Natural Markets
Trousers: The Limited (Buy one, get one 50%)
Shoes and clutch: Ross Dress for Less
Jacket and skirt: Clothing exchange
Top, belt, and boots: Ross Dress for Less
Jewelry: White House Black Market
Looking at Andrea’s outfit, I noticed a few things: She loves classic pieces in neutral colors with pops of red. It’s definitely her go-to accent color. Also, she looks great in hats and isn’t afraid to wear them.
Andrea appears to be a Ross addict! Ross Dress for Less and similar off-price stores (like Marshall’s and TJ Maxx) are great ways to get designer items for a good deal. The buyers at Ross work with manufacturers to buy overruns and then sell them deeply discounted.
I asked Andrea to share her tips. Here’s what she said:
- Once a year take everything out of your closet and put things back one by one. Reorganize your clothes and put them back in a different order pants on the left this time, color coded, etc.) to change the visibility. If you haven’t worn in it in over a year you probably won’t ever wear it again so start your clothing exchange/donate pile.
- Keep your receipts! I often buy when I don’t need to and recently found a handful of items still with tags. Most stores will honor original price on return if you have the receipt… even if it’s very old.
- Push yourself to be bold. When going to work I have less fun, however have been newly inspired by going through my clothes and seeing so many things I forgot I had or was too lazy to work into an outfit.
- Take photos of your favorite outfits. When you feel really good in something, make sure to take a photo so you won’t forget to put that ensemble together in the future.
- Ensure you’re wearing the correct bra size. It’s common knowledge most women are wearing the wrong size. I have to tell you when I was correctly sized and got bras that fit well clothes started to feel and look better as well. At some point I was wearing a 36C however I am actually a 34DDD. Now the ladies are right where they should be!
- Try out sockittome socks! Some of the most fun socks to wear even if you aren’t showing off the designs.
I have even more of Andrea’s outfit pictures so I’ll post part two in a few weeks.
jeanofalltrades 
The tips are awesome! I just tried the first one and this time, I took all my denim off the hangars and folded them on my shelf. In their place, all the jackets I own that are more of an outfit jacket than a real jacket. Does that make sense? I’m so happy I did it! Next up, the bra. The one I just got stinks. I turn to the side, and I pop right out. Ugh.
Awesome! I’m glad you’re reorganizing and finding new ways to organize your closet. I like the tips too.
I’m going to get fitted for a bra right away. That’s the biggest takeaway for me. I also think I’ll organize my jeans by length so I can pick a pair to go with heels or flats without trying them on first.
Love your look, Andrea!! You look great in hats! Very stylish!
I need to re-organize, too. Thanks for the tips!!
Andrea inspires me to try hats more too. I wear them, but on “bad hair days” not always with fashion in mind.
Some great tips, especially keeping the reciepts, I guess we must all be guilty of sometimes buying things that we change our minds about.