What I Bought in August

I feel like I couldn’t have bought that much in August, considering it was 5 minutes long, but…

WHAT I KEPT

AMAZON BASICS 2-PACK 6′ LIGHTNING IPHONE CHARGING CABLES

If you’re not going name brand (eg, Apple), then Amazon Basics have been a good substitute for me in the past. Anyway, my charging cables get rode hard as I’m one of those people who has the phone on the charger almost constantly. I know sometimes I hear “you shouldn’t charge your phone all the time because it makes the battery drain faster,” but you know what? I always start out at 100% wherever I go while other people’s phones are almost out of juice. So. I’m satisfied with my method. Anyway, my old 6′ “travel” cable finally pooped out so it was time for new. Never a bad idea to have an extra charger on hand.

Vanity Fair Women’s Body Caress Hi Cut Panty 13137, size 9

Yes, more underwear.  For so long I never had enough. Not bras or underwear. So I’m slowly building up my inventory. What do you think the average amount of underwear that people have is (forgive that horrible sentence)? I actually Googled, “how many pairs of underwear should you have,” and the answers ranged from 14-20 (I have never had 14 or 20!), and then I found this* which was interesting:

If you own more than 15 pairs – give yourself a big round of applause
If you own 10-15 pairs – you are doing just fine with what you have
If you own 7-9 pairs – you have a week’s stock but if you don’t do your laundry once a week, you will be left stranded and would have no option but to wear dirty men’s underwear.
If you own 3-5 pairs – you really need to start shopping because the number of times you wear them would have to discard them sooner than you think.

I’ve definitely spent most of my adult life in the 3-5 pairs range. Which is why, now that I’ve found a reasonably-priced brand that fits that I can find and order easily on Amazon, I’m “adding to my collection,” ha ha.

Okay, my curiosity is killing me, BRB…okay, I had to count! Ha. I have ten pairs of “good” underwear, and five pairs of old, stretched out underwear which is all I had when I started buying new underwear. I keep it as “back-up” underwear, though I’m not really sure as back-up for what. I DID just wear a pair on a recent trip to the laundromat so I could wash all my “good” underwear. So there’s a reason for keeping ONE old pair, but I should really toss the others. Oh, and I’m glad I emptied out the underwear bin to count, because there was actually a packing envelope in there at the bottom with two brand new pairs in it – I’m not sure why they had never been opened? Anyway. I am proud to say that at long last I have reached the “you’re doing just fine with what you have” range. Go Me!

So I can stop buying underwear for awhile. Now, bras are another story!

SET OF 6 PUCK LIGHTS WITH REMOTE

I bought these after not having power for 3 days so in the event of another power outage I can have lights strategically placed throughout the apartment. I’m still in the process of filling them all with batteries! They take 3 AAA batteries each. I have had rechargeable batteries+battery charger on my wishlist for a long time. But I can never decide between investing in AA or AAA!

DAMPRID FRESH SCENT REFILLABLE MOISTURE ABSORBER 4 PACK 

Being a basement in a humid region, it gets very, very damp in here. My clothes feel damp, dry foods are damp, my bedding gets downright squishy. I picked up my old Mephisto slides one day and they are literally covered with mildew. It gets better once the ac is in and on very humid days I can dry out the air with that. But I didn’t get the ac in til August. So I got these as a hopefully inexpensive help against the mildewy smell and dampness.

Do they work? Hard to tell as I got them after I’d already installed the air conditioner and the worst of the humidity was already over. I just checked the one in the closet and there’s maybe 1/8″ of water in the bottom, and the one in the living has a little more. I can’t check the bathroom one cuz I managed to get it up into the high window cave but I can’t reach it now without standing on a little stool and I hurt my back when I was away and I’m avoiding unnecessary ups and downs. But it definitely smells less damp and mildewy in here now.

HAND TOWELS

Guess who had NO hand Towels? This gal. I probably haven’t had hand towels since my early married days. In all my past bathrooms, the sink and hooks where the bath towels hung were so close that I would just dry my hands on the bath towels. But in this bathroom the towels hang on a hook on the door and it’s maybe 4 steps to the door from the sink, and that just seemed like a waste of time, especially with how often we’re all washing our hands now! So I broke down when I saw a pair for $5 on Belk when I was looking at the linen top (below). Woohoo. I’m living large now, baby!

BELK PLUS SIZE WAFFLE HENLEY TOP, SIZE 3X

Another $5 grab. I love an oatmeal waffle weave top.

WHAT I’M STILL ON THE FENCE ABOUT

DSW had a big ‘ol sale in August and things were way marked down. I have been searching for THE black flats for ages so I was scrolling through looking for those…and got hooked in by a couple other things, bought them, but now that they’re home I’m just not sure of them.  I like them all, they all fit and are more or less comfortable, but none of them is a walking-all-day kind of shoe, even though they feel nice on the foot. And while I know I definitely need a pair of black flats, I’m not sure I need the other two. I’m not sure what I would be wearing them with, or if there isn’t already something in the closet that would do the jobs they could do.

