FIFTY! Pink Party, and the Closet Swap-Over

Well, well...now I'm FIFTY years old. I guess I shall have to update my profile write-up! There, done. 

L and I went to our friend Greg's birthday party on Saturday night. I'm pretty sure women over 50 aren't "supposed to" wear this sort of outfit. 

 I generally don't like people telling me what to do or what to wear, so screw that! This is my entry for "Visible Monday" over at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style. Since I'm only 50, and not dead, I'm in!

• Leather shirt - Danier Leather, consignment; purchased here for $69.00 in Sidney
• Skirt - Danier Leather, thrifted in Powell River; last seen here in April with bad lavender booties
• Boots - Prepare Hi , Fluevog; last worn here (2nd outfit) in a "Nightmare" look for the VFF Gala in February 2016
• Sleeveless coat (below) - Only, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) a few days ago over my Space Pants ensemble

Check out the awesome sleeves on this beautiful top! They have a slit, then a wavy "fin" that dangles off them. Perfect for dragging through your favourite dip.

 This pink shirt was a freakin' delight to wear, although I was way overdressed for a casual house party. However, that's what I do. It would be weird for me to show up in jeans and a t-shirt. I wouldn't feel like me!

The shirt is leather-finished on the inside and sueded on the outside, and is butter soft. It'll gradually shape to my body. I wore a black cami under it for smoothing and extra warmth. It's still lovely weather out for October, but quite crisp in the evenings.

L is always dapper, in his purple jeans, purple Fluevogs and blue velvet jacket

 I'm shocked that I haven't worn this leather miniskirt in so long, but it was a warm summer and I do have a lot of clothes! I added the lacy tights for more visual texture.

Outerwear - just enough to keep me warm.

 L and I took the bus both ways. We're not your average-looking bus couple, ha ha! We got a few stares.

The stuff:

 I loved the punch of neon green leather from the bag. These boots are way more comfy than they look, thanks to the hidden platform. They're very stable for walking, although I clutched at L while we hobbled along the uneven sidewalks in the dark residential neighbourhoods.

• Purse - Club Monaco, thrifted
• Earrings - vintage 80s, Joyce's
• Hematite ring - thrifted
• Death Star ring - Soul Flower

After a nice sleep-in on Sunday morning, I strolled to town for my weekly grocery shop, then started in on the big job of cleaning out my closet. I swap over my spring/summer wardrobe at the end of September (I was a little busy last weekend, you may recall, and chose to delay it a week), and again at the end of March (link to last spring's swap-out here). About 30% of my wardrobe is for wearing all year round and stays out, but the rest of it needs to be assessed (keep or not?) then packed away for the season.

Starting with a "before" shot:

 Me in the mirror, Vizzini poking around, and the controlled chaos of what my closet looks like at the end of 6 months: a little bit of a mess and somewhat overcrowded, and spilling over with the new season's not-yet-worn items.

I start with the lower rack on the left, which is my shirts and blouses, longer skirts and my trousers. I pull out everything that's not staying out (all pieces are done up (buttons, snaps, zips) and folded and set in piles), removing the empty hangers and dusting the rail.

 Not too much left. I then pulled all the sweaters, cardigans and sleeveless sweater tops off the bottom two shelves and clean them with wood polish.

Next is the long-hang rack, where I store my jumpsuit, dusters and dresses.

 Substantially thinned. Sundresses - gone!

The shelf above the dresses didn't get cleaned out this time around - this is more costume-y dress-up pieces.

 The velvet boxes are storage for a few old sentimental pieces, like my dad's sweaters.

Next, working my way from left to right, the top shelf above my short skirts also didn't get cleaned out.

 I store a couple of vintage hats up there, plus two pairs of vintage shoes.

I had to thin out the skirts even further than this, due to lack of hangers once I'd unpacked all my fall/winter clothes.

 The growth in my trouser collection means fewer skirts. I refuse to buy more hangers!

My shoes are all removed from the closet and lined up down the hallway.

 Everything from fall/winter unpacked, plus the shoes that I plan on keeping out from the spring/summer season.

