Drew Barrymore and I are doing better at the wardrobe thing thank you very much.....

I have a total crush on Drew Barrymore.  Having watched her wild years and then recovery and then search for happiness, I have always rooted for her, because she wears her heart on her sleeve and is so open-hearted.

A couple of months back I was surprised to see Drew on the cover of More Magazine:

Then it hit me: Drew had turned 40!  If Drew is 40 I must be in my fifties.  Oh my...

I don't know if any of you have tried her flower cosmetics, but I have tried a few things and been quite impressed.

My favourites?

I think Flamingo Flower would be perfect for spring...

And I love this cream eye shadow:

Wild geranium

The packaging is very pretty and the quality is excellent.

But I digressed.  What made me think of Drew this weekend was an article she wrote for Refinery29 about her recent closet purge.

I like the look of this closet...

Yes, it seems just like we mere mortals, even lovely Drew struggles with what to wear as she gets older and struggles with post-baby weight.

In other words: she is human!

For those of us who are aging (and who isn't!) or whom have lost or gained weight, the closet can become a conundrum.

You may recall my purge back in November/December and my folding obsession.

Well I am happy to report success.  With the exception of a few lighter weight items that couldn't cut the freezing winter we had here, my purge meant that I wore everything.    I had let go of things that were too big or too small; I had let go of things that I might wear if I was living a different sort of life, and I concentrated on only keeping things that fit well and that I loved.

It made a huge difference actually. 

What I learned was when it was all out and there wasn't a ton, it was easier to get dressed - I didn't stand for hours trying to figure out what to wear. 

I learned that my style is NOT minimalist, though it is quite simple. 

I learned that I do not wear dresses in the winter, although I could benefit from a pretty one next fall.

I learned that most of my shoes are simply works of art in the winter, working from home.  It turns out I live in my Minnetonka slippers.

I learned that there are a few colours I adore:

• Navy
• any other shade of blue
• a jewelled pink
• white
• cream
• black

Building my wardrobe around those colours (with a few exception) is making my life easy indeed.

And if I had my own closet (I share with Barry), I could easily have all four seasons in one place.  Easily.  I could not have done that a year ago.  And I sure couldn't have done it three years ago!

And while I am nowhere near getting out spring clothing (we are having yet ANOTHER blizzard today), I did take a couple of hours to go through the upcoming season's clothing and shoes and threw some things out, donated some things, gave some things to my best bud, and got some bags ready for consignment.  It also helped me realize what I actually needed for the season, which isn't much actually.  My plan now is to always purchase two or three "nice" things a season and augment with other less pricey places like Joe Fresh or J Crew. 

My favourite part of Drew's article was this:

Sixth: Expect depression and/or identity crises.
My closet seemed to be clean. But, no longer eclectic or wild enough. It actually seemed like I had no clothes. It got too sparse! I was sad. Had I gone too far? I was missing my old funky self and felt like I had become some conservative, boring woman — but not even in a cool, J.Crew way. I was more like, I don’t know…just not me.

But, then something happened. There was such a noticeable lack of chaos that I could actually start playing clothes Jenga in my mind before I reached the closet. This was different. Normally, the inner dialogue was defeatist and avoiding. Now, I was looking forward to a minimalist curation that didn't overwhelm me. Holy crap! This closet diet is working!


I could so relate.  I kind of missed my pencil skirt and suit days and all the funky stuff.  But I have the pictures, and I have moved on to simple and comfortable and chic.

J Crew Wendy!

I am definitely now in the camp of loving a smaller wardrobe.  And while I choked at giving away some of the more expensive of my things, I do concur with old Marie from the KonMari method that it is a good thing to send out all that good energy and make someone else happy!


So Yay Drew and Wendy!  And next post, I want to talk about Drew's husband...

xoxo wendy