No New Clothes Challenge: The first few weeks

Last week, I told you about my 2014 resolution to not buy any new clothes for 1 year. Read the rules, here. 

I'm only 2 1/2 weeks into 2014, and, flush with new clothes from Christmas and post-Christmas shopping, keeping to the challenge has been pretty easy so far.

Bag, cardigan, and polka-dot jeans on sale or clearance after Christmas at Target. 

My first attempt at mixing chambray and denim. I think it worked. New shoes that needed sprucing up (more on that next week).

My sister gave me this scarf as a graduation present. I get so many compliments on it. This necklace is one of my favorites, and I'm pretty sure it was my mom's.

The most difficult part of the challenge so far has been resisting the amazing New Year sales. I literally feel compelled to go look at the clearance clothes, which should show me that I have a problem. I've already done a couple of quick-fixes in order to stretch my wardrobe. One has to do with shoes, and one with a necklace. Even though shoes and accessories are not part of the no-new-clothes challenge, it was easier, faster and cheaper to make changes to what I already had. Next week, I'll tell you about the shoes, but this week's fix is so simple, I almost feel silly about sharing it:

I've had this cheap, but lovely Forever 21 necklace for years. It wasn't quite the right length for outfit #1 (see above) but I loved the way it picked up the color of the cardigan. At first, I was truly stumped, until I saw a piece of leftover Christmas ribbon sticking out of a bag, looped it through the clasp on one side of the chain and the hole on the other, and tied it around my neck at the perfect length to provide balance, proportion, and most importantly, a cute little bird. 

The moral of this story? Use what you have. And don't put away your Christmas ribbon; you never know what you may need it for.