4 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR CLOTHING LAST LONGER

OUTFIT DETAILS: old dress, similar here, here, and here | old chambray, similar here

I'm so embarrassed to admit this, but 9 years ago when my husband I were dating, I remember him telling me one time that I really needed to throw away a few of my clothes. I was so bugged by this, because why should I throw away some of my favorite pieces? He responded, "because they are full of holes!" Apparently I didn't think that wearing a shirt full of holes in the elbows was a problem? Or one covered in pilling?

I've come a long way since then, tossing or repairing clothes that get holes and other damage, but I also am much better about taking care of my clothing in the first place. It's such a waste of money to purchase clothing and then not take care of it; and in my case, a lot of my handmade clothing is so special to me, I want it to last forever -- I want to give it to my daughter, daughter in laws, or granddaughters someday! Pretty sure they won't be too interested in a garment filled with holes.

So today I'm teaming up with Persil Pro Clean to talk about five things I do to keep my clothing in mint condition and make them last way longer.

1. Buy clothing with higher quality material. This is kind of a given -- the higher quality the fabric, the longer it will last. This doesn't mean you have to buy expensive items, lots of inexpensive stores sell pieces that are made of good quality material. Feel the fabric before you purchase it -- thicker, sturdier, tighter woven fabrics will be more durable and be less prone to snagging, holes, or pilling.

2. Don't wash as often, and when you do, use a good detergent. I used to wash my clothing every single time I wore them. With most of my shirts I still do, but dresses and jeans can go a few wears without having to be run through the wash.

I've tried a bunch of different laundry detergents over the years, and absolutely notice the difference between low quality and high quality detergents. I want something that keeps my whites super white, and brights super bright, all while not damaging my clothing. Persil Pro Clean has three types of detergent that we use -- their Power-Liquid detergent that is amazing for keeping my colors vibrant and clean, their Power-Pearls that keeps my whites from getting dingy and gray (but you can also use it on colors!), and their Power-Caps that are amazing for fighting stains (and heaven knows I have to deal with that on my clothing since I have little kids!)

Also, following the instructions on the clothing for washing in warm or cool water makes a huge difference in the longevity of the fabric and color, so make sure you check those tags!

3. Store your clothing properly to avoid damage. I don't have a ton of closet space, but despite that I try to keep my clothes stored properly to avoid causing any damage to them. If you have the space, hang your dresses and blouses, fold your sweaters, fold your jeans, and keep your shoes in airtight containers (like these ones that I've recently added to my closet and love).

4. Rotate through your clothing regularly. Part of my problem when I was dating my husband is that I had four or five favorite shirts in my closet and rotated through those ones way more than anything else. So they quickly got worn out because of so much use. Although I'm still prone to reach for my favorite pieces more often (like everyone), give your other pieces a little more airtime to balance out the wear and tear. And like I mentioned in last week's closet spring cleaning post, cleaning out your closet every so often helps you remember what pieces you actually have so you get more use out of your entire closet!

And to help you take better care of the clothing in your closet, Persil Pro Clean is doing a super awesome sweepstakes giveaway that includes a year supply of Persil ProClean and a premium night out on the town! The night out on the town includes a $300 gift card to Nordstrom, a $200 opentable.com gift card and a $150 uber credit! Just hop over to PersilProClean.com/sweepstakes and fill out the form to enter!

What other tips do you have for keeping your clothes in great condition? I'd love to hear!

*pictures by Jana Laurene

the post was created in partnership with Persil Pro Clean

Denim Jackets

My latest obsession has been floral prints. I have a few pretty floral skirts that I've owned for a few years, and I've recently added a few floral dresses to my closet (here and here).  I also have two more floral print dresses in the works (tutorial for one coming next week!). So basically it's just been a big floral explosion over here lately. 

And for me, the perfect pairing with all these florals is denim, especially during the cool months of spring. I had a denim jacket in high school that I wore to death, and now I think it's time to add one to my closet after all these years of going without. I've decided that I like a classic cut and style (no cropped jackets or added rhinestones or studs for me), but my biggest challenge is deciding on which wash I like the best and will be the most versatile. 

I've hunted around and found a few options at Gap, Loft, Old Navy, American Eagle, and Garage. Here are a few that I'm currently considering from these stores -- all the styles are pretty similar, but the washes vary from very dark to very light. 

