Missed and Matched I.

     Originally, this post was going to showcase my many, many, mismatched knicker, suspenders, and bras. Since I have been making an effort to rescue my collection from being a lot of random pieces I want to focus on how my random purchases work out for me in the long run. I am not an impulse buyer, but I have a knack for convincing myself over a period of time that I should buy certain lingerie on sale because the deal is too good to miss. Unfortunately, what often happens with sales is that I'll fall in love with a set that isn't completely available in my size. 

     This isn't always a bad thing because sometimes I only really like one piece, or I can only afford to choose one piece that I really want from a set. However, I prefer having a completely cohesive bra, suspender, and knickers set and it requires a bit of creativity on my part to incorporate these out-of-place pieces into my lingerie wardrobe. Lately, I've been making an effort to fill in the "gaps" where needed.

     Most of my out-of-place garments tend to be suspenders. Unlike for some people, suspenders are not really a special-occasion garment, but one that I use often with stockings in place of more widely used tights. (I'll get into how much I absolutely hate tights, eventually.) I bought these two suspenders from Mimi Holliday on sale from Journelle a couple of months apart:

Left to Right: Mimi Holliday suspender in 'Tinkerbell' and Mimi Holliday in 'Pizazz'

     The colors were what attracted me to both of these suspenders, but their colors were what made them hard to introduce into my everyday lingerie. Although I used them just to hold up my stockings, I like feeling like my "outfit" underneath my outfit is as put together. Unfortunately, when I bought these on Journelle's website the matching bras and knickers were not available in my size. It wasn't until over a year after the purchase of my 'Tinkerbell' suspender that I found the matching bra on Dolci Follie's website in size 30C and knickers in XL. Though far from my size, the knickers are a quick fix! When I actually get around to altering them, I'll post about it! I was relieved when I completed this set! Although the truffle color of this suspender is beautiful, I found it nearly impossible to match with anything else.

     As for my 'Pizazz' suspender, I managed to find a really cheap yellow set at Forever 21 that looked good with it. However, I'm still always on the look out for something that goes with it (since Forever 21 lingerie definitely doesn't last for more than a couple of uses..)! This suspender's color is a very bright canary color that I've found looks really well paired with nude lingerie.Moving forward, I'm not limiting my search for solely yellow lingerie, but expanding it to finding colors that would look well with it. (Light pink for example?) 

Dita Von Teese 'Madame X' suspender in white

     I had never owned a white suspender, or thought I would until I saw this one from Dita Von Teese's lingerie collection. I had seen the Madame X set in black and had fallen in love with it immediately, but when I saw it in white, I was determined to own it! I originally bought this on Black Friday after Thanksgiving on Bloomingdale's website. The bra was not available in my size at the time, but I figured if I could just match it with another white bra. 

Dita Von Teese Madame X bra in white

     Recently, I added the bra to my collection in an effort to fill the "gaps" in my collection. While most white bras would have worked with my suspender, the "caged" strap motif looks better when it's also reflected on the bra. I have yet to acquire the Madame X knickers, but I hope I get them soon!
     
     I think any good collection, whether it's lingerie or mugs, deserves to be well curated. While I have been a long time lingerie "enthusiast"-- I was convinced at age 13 that I was going to make a career out of designing lingerie-- this is the first time I am able to afford putting the time, effort, and money into building a collection I'm excited about. I'm very excited to see how my lingerie collection grows, and how my miss-matched pieces find their pairs!

Quote of the Day. I.

" None of my lingerie matched today. It's like fucking Mardi Gras down here!"

- Me, referring to my burgundy bra, violet knickers, and turquoise garter belt.

Cutting Tags

Today I finally got down to cleaning out the clutter that had been accumulating in my room. Currently, I share a room with my older sister in my parent's house. Although it's a big room, the extra clutter of empty delivery boxes, unused outlet charger cords, the numerous pairs of shoes tossed casually beside my bed, and random paperwork, can make the space feel a lot more cramped than it needs to be. After cleaning, I decided to clean out my wardrobe as well. One of my sister's goals for 2015 was to be more mindful of the clothes she invests in, which inspired me to be more mindful of the clothes and lingerie that I invest in, too. 

This past week Helen packed up the clothes she didn't need for the California "winter" season and stored it away, leaving only what she would use in her closet. Following her example, I packed away some of my clothes into two boxes under my bed. In one box I put all of my tank tops, shorts, and summer dresses and in the second box I put a couple of heavy coats that I don't use often, my prom dress, and a short special occasion dress. Surprisingly, this cleared a lot of space in my closet! Eventually, I hope that limiting my wardrobe by season will allow me to realize what my wardrobe is actually lacking and help me improve it (which I have loads of trouble doing).

I realized I could apply this same model to my lingerie wardrobe as well! The Lingerie Addict recently posted an article titled, "5 Budget-Friendly Resolutions for A More Ethical Lingerie Drawer" which I felt touched upon some of the problems I want to work on in the next couple of months. One of my major problems is that I tend to buy a lot of cheap lingerie just because I can get a lot of it for not very much. This, however, results in either buying lingerie that falls apart in a couple of uses or lingerie that doesn't fit. 

