Spring closet cleaning with Poshmark

There’s something about the warm weather in Buffalo that just brings me hope.

I spotted some crocuses today while walking around my neighborhood and it made me smile. I feel like one of the best parts about living in a cold weather climate is that you learn to never take a sunny day for granted.

Upstate New Yorkers are notorious for wearing their flip flops “too soon” by fashion standards. They whip out shorts when the temperatures hit just above freezing. I don’t endorse it, but I understand it. I long for the days when I can wear a dress without tights and some strappy open toed heels without fear that I will find myself face to face with a snow bank.

I’m excited to say that Easter was 50 degrees and precipitation free though. This is a significant improvement from last year; in 2015 I recall walking out of the church and being bombarded with white flakes in the air.

Some people are saying it’s too soon to call this spring in Buffalo… despite the official start date of 10 days ago by calendar standards. I think it’s the perfect time to embrace the double digit temps -yep, that’s the standard here-, just keep those heavier knits close by because it changes all the time.

My neighbor was cutting his lawn this morning. I wore capris. We all show our optimism about the weather a little differently, mine tends to involve rotating wardrobes.

***

When I pull the shift dresses and pastel colors out of storage, I always find a few items that I could take or leave. Do I move these pieces into valuable closet real estate or leave them banished in the basement until next Spring? God knows I’m going to buy new pieces too…

My style may have changed while hibernating in leggings and slouchy sweaters or my size may have changed, does it really matter the reason? My taste *matures* all of the time so it’s no wonder that I have moved on from a few things I was obsessed with last season or during May 2011. My shopping deals and steals deserve a good home though and recently I’ve re-homed quite a few of my finds via Poshmark.

I’ve been using the Poshmark app since 2012. My first purchases were a Marc Jacobs watch and some Tory Burch flats for amazing prices, with both of the stores that sold those types of items being at least an hour away from my house at the time. It was exciting and refreshing. I hope the people that purchase my clothes and accessories feel the same way!

The app is super easy to use, you just upload 4 photos of your item that you’re selling like you would on instagram. The first image can be filtered. Then you include a short and sweet accurate depiction of what you’re selling (include the condition, size, how it fits, color) and categorize it by the required categories. That’s it!

There are posh parties on the app where you can share your closet items as well as some of your favorite sellers’ pieces. I’ve become addicted to Poshmark, like any other form of social media. I have followers and share things. It kinda becomes a way of life.

Since re-visiting Poshmark over the last few weeks of closet rotating I’ll be completely honest, I have made $300+ . This is an incredibly exciting considering I am a 21 year old juggling part time work and freelance gigs. I’ve also found that when I buy things via Poshmark, in general I am spending a lot less than I do when I take a trip to the mall.

Whether it is to add to your wardrobe or perform a spring closet clean out, make an account and check it out. Nobody is sponsoring this post, this is just my personal success with selling gently used items from the comfort of my home.

Feel free to follow me @preppylogic15 and if you use code HWEUI when you purchase something via the app (cuz lets be honest, it’s inevitable), you and I will both earn $10. Cool!

Trends and temptations

Yesterday I went shopping to prepare for my trip to Panama City in April. I splurged on some “Red, Red, Red” lipstick at Clinique as well some powder. Both items weren’t originally on my list, but just like handbags, make up is so much easier to buy than clothes sometimes. I bought 2 pairs of shorts and a pair of ankle pants from EXPRESS. I noticed ankle pants in New York and Company, Banana Republic, JCPenney, The Limited, and LOFT. They’re apparently going to be HUGE this spring/summer. They flatter girls with a little more to love in the thigh region, but hit differently in length than capris. I was confused at first by the trend, but now I love them. The shorts were a flattering 4 inch inseam and although difficult to find in a store with so little fabric, they were worth the search.

Last year I was OBSESSED with JCrew’s 3-5inch inseam shorts. I felt like they hit and fit perfectly. I own at least 10 pairs, maybe 15. The sad part, as was mentioned last post, is that those shorts don’t fit any longer. I’m sipping a watered down Tim Hortons smoothie, instead of eating a crescent and I know I just had a “I love my body” post.. but I love those shorts.

And I refuse to go into stores like EXPRESS and LOFT and be the largest size. I still stand by my comment that society is the issue, but society also makes it really hard for big girls.

And J Crew makes it tough because those shorts don’t have stretch.

So, for Spring Break I will wear the EXPRESS shorts and ankle pants. I have some Lauren Conrad denim shorts that will also get me through the week, but besides that, I have to try harder to be healthy for the sake of J Crew by summer.

If I am down in Manhattan, ankle pants will be the perfect office appropriate bottom. I also have all of those dresses I picked up at Charlotte Russe. Even if it’s 10 pounds, my entire wardrobe would appreciate a little nip tuck.

While I was at the mall, I also was looking for more exercise attire. I have always loved my Victoria’s Secret yoga pants, but was very disappointed! The waste band prints look cheesy and tacky, not worth 40 dollars. I was then further disappointed by my free panty coupon being out of date. VS and I aren’t on speaking terms right now.