1/2/3/4/5

Help me out here...which one would you choose??

Sisters Share It All: Wardrobe Staples (Part 2)

Last week for Sisters Share It All, we featured ten wardrobe staples -- items we think every woman should have in her closet, along with links to the pieces we would buy if we were going to buy those ten staples.

This week, we're each showing our ten staples -- pieces that we currently have in our closet and are the foundation of our wardrobe, or just get worn way too much to not be considered a staple. As you'll see, my top ten items are pretty similar to last week's list, which is just how it should be, right?

1. Little Black Dress. This dress is really similar to the one I linked to last week. I love it because it can be casual, dressy, or somewhere in between. In fact, you can see several different ways I styled it here.

2. Jeans. What more is there to say about a good fitting pair of jeans? These ones are from American Eagle.

3. Colored Jeans. I love the colored jean trend, and I'm currently working to get every color in the rainbow (I'm only sort of kidding). I just picked these up on sale at Old Navy last weekend for $12!

4. Stretchy Pencil Skirt. Although a pencil skirt is definitely an essential for many women, a stretchy pencil skirt is essential for me. Pregnant and not, I wear them all summer long with sandals and t-shirts. Mine is from h&m, but this one from Old Navy is nearly identical.

5. Wedges. I love a good pair of heels, but wedges are much more practical for my lifestyle. These ones from Payless come in several colors (although the camel color I have is apparently not sold anymore) and are super comfy.

6. Boots. Last week we had a pair of flats on our list of essentials. And although flats are definitely an essential for me, these boots are currently a staple in my closet, more so than flats. Come summer I'll be singing a different tune, but for now I'm wearing the heck out of these boots.

7. T-shirts. Are you guys sick of me talking about my love for Target t-shirts yet? I thought so. Just go buy yourselves one (or ten) and live in them like I do.

8. Striped Shirt. A striped shirt is definitely an essential for me. I found this one at Sam's Club of all places and have worn it to death. I'm currently on the hunt for a good short sleeved one.

9. Chambray Shirt. I have been searching for a chambray shirt for a long time and finally found this one a Target a few weeks ago (every other one was too heavy, too bleached or faded in the front, or too dark blue). These tops go with everything, and are great for layering. Definitely a staple for me.

10. Cardigan. I have a lot of cardigans, but this one from Target is currently my favorite. It's super soft, and I like the slightly longer length. Plus, the light gray goes with absolutely everything.


Next week we'll show you ten different outfits that we can make from these ten staple pieces.  In the mean time, go check out Janssen and Landen's ten staples in their closets!

    

Thievery

Jeans: Abercrombie (altered to skinnies), boots: target, belt: husband's, top: old navy, cardigan: cozy, scarf: made by my mom (I think)

When I participated in Kayla's 21 Day Challenge a few months ago, I really struggled with her "Menswear" challenge. I didn't feel like any of my clothes were particularly masculine, except for maybe that old blazer that I bought a few years ago? Much too long after that challenge, I realized how dumb I had been...half of my closet is menswear.

I'm not about to wear my husband's khaki slacks or anything, but stealing his belt seemed like a great idea yesterday. Time to look a little closer in there and see what else I can swipe.

Dolman

After making my maxi skirt the other day, I was still in a sewing mood. Those skirts are so quick to whip up that I don't lose my sewing drive mid-project, as usual.

With about a yard of the blue fabric left, I thought I'd try out a top. I've been loving all the loose flowy tops with dolman sleeves, so I gave it a try.

top: made by me, jeans: abercrombie (refashioned), boots: target, watch: dkny, earrings: gift from my sister

It was all trial and error, so there was no way I could make a tutorial as I went. But I love the top so much, especially with the boatneck and tapered hemline, that I'll be making another one in the next few days and will definitely do a tutorial to go along with that one. Then you can all make one too and be in love with yours as much as I am with mine.

Stay tuned!

Backward Boatnecks

[striped tee: target, jeans: abercrombie (altered by me), necklace: gifted (francesca's), sandals: target]

This striped tee was a must-have when I saw it on the shelf at Target. All my other striped clothing is more dressy, so having a navy and white striped casual tee was just what my closet was wanting. Then, the second time I wore it, I got a nice orange stain two or three stripes below the neckline. I tried stain remover and bleaching over and over, but to no avail. Finally I bought a white fabric marker and went at the stain with that last night, but because the shirt is actually slightly off-white, the white paint was too obvious.