Today as I was cleaning out my drawers, I came upon several bras that I hadn't touched since I bought them. Two bras just didn't fit. I had bought them in size 30B from Asos on sale, hoping that this would alleviate the pesky issue I have with bra straps always slipping off my shoulders. While the band size was more or less comfortable, and my straps stayed on, the cup was very obviously too small. These were impulse purchases that I should have returned, but instead I just tossed them into my drawer and somehow convinced myself to keep them. So, I came up with a one-set-per-month rule in order to encourage me to be more mindful of how I invest my money. Each month I will be choosing a set to add to my collection, keeping in mind that it should be of good quality (so I can keep it in my drawer for longer), and all of it should fit me well. I'll be posting my January set soon!

Lastly, as I finished putting everything I was keeping from both my wardrobes away, I noticed that I had clothes and lingerie sitting around unused with the purchase tags on! I had lots of fun cutting off the all these tags and look forward to getting some wear out of what I already have in my closet!

I'll keep ya'll updated!

Ale

New Year, New Blog

I am by no means a great blog-keeper. I have started and abandoned several blogs in the last couple of years and the only one I've managed to maintain is my Tumblr. This is definitely nothing to brag about. Although it is a four-year old blog, 97% of my Tumblr is "re-blogged" pictures of things I find appealing but that don't make sense put together in one blog. However, it's a new year and I see this as a new opportunity to keep a "real" blog! Except this time, actually.

I guess if I am getting technical about this I can say it's a new year's resolution. In part, this resolution was inspired by my sister's blog (I will link later!) and how much work she's put into it this past year. She started her blog as a new year's resolution, so I figured it would be a good idea to do it myself for 2015. These are some of my other resolutions for 2015 that I will probably be blogging about here soon:

1. I will stop spending so much money on underwear (that I don't use)-- I spend a lot on lingerie for the simple fact that it makes me happy. I like wearing it, I like seeing it, and I like seeing it sitting in my cramped lingerie drawer. "I like my money where I can see it--", right? But I need to spend less on lingerie because I think I am acquiring more pieces than I am actually using. I think what I want to start doing this year is putting more thought into which pieces I invest in. That said, a really long time ago--about 3 days ago-- I purchased a set from Agent Provocateur, one suspender, and some nipple pasties. I think these are good investments... and they don't count as my January purchase. However, I look forward to writing about how good of an investment I think these purchases have been.
2. I will take better care of my body-- This covers a whole range of things. On the one hand this means achieving the shape I want my body to be in. At times I am not happy with my physique and I wish I could be thinner, more muscular, have wider hips, longer legs, etc. While generally these thoughts don't dominate how I generally feel about my body, I realize I have the ability to change some of these things. Exercising regularly and getting back into weight training would definitely help me build muscle and maybe lose a couple of pounds. It would generally improve my mood too. However, I am not just focused on the visible changes I can make to my body. In general I want to feel better also. Earlier last year when I was working out regularly I noticed I was less stressed, more productive, and people told me I seemed much happier. I also aim to get more sleep, drink less, and eat better food, wash off my make up always-no-matter-what, and take my birth control on time, every fucking time. 
3. De-clutter-- I always feel like I find things around my room that I don't necessarily need but that I just keep for some reason (like bank statements from 4 years ago). I need to bust out a shredder, a big trash bin, and start getting rid of things I don't use or need. Overall, having a clean space will make me a little happier, I think.
4. Journal more often. I need to locate my journals... Cleaning might help with this.
5. Learn to be creative again-- I used to consider myself artistic. I loved drawing and painting and making things by hand, and now I can barely finish a doodle. This particular resolution will be the most challenging but I think working on this blog will help bring out my creative side again!
6. Improve my dance skills-- I consider myself an absolute newbie when it comes to dance even though I've danced for about 3 years. The reason is that I have not received enough training in any of the dances I've learned to do. While dancing is a past-time for me, it is a skill that I need to hone in order to make my attendance to social dance events more enjoyable for myself. I want to be able to approach an advanced dancer and feel like I am dancing well instead of tripping over my feet.
7. Get laid-- I told a friend that this was one of my resolutions and she responded with, "Don't you mean have a relationship?" And no, I don't. Simply put, I don't have as much time to myself as I used to.  Between two part-time jobs and living with my parents' house with them and my three siblings, it's hard to find some time to be alone. A relationship means sacrificing more of my free alone time. Even dating casually, at the moment, feels like a much bigger commitment than it actually is. A casual fling though? I wouldn't mind that!
8. Travel more-- This means could mean going out more to places that are not my home town and also traveling more in general. I really want to be able to fly back to London this year.
9. Read more-- I was a bloody English major and now I can hardly pic up a book. I think that needs to change immediately. It's been 6 months since my graduation, might be time to finish reading a novel for pleasure.
10. Get some self-confidence back-- This one is a tough one that I will probably be touching upon a lot on this blog.

Anyway, I am signing off for now but I will be working on a new post talking about some of the things I want this blog to focus on. My aim for this blog is to have it be more organized than my Tumblr, and a lot more personal. 

Ale