So many, they go around the corner.

 I'm pleased to see more flats in my collection. Lots of good walking shoes and boots.

Oh, there's more.

 More boots! There are also about 6 more pairs in the closet already at this point.

And here are the spring/summer shoes that I packed away.

 I did remove about 4 pairs of shoes from my collection; ones that I just didn't like, or that hurt my feet. I forgot to take a picture of the giveaway pile, but it was massive!

Oh, and before you ask: 95. That's how many pairs of shoes I have in total, all seasons.

Here's the pile of the spring/summer clothes, ready for storage.

 I'll enjoy rediscovering these at the end of March 2018.

Before I unpacked all the fall/winter boots and shoes (and some clothes), this is how they looked when I pulled them out from the under-clothes storage sections in my closet.

 My fall/winter wardrobe is much bulkier than the spring/summer one. I didn't need even a quarter of these bags to store it!

I use one deep tub (forgot to take a picture of it), and these 3 shallow ones for storing the bulk of my clothes. I make sure to pack cashmere, wool and silk in the centre, with polyesters around them to protect them from moths. 

The top tub is already packed with spring/summer items; the bottom two contain fall/winter

 The big tub is stored in the closet under my dresses, and these tubs are stored under our bed. Again, I refuse to buy additional bins, because that would just encourage me to buy more clothes!

The jumble of hangers after pulling out all the spring/summer things, the vacuum for giving the closet a good cleaning, and my white metal step-stool for reaching the high shelves.

 Vizzini hates the vacuum and hid during this part. What a chicken-cat!

In addition to the 4 tubs, this is what didn't fit.

 These 3 bags were stored underneath the lowest sections of the closet, and the box was wedged under the shoes.

Here are my double-wide shelves with all my shoes, ready for the party season. My shelves all go right up to the ceiling.

 Some favourites that I don't want to give up. Those are my first pair of Fluevogs ever, on the right.

Party and special occasion shoes.

 I am considering farking those white shoes and drawing on them or decorating them - they are Fluevogs but the cream is scuffed and they are not very versatile - I haven't worn them since Feb 2015, here.

The next two rows - stuff I can reach, and therefore shoes I plan to wear.

 I'm so excited to have some of these back in rotation.

Tall shoes and booties.

 My fall/winter shoes tend to be darker overall.

Did I say darker? I meant full of colour!

 Grey, green, cream, purple, black, burgundy, hot pink, orange, bronze, snakeskin, blue and magenta. Colour!


The bottom row are my menswear styles, and my "good" flats, like my kitten heels and my Star Wars shoes.

 On the floor are my walking shoes and tall boots.

Across from them, under the blouses, skirts, pants and dresses are more boots.

 The ones I wear the most stay paired side by side; the fancier ones (that I wear to work more than on the weekends) are arranged in a "one in front, one behind" method so that I can see the style, but they don't take as much room.

And here we are, all my "new" fall/winter stuff is hung up, and sorted by colour.

My closet art is a hand-painted poppy tile on a piece of orange wood. 

These are my jackets.

 My new-to-me items that haven't been worn yet are there as well. And good for me, I ended up with a few extra hangers. Room to shop!

I also swapped out my belts and obis for more seasonally-appropriate ones.

 The spring/summer ones are in that blue box. I bought these round velvet hatboxes several years ago at the drugstore.

Here are my dresses (and one skirt with Vizzini-tempting fringe), ready for wearing.

 Ah! So many fabulous pieces. I hope there are lots of parties to wear them to!

My blouses, long skirts and trousers. 

 There are a lot of wrinkles from my clothes being squished. I don't steam as I unpack, though - that would take too long - but I'll do each piece as I decide to incorporate it into an outfit.

The top two shelves, way above the sweater shelves:

That white string is a piece of cobweb - the shame!

Fancy going-out stuff. See aforementioned note about parties!

And here are my sweaters, all nicely folded (doesn't last!). I have them in piles according to fluffiness, cardigans and patterns.