I was bound and determined to not throw this shirt away (I know what you're thinking -- why not run to Target and buy another for $8? I tried. They were gone. Sad story), so this morning, on a whim, I tried it on backward. And just like that, it's a boatneck beauty. And I love it.

Welcome back to my closet, striped tee. Welcome back.

Lazy

[blazer: forever 21, polka dot blouse: jcpenney, dress: target (maternity), sandals: target]

I know what you're thinking. The title of this post is very misleading because this outfit is not a lazy type of outfit. In fact, it's kind of uptight and stiff. And that is why it was on for a total of three minutes, just enough for me to take these pictures. Then off came the blouse, off came the blazer, on came a pair of leggings, and a big old comfy black and white striped sweater. And that is because today I am feeling LAZY.

We have been working on some big family decisions over here, and although I'm feeling really good about these changes, I was thinking about it alllllll night long. Tossing and turning. Then 7:30 am rolled around and since I couldn't sleep anymore, I got up and exercised which made me even more tired. So like I said, LAZY DAY.

So bring on the comfy cardigans and leggings. It's not a blazer and blouse kind of day.

Win and Lose

[gray top: gap, striped skirt: made by me (fabric from fabric.com), silver metallic sandals: target, belt: cozy boutique, silver stud earrings: tiffany's, watch: dkny]

This morning I woke up and couldn't find anything in my closet that I wanted to wear. I often have days like that, but today was different because I actually had a solution to that problem. I went to my fabric box, pulled out my favorite silver and white striped fabric, and made myself a skirt. It's not the prettiest thing in the world (it has no hem or waistband), but I think it looks cute and it has managed to stay up on my hips this far into the day, so I count that a win.

However, that win is negated since I'm having possibly the worst hair day ever. That's what I get for being vain. I've been sufficiently humbled.

Happy Tuesday. Hope your hair looks better than mine.

Wild Child

[white tee: target, sequin infinity scarf: charlotte russe, jeans: abercrombie (altered to skinnies by me -- tutorial here), nude heels: kohls, nail polish: hard as nails "gray area"]

Let's first get one thing straight. My nails are not black, they are gray. Black is goth. Gray is awesome. In high school I somehow got targeted as "the wild child" by the ladies who worked at my dad's dental office, and although I have no idea what elicited this stereotype, I always thought it was pretty hilarious. Cause if you really know me, you know I follow the rules and am a pretty good kind of girl.

Well then last Christmas, my mother in law took me shopping, and as part of a special when a certain amount of money was purchased at Charlotte Russe, you got a free scarf. They asked me what color I wanted, but they were hanging about ten feet away all bunched together and it was really hard to tell what they looked like. I picked gray, they grabbed one from under the counter and threw it in the bag, and we were on our merry way. Then when we got home, my sweet mother in law pulled the scarf out of the bag and was appalled that we'd accidentally gotten a sequined tube top. After a little discussion between everyone, we decided it was definitely a scarf. Just an infinity scarf (which none of us had even heard of at that time). I guess the wild child within was just showing its ugly head again. I make no promises for New Years Eve, but to stay conservative today, I wore it as a scarf. You're welcome.

Casual Friday

[boyfriend tee: target, jeans: abercrombie (altered by me), both belts: cozy boutique, earrings: gift from Brit, shoes: steve madden via plato's closet, watch dkny]

Although I like doing these challenges, it seriously wears me out. I know, what can be so draining about choosing an outfit? I don't know...I am weak. Good thing my husband dragged me out of the house to meet him for lunch or else I might never have gotten dressed today.

So after a week of outfits, it's time for a casual Friday. Out comes the boyfriend tee and my insanely comfortable new favorite jeans. I'll be back in full swing tomorrow, but right now all I want to do is lay on the couch and paint my nails with my new gray nail polish.

Til tomorrow!

A Skinny Jean Is Born: Tutorial

A few people have asked me about my alterations from bootcut to skinny jeans. I have done this with several of my pants and love them a million billion times better post-alteration. You will too. This is not only