Early in the year, pre-covid, I had started making a list of all my outfits with the shoes that went with them, or the shoes I needed to go with them…but then I got sidetracked onto the TOTAL wardrobe inventory + what I wear everyday inventory. I was so good right up until work from home started on March 16 and my record-keeping has been only sporadic ever since. This year would not have been a good representation of how often I wear things anyway, since many spring work items barely got worn as I was not going to work. Maybe I should pick up again for fall. ANYWAY, all that to say that I never completed my shoe inventory/needs assessment project.

Would anyone be interested in seeing that process? It would probably be better as a video. I think with text and pictures it would be soooo long. I don’t know. I’ll have to think through both of those processes.

And onto the shoes that I am on the fence about…ps, they were all on sale for $14.99.

Essex Lane Loafer

It’s a nice, not-too-shiny, not-too-matte black leather pointy-toe flat. Pretty much all the boxes checked. They fit well, they’re comfortable on the foot. They will never be a walk-around-all-day shoe, there’s just not enough cushion for that for me and they’re a little too low on the back of my heel for an insert. But as a work shoe, going to dinner shoe, sure.

Can you tell I’m trying to convince myself to like them? Ha. I don’t dislike them. I’ve just waited so long to find this shoe that I’d hoped to love it.

And after I bought them, I saw that Aerosoles finally came out with a better black flat in the same model of my leopard flats that I wore everywhere last year. When I say better I mean I could only find them in a black snakeskin look last year and I wanted just a plain black. The Essex Lane loafers are prettier and more modern looking. But the Aerosole is a known entity that I wore comfortably last year with dresses and pants and on several long-walk outings.

ANNE KLEIN COGNAC NUBUCK OXFORDS

I LOVE an oxford/brogue shoe. These were on sale for $14.99 from $59.99. How could I not? But really, is this the wardrobe I have right now?? It’s all well and good to say they’d be so “menswear-inspired cute” with cream tights and fall dresses, but I still have that cream tight problem. And really, any tight problem. They always wind up loose and wrinkly around the ankles. Ankle boots can pretty much hide that, but these? There’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

And I’m not sure which pants I think are going with these. I wish there was a course on “what cut of shoe to wear with all the pants variations there are now” – between straight leg, wide leg, cropped, cropped fringed, skinny…I never know exactly what shoe to wear! It’s easier in the warm weather. I think a foot-baring flat or a little white sneaker covers almost all summer contingencies (for my wardrobe). But fall/winter are a different story altogether. So, I love these, but I can already see them as problematic and not being worn often. I don’t like having a lot of shoes, especially if some only get worn for very specific occasions.

Lucky Brand Suede Loafer

These are, as they say, “like buttah.” It’d be like wearing your slippers outside. They’re that soft and lovely on the foot. But…are they not extremely similar to the chestnut suede Kelly&Katie loafers I got last year?? Is there really something the Lucky shoe can do that the Kelly&Katie shoes cannot?? I do see the Lucky loafers as maybe being better with a straight leg “to the foot” pant. For winter. But is this little light loafer with holes all over it really the best winter shoe? Probably not. But man does it feel nice on the foot!

I need to make a decision on these three shoes as I’ve already had them here for two weeks.

WHAT I RETURNED

TARGET AVA & VIV PLUS SIZE FLORAL PRINT SHORT SLEEVE WRAP DRESS, SIZE 3X

I bought this back in July, and it was one of the items I was going to take to the seamstress because it needed to brought up substantially at the shoulders and shortened. Well, the seasmstress did not happen, I haven’t found anyone else, and I knew if I kept it that this dress was destined to end up in a pile at the back of my closet. It’s a shame as I thought it would have been very cute for work summer through almost November. The next size down was already sold out…but I’ll keep an eye out for it on Poshmark and ebay.

BELK PLUS SIZE LINEN TOP, SIZE 3X

Always on the hunt for summer tops that are a notch above a tee-shirt, made in natural fibers. I’ve watched this one range in price all summer from $52 all the way down to $11.80. I went to grab it at that low price and just missed it but still got it for $18. BUT – it was not a good fit, as I had thought maybe it wouldn’t be. Too unstructured in the shoulders for me, and too wide at the shoulder/bust area but slightly too snug at the hips, even with that side slit.  It’s already gone back and the search continues.

• https://www.quora.com/On-average-how-many-pairs-of-underwear-should-I-own

This post contains affiliate links, which means that I may receive a small commission if you buy something as a result of clicking that link, at no extra cost to you. I appreciate you shopping through my links.