I was unable to get permission to share the inspiration photo here, so please take a look here

I’ve shared Anna Newton of The Anna Edit with you before, when I selected one of her outfits as a favorite blogger outfit of the month back in June 2018. Recently I was reading one of her blog posts about productivity and I stopped to admire her outfit and thought ooh, I like that! Then a second later, OOH, I HAVE THAT! Realizing that I had reasonable facsimiles of each item in my closet already…I had just never put them together before.

It’s so interesting how sometimes it can take seeing someone else do something, or wear something, before we can see ourselves doing or wearing the same thing. I wrote a blog post about that just recently. There are many times I have things hanging in my closet that it never occurs to me to wear together, but then I’ll see a blogger wear them all assembled and I’m like DUH!

I think that’s a great way to start increasing your item to outfit ratio (“item to outfit ratio” does that make sense? I just made it up and it sounds so good, like I know what I’m talking about, that I hope it makes sense). I have a handful of bloggers/IGers I follow who share my sense of style and have a lot of the same types of basics I have. I love watching them to see how they combine pieces.

I do my own outfit-making, too, of course…but sometimes we can become blind to what’s been hanging in our closets for a long time. Taking inspiration from others is a good way to spark interest in something that has sort of lost its luster to us.

I like this ochre cardigan. I love the color. It’s the coziest chenille. But I haven’t actually worn it in almost two years! The length sort of throws me. I preferred it over dresses whose length it matched. But I haven’t worn winter dresses in almost two years cuz a) tights are the devil’s work and b) ankle boots, or the lack thereof. So I haven’t worn it.

I know I have many duster-length cardigans that are this same length and longer, but they’re finer knits and more slim-fitting so don’t look “too large” to me. This feels large. It was large when I bought it! I was in a period of buying anything that FIT. Because so few things did. There are more than a few things in my closet like that right now. I like the color, the style…but am not liking the fit…but am not prepared to let them go yet Just In Case. I think they’ll get packed away for now…and I’ll take them out in the fall, try them on, and reassess.

Anywho. I enjoyed this combination…although it did make me wish I had a black tee with thin white stripes. I feel like this time of year, with warmth just ahead, I not only start craving lighter clothes and softer colors, but also more pattern.

What are you craving as we head towards a new season?

What I’m Wearing:

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