 Then, on the shelf below that, my sleeveless sweaters, my specialty items (vests, bustiers, and a beaded top, and including my leather shorts - needed the hanger), then solid sweaters. The pile on the right are sweaters and tops that are new-to-me but not worn yet.

As I go through my closet, I look for the backwards hangers, following my Hanger Trick that I've been doing for a few years now.

The Hanger Trick: At the start of each season, I turn all the hangers "backwards" for all pants, blouses, dresses, skirts and jackets. As I wear each item and put it away, I put the hanger back the "right" way. Over the next 6 months (or however long you choose), it's easy to see what's not getting worn! It helps to weed out the items that you keep out of habit, or that you're just not feeling.

I've noticed that I'm mostly left with party clothes or items that are very event-specific - I wear 95% of my wardrobe to work or on weekends, which is a higher wearing percentage than most wardrobes, I've read. This past 6 months, I saw that same pattern, with a couple of exceptions.

 A pewter metallic leather full-length skirt. I love this piece, but it's not the kind of thing you wear every day!

A party dress:

 So many peach feathers! I haven't worn this in a couple of years - party dresses get "rested" in my closet and then rotated every few years, when they feel like new again to me.

A wonderful vintage silk and glass bead "wiggle dress".

 It's amazing on!

I'm planning on wearing this gorgeous burnt orange dress this season.

 Not much on the hanger, but it looks great on.

I really wanted to wear this dress again, but I'm wondering if it's a "closet orphan". I tend to buy solid-coloured dresses or dresses with versatile patterns, where they allow for versatility with accessories.

 I don't know if this mint green is going to go with much. I wore it with all copper accessories once, but I'm stumped as to what else to do with it. Ideas?

This is a dress I've had for nearly 10 years. It's a bit tight on me, but I'm still resisting giving it up.

 I left most of these pictures uncropped for the glimpse into my closet - note my Pledge there on the shoe shelf for dusting.

This was last year's Christmas party dress for my work.

That white thing is my step-stool

 I thought I might wear it this summer, but changed my mind.

My "50 pound" dress that I bought when I lost...50 pounds.

 Another lovely dress that I'm keeping.

I have a few fun dresses, don't I?

 I love that one - it's handmade.

I was shocked that I didn't wear my yeti jacket, but it was just too warm for spring/summer.

 You can bet it will be worn soon!

I had kept out both of my leather/faux leather full short skirts for spring/summer, but only the leather one got worn.

However, I opted to put the leather one in the giveaway pile and keep this one faux leather one instead. I like the quality better and it's a more interesting piece overall.

That's it for my closet! Now, on to the jewelry!

I have a huge costume jewelry collection, including vintage pieces from both of my grandmothers and my mom. I've found that doing a seasonal swap with my accessories helps keep me from wearing the same ol' stuff over and over.

 This is the "before" of my main jewelry box, my bag o' big pieces, my earrings dish, and my assorted cuffs.

This is my vintage jewelry box:

 Also the "before" shot. I didn't wear everything in it over the last 6 months, but I wore most of it!

Sorting out what's going to be packed away, and what's staying out.

 I just spread it all over the bed.

And here's all the spring/summer things packed away, and a bag full of stuff that I'm cool with letting go of.

 See you in March!

The "after" of my vintage collection:

 A nice selection of fancy and everyday, plus my few Christmassy things.

And here's the "after" of the whole area - I dusted all the surfaces too.

 I'm excited to start putting outfits together!

L watched football all day yesterday.

"I am keeping the Man company."

 I spy a little kitty under that blanket!

He couldn't sit still once I was there.

"The presence of the Woman means food!"

 It did! It took me about 5-6 hours to do my full closet clean out. L and I hung out and drank wine and played board games all evening, and it was perfect. Just what I wanted for the last day of my forties.

And today...I am FIFTY. L gave me a few presents (he paid for 2/3 of my couture dress) in the morning.

Reading material (graphic novels, a new Stephen/Owen King), a new Panthers cap, and some chocolate, which I'm now going to go eat!

A very Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends!