Fashion Inspiration: Emma Pillsbury

You don’t see too much of the teachers on Glee, but I’m sure glad that guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury is one of them!  Although her bright monochromatic outfits may be a little over-the-top for everyday wear, I am sill in love with her cardigan and floral print combos and her adorable retro brooches and sweater clips.  Almost all of Emma’s clothing in the past season have been from Kate Spade, which is great, except that we can’t get the brand in Canada (or at least not in Edmonton).  Even if it was available to me, I couldn’t afford it anyway.

So here is my frugal version of an Emma Pillsbury outfit and Also a few items I have seen in stores lately that would be prefect, but that I have too much self-restraint to buy.

Emma Pilsbury Fashion byFashiontoteach featuring a yellow skirt

Cardigan
jacob.ca  ~ This is on Sale for $18.74 right now!

Yellow skirt
$36 - lavishalice.com

Modern Vintage necklace
shopruche.com

Modern Vintage Study Hall
shopruche.com
I also love this tulip-pink pencil skirt from Jacob.  It’s on sale for $29.99 right now and will surely be making an appearance in my new winter wardrobe.

It’s Finally Spring!

It finally feels like spring here in Edmonton! Almost around 20 degrees, I took out my bicycle for the first time the other day and I don’t have an overwhelming urge to slap girls with bare legs. (If there is snow on the ground, take the extra 30 seconds to put on a pair of tights, you look stupid). 

So here is a nice, bright and colourful outfit to suit the beautiful weather!  Hopefully this is one of my last posts wearing tights, but unfortunately, it’s still pretty cool inside my school and even cooler inside my classroom.  It was a definite shock when I left at 4 today and it was about 5 degrees warmer outside than it was inside!

Dress, Old Navy, $20. similar here

Tights and shoes, Joe Fresh.

Cardigan, Jacob, similar here.

Belt, Zara, came with pants.

My Closet

{MY CLOSET BEFORE}

I love love love my closet.  When J and I were looking at apartments, the huge open-concept closets in this place were a real selling point.  I even took the smaller of the two bedrooms and still have tons of space.

Now that you have seen my closet, you know my weakness, I LOVE clothes!  My wardrobe is a collection of impulse buys, steals, lots of clothing swap gems, vintage pieces and some of the items are so old I don’t remember when I bought them.  I try to purge my closet twice per year but I still seem to have so many clothes! Having a huge wardrobe has it’s pros and cons.

PROS

-I don’t have to do laundry that often (about once per month)

-I have so many outfits to make and remix

-I don’t (easily) get bored with the selection

CONS

- When I do have to do laundry, it is an ordeal.  The folding and putting away is never completed

- My room ends up being a mess because I try stuff on and then throw it on the floor. Worst. Habit. Ever.  This is the cleanest it ever gets

- It can be overwhelming

I have never had a problem putting together a cute outfit from what I have, but this year I was presented with two new factors:

1. I have to not only dress professionally, I have to dress like a teacher.  This mean comfortable AND professional; classy BUT more conservative than I am used to; grown-up enough to distinguish myself from the students BUT not frumpy or old-fashioned.

2. 2012 has started out with a tight budget, I will be doing 5 weeks in the classroom after completing my condensed course work, which means I can’t work nearly as much as I need to.  Extras are out which means I have not bought any new clothes since boxing day and I will not be buying any more until May at the earliest.  This means I have to work with what I’ve got.

So here is the closet count of all my clothes:

Tops – 20

Tanks- 17

Pants- 5 dress pants, 4 jeans

Skirts- 18

Dresses- 28

Sweaters- 5 sweaters, 17 cardigans

Shoes- 28

Outerwear- 2 winter, 3 spring/fall, 2 summer (not counted)

Total: 114 (142 including shoes)

That’s a lot of clothes!! BUT WAIT!  What happens after I take out anything that’s too short/tight/uncomfortable/ low-cut/young/old/frumpy/fancy?

Tops – 12, 7 tanks (for layering only)

Pants- 5

Skirts- 8

Dresses- 10

Sweaters- 4 sweaters, 15 cardigans

Shoes- 12

Outerwear- same

Total: 61 (73 including shoes)

This practically cuts my wardrobe in half! OMG what am I going to do? Factoring days that are too cold for skirts, days that are too long for heels, and who knows what else, I may as well have a minimalist collection of clothes just like Bridget at Money After Graduation. A big part of transitioning my wardrobe from student to teacher will be remixing pieces and being creative.  I hate wearing all black and I want to stand out so wearing pant suits or not-so-little black dresses all the time just isn’t going to cut it.

{MY CLOSET AFTER}