DIY Wardrobe Styling: Shopping in My Closet

DIY Wardrobe Styling: Shopping in My Closet

June 9th, 2010 @ 2:33 pm by Mrs. Thimble
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This Monday, we Thimbles have our pro-pic engagement session. I’m in excited disbelief that it’s our turn to pretty ourselves up and take some romantic sunset photos…

Any weight I hoped to lose before pictures? Still lingering. I haven’t had my hair highlighted or colored professionally in a year to save money. And outfits? I don’t even know where to begin! I can style my bridesmaids, or a cast of 11 actors on a 2-hour journey through the ’60s on a $300 budget {yeah, that happened}, but I’m starting to fear that I’m incapable of styling myself. Or I should confess: I just don’t have to funds for the beautiful clothes that I covet and imagine myself wearing in these dreamy photographs. I think this is really a perfect damn you beautiful, inspiring wedding blogs!!! moment, if I may.

What really gets me about this tightening of the money-belt is that I only go on shopping sprees for special occasions. I give myself a free pass. Usually the shopping is vacation-related, but I am dying to shopspree my heart out for this photo shoot. Therefore, I am trying to stay grounded by trusting past instincts and happy memories, and shopping my closet first. We all have some special frocks we frequently forget about, no? I present a few of my favorite pieces from my wardrobe:

DIY Wardrobe Styling: Shopping in My Closet : wedding engagement pictures philadelphia Slide1041 Slide104

Allow me to introduce these lovelies and how I came to know them, clockwise:

Anthropologie Strawberry Dress: On sale the week before the 2008 San Francisco proposal vacation. I wore this lil’ number through Sonoma on a vineyard tour of “Our daughter just got engaged! Let’s try the really good wine!” (A tasting freebie of course. Gotta love the perks of young love.)

Tweed Bow Engagement Party Dress: My mom helped me purchase this dress on day 2 of the same vacation- the day after the proposal - in a boutique near Haight Ashbury. I pulled it off the rack and I just knew it was the one. It may just be my favorite dress in the world. Problem is, it’s June and this dress is tweed.

Sunburst Tunic: from Forever 21, purchased for a law school spring break 2008 trip to Disney World. Just Mr. T and I.

Eyelet Blouse: We met in the same Anthropologie back-room sale as the strawberry dress. Again for the SF vacay. We have some traditionally posed engagement photos in this top, courtesy of my father and a fireplace for a background at our Sonoma hotel… i.e. no dice:

DIY Wardrobe Styling: Shopping in My Closet : wedding engagement pictures philadelphia 2008 08 2008-08

DIY Wardrobe Styling: Shopping in My Closet : wedding engagement pictures philadelphia 11 11

{Obligatory “look at my ring on my man’s shoulder,” meet Prom Pose.}

I think I’ve proven my point that I can go nuts for one occasion—3 items out of the 4 are related to the same trip. It’s a miiiighty good plan to try to work with what I’ve got.

Did you fight the urge to buy a whole new wardrobe for your engagement pictures?

Please forgive the wrinkles, I didn’t give my models much time to prepare.

Tags: engagement pictures, philadelphia |

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20 Responses to “DIY Wardrobe Styling: Shopping in My Closet”

Member

MissChirpie (message) 730 posts, Busy bee

If you don’t want to spend any money on a new outfit for your e-pics, I would suggest asking some of your girlfriends (who are the same size as you) if they have any hidden gems you could borrow. Seriously girl, if you were my friend, I have about 15 fancy cocktail dresses you could borrow that I’ve only worn one or two times.

6/9/10 @ 2:50 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Hamster (message) 4,046 posts, Honey bee

Aww, I love all of them! Can’t go wrong with Anthropologie and Forever 21

6/9/10 @ 2:54 pm (reply)

Member

sunnydebs (message) 784 posts, Busy bee

I shopped my closet for e-pics, and I think it was a great decision! More people should do that!

6/9/10 @ 2:55 pm (reply)

Member

kfowler (message) 44 posts, Newbee

Borrowing on what MissChirpie said, it would be great if you had a few friends that were the same size as you who would let you browse through their closets to see if you could find something nice.

Wouldn’t it be a good idea to open a store up to and provide really nice clothes to borrow and bring back for a small fee???

6/9/10 @ 3:02 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Pug (message) 3,753 posts, Honey bee

i’m with you on shopping through the closet–especially when you have such a cute wardrobe! you’ve got some great choices.

6/9/10 @ 3:32 pm (reply)

Guest

cupcake26

we were given very specific instructions on what we should and should not wear, so we ended up buying a new outfit for the occasion. In retrospect, im very happy i did, because our photos came out so lovely, and they probably wouldn’t of if we didn’t adhere to the rules.

6/9/10 @ 3:32 pm (reply)

Member

missbiscuit (message) 1,050 posts, Bumble bee

I bought a few shirts a few months before that I thought I might wear for our e-shoot, but ended up going with an old standby in the end. We ended up totally breaking the rules though and wore patterns- my shirt had a floral print on it (though there was a sweater & scarf over it to temper it) and my fiance wore a sweater with stripes on it. Hopefully the pictures turn out OK… we’re due to get them back sometime next week! Our only instructions were to not wear something that was bright white.