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, because my wallet can’t deal with her. I have done really well saving money, but I signed up for my first credit card a few months back and she has this way of making me think I have more money than I do. And with rent sky rocketing in the city, I have to save… but Coach just got in a shipment of neon rainbow colored packable totes that would serve as a fantastic ~~carry on bag.~~

I bought the cutest luggage tag at Francesca’s Collections yesterday. It said “You wouldn’t look good in my clothes.” and has my name and number on the back. I always do carry on with Delta or Southwest, but I couldn’t resist.

I’m a little worried that with all these tempting purchases in the middle of nowhere, how I am supposed to resist NYC. I suppose having a 10 x 10 cell -I mean room 🙂 to live in will play a role. I have no idea how I would even bring all of my clothes with me, but I guess we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

On a random note, 6 weeks until I have my Associate’s!!!

Allison

I am going to succeed because I am crazy enough to believe I can.

Hello dolls!

I have been back in Small Town USA as of Saturday night. Getting to JFK was much more complex than LaGuardia, I will try to never fly there again. My plane was so small and I had to take the train out of Penn Station to AirTram all alone, so that was nerve wrecking. I also didn’t know which terminal to go to, and unlike the Buffalo airport, that makes a big difference. I had to walk to the proper terminal because I got off at a stop that didn’t link to Delta. I had a heavy suitcase, multipurpose tote, and shopping bag -that I refused to check (that would be 25 dollars less shopping money). Once you get past the transportation issues, I adored New York.

The whole time I was there I was contemplating whether I could see myself living there and I still haven’t come to a conclusion.. but I guess we’ll find out whether I will have the internship opportunity to by the end of the month. I had 6 interviews with Coach and they all went really well! I am hoping I get the Visual Merchandising, Fashion Merchandising, or Social Media Marketing ones the most. One of the interviews was with Reed Krakoff, Coach’s luxury line, and I kind of fudged that one up. I froze a little with the designer questions, because I prepared myself with Coach information.. not Chanel, Kate Spade, and Tory Burch. Two of which happen to be huge competitors. I don’t regret anything though.

I sat across from a pair of Christian Loubitons and I am fairly sure I was one of the youngest people in the room. This was not necessarily a disadvantage though: because an Associate’s Degree at 18 tends of stand out. There were 100-150 of us in a big room. I was intimidated beyond belief, but I tried not to let it show.

One of the interviewers called me the perfect candidate, which made me feel much better. I name dropped my store manager’s names, the Entrepreneurship project I did incorporating being a possible franchisee of Coach, and new promotional tactics I have been using in the store. I should have made more copies of my resume to be honest, but I tried to make up for it by blabbing.

Once I left the job fair style interviews, I was so excited that I decided to visit the Webster Apartments a block a way. My fashion professor recommended them and they were in such close proximity it seemed like a good idea.

They were nice. I almost suffocated in the cement 10×10 room that would cost me more than 1 grand per month though. It’s just ridiculous how little money buys you in the big city.

$1400 could rent me 3-4 bedroom house out here.

The common rooms, meal plan, theater, and library looked nice though. It’s really safe and only for women which makes daddy feel better about the whole thing. I am still keeping my options open of course, if anyone has any intern housing suggestions near Midtown/Chelsea.

NYU and FIT have dorms that are available. I wouldn’t be able to visit them before determining where I am staying June-Aug since I’m home now, but I’ll have to deal with that.

I did not get the chance to tour FIT or LIM during my short time in the city, which is a shame. I passed FIT buildings a few times, but the weather was crazy and one day LIM even had a snow day. I was really busy with interviewing, shopping, and going to comedy shows anyways.

The apartment I rented was directly in the middle of Yuppie paradise. I really liked it. We were pretty close to everything and walked everywhere to try and burn off all of the gourmet cupcakes we ate.

I could see myself doing it again, absolutely.

It’s the fact I would be doing it alone that scares me. My sense of direction is pretty pathetic and I would only know a few people in the vicinity. I love the diversity and opportunity though. You need to take risks to get reward I suppose.

I was talking to the nicest lady on the flight back about all the big decisions I have to make. She said that I give her hope for my generation. That’s a lot of weight to carry, but hey I’ll take the title.

If she saw me at 1 in the morning before I flew out to NYC trying to decide what to wear for my interview, she might take that comment back though. I was throwing clothes and had mixed messages going through my head about the impression I wanted to make. Once I got the interviews, I realized that my red dress would have been fine.. but I played it safe and conservative.

I wore my little black A-line dress, large pearls, and leather quilted boots with black tights. I had light pink lipgloss on and my hair was down. My sequin coat and sequin scarf were the furthest things from understated, but I left them in the coat room anyways.

My turquoise Coach Isabella popped so well with my outfit. It was impressive. After the interview I went back to the apartment and went a more casual route, because we were going to Times Square.

Times Square is too touristy for me. If it wasn’t for the 4 floor Forever 21 and Hello Kitty, I would probably never go back.

I don’t like the fact that it looks like day time at night in that area and that it is drowning in ~~consumerism~~.

That may be an odd comment from someone that wants to break into the Fashion Industry, but there is more to life. I bought a rainbow coat from the 1960s at a vintage store, but not because there was an abundance of tacky advertisements trying to suck me in… it was because I genuinely liked it. And that’s the part of fashion I really like: when you can look at something and know that it SCREAMS you. It represents you and you are proud to wear it. How many Hollister Graphic Tees would you want to say that about?

Allison

Share with your friends:

Like this:

Share with your friends:

Like this:

Share with your friends:

Like this: