30 Day Challenge: 30 Looks Under $500

I'd like to start by admitting I have always been a little fashion-challenged. It's not that I can't put together a cute outfit, because I can and have done so on more than one occasion. However, my style is pretty boring. On any given day, you can catch me in blacks and greys with a splash of pink if I'm feeling daring. If I had my way, I'd wear yoga pants and t-shirts every day. Unfortunately I'm not able to do that; fortunately, I have an amazing job as circulation & marketing manager for San Antonio Magazine-- I've decided it's time to start dressing the part.

Recently I've been spending a lot of time on Pinterest, mostly for food recipes; but while perusing the site I noticed some really cute trendy outfits. There were so many different color combos, types of shoes, chunky jewelry and while I never thought I'd be able to pull them off, I decided to challenge myself to at least try.

I rummaged through my closet and threw out all of outdated and "what was I thinking" pieces. Before I knew it, half my wardrobe was gone. It was time to go shopping! I usually dread shopping. I am probably the only girl in the entire universe who hates shopping. However, this time was a bit different. I would be shopping with purpose. I created a list from my Pinterest board where I pinned a lot of the looks I wanted to achieve and then found a lot of the items were already in my closet. I just needed to accessorize and put in a pop of color. I made a list and a budget of how I was going to obtain the look and thus began my 30 Day Challenge: 30 Looks Under $500.

I took all my unwanted clothes to a resale shop, Clothes Mentor. Surprisingly, they gave me nearly $200 for my treasures! I turned around and bought a few Pinterest inspired pieces. Next I visited my favorite store New York and Company. I may not know fashion, but I do know how to bargain shop. I found some more great pieces and even better prices. The damage here was about $250 (saved $300 in sale/coupons, BOGO pants, rewards certificate!). My final stop was at Express. I only found a couple items here, but I'm sure I'll be able to make great use of them.

I can't wait to show you all the outfits I am going to be able to put together. By accepting this challenge, my hope is that I'll learn to venture outside of my blacks and greys. If I'm lucky, by the end of the challenge I'll be able to use my creativity and pin some original looks that maybe someone else would aspire to.

Thanks for following. Enjoy.