6/9/10 @ 3:43 pm (reply)

Member

bass lover (message) 87 posts, Worker bee

I fought the urge BIG TIME! We too were/are on a belt tightening budget, so the hubby and I wore our favorite causal clothes-me, black top, blue jeans, super cute shoes-and the hubby wore jeans and my favorite sweater of his-everytime I touch it, it reminds me of a stuffed animal. My kiddos from my previous marriage were part of our session as well. The photos came out great, we looked and felt comfortable with eachother, and are some of my favorite photos to look at.
Good luck in making your choice for your dress and with your pro-photo shoot!! Have fun!!

6/9/10 @ 3:46 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Trail Mix (message) 6,328 posts, Bee Keeper

I love that strawberry dress and agree that friend’s closests are the best resource!

6/9/10 @ 3:46 pm (reply)

10.

Bee

Mrs. Perfume (message) 2,253 posts, Buzzing bee

I shop in my own closet ALL the time!!! (And I’m not even planning a wedding anymore!) I think it’s great and what you can do, say with the grey dress, is borrow cool, punchy-colored accessories from your friends (if you don’t already have any). Or put it together with items you haven’t thought of before.

6/9/10 @ 3:51 pm (reply)

11.

Member

10.10.10 (message) 118 posts, Blushing bee

I bought six - yes 6 - different dresses for our e-pics. Some were purchased on major sale, though. I ended up wearing three different dresses for the session. I put a lot of time and effort into choosing the right outfits for both of us, but it was totally worth it. Our pics are gorgeous.

6/9/10 @ 4:00 pm (reply)

12.

Guest

Meg

I’m in LOVE with your tweed dress with the bow. LOVE.

6/9/10 @ 4:28 pm (reply)

13.

Member

jordynrose (message) 6,351 posts, Bee Keeper

I would definitely shop your own closet, it looks like you have quite a few gems in there.

6/9/10 @ 4:49 pm (reply)

14.

Member

D.Marie (message) 2,484 posts, Buzzing bee

I love the Strawberry dress with the cute red buttons! And i def think this is a special event to buy new clothes for! And Im sure your mom would even love to go shopping with you! OK see I love to use !!!! …lol!! Even if you do get new clothes…I want to see the strawberry dress…so cute! LOL Im a dork. Love the shirt in these photos…and I love that your dad took these photos! Sweet.

6/9/10 @ 6:51 pm (reply)

15.

Member

LittlestBirds (message) 2,605 posts, Sugar bee

I went shopping the night before our e-pics which was a little bit stressful since I really wanted a fun new dress. I hated everything in every store! The fashions this season are awful! But I came across one lucky find at H&M and came away with a cute pseudo-vintage look that I’m very happy with.

6/9/10 @ 10:18 pm (reply)

16.

Member

futuremrse (message) 444 posts, Helper bee

ugh, I just had the same problem last week! I knew what I wanted but couldn’t go out and buy new clothes. I had a friend come over and help me pick stuff from my own closet. That was SUCH a big help because she saw things in a different way than I do. I see things as “work clothes, the dress that fits weird, etc.” I ended up wearing things I already had but kind of forgotten about. Turned out great.
Btw…I love your bow dress! Super cute. Tweed might be a little off season but it looks very classic and sweet.

6/10/10 @ 12:17 am (reply)

17.

Member

winter (message) 1,333 posts, Bumble bee

i know how you feel but i had to dig through my wardobe for my pictures and i only purchased one shirt for ours and the others were something i had. but your wardrobe is beautiful and i love the colors all coming together

6/11/10 @ 1:19 pm (reply)

18.

Guest

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[...] DIY Wardrobe Styling: Shopping in My Closet | Weddingbee [...]

6/12/10 @ 4:35 am (reply)

19.

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violarulz (message) 142 posts, Blushing bee

we just took our engagement photos on Wednesday and I probably spent 2 hours and $100 at Target and another 2 hours and $300 at Macy’s, but then came home and tried it all again (remixed with things from my closet and while wearing Spanx). After my massive shopping binge, I decided to keep ONE $35 ivory sun dress and return the rest. That was always the intention, to return most of what I bought. Sometimes, you just need retail therapy.

6/12/10 @ 11:32 pm (reply)

20.

Member

futurediplomatswife (message) 524 posts, Busy bee

Ugh, I had the hardest time choosing an outfit for e-photos! Part of it was funds, and part of it was that I just couldn’t find anything that truly clicked. Everything I bought and pieced together looked too forced. I ended up wearing a dress that was new but that I wouldn’t have previously considered because it was too plain or, in my head, “unexciting.” And it was the perfect choice. So sometimes, you end up choosing the backup plan and it works out wonderfully!

6/22/10 @ 10:42 am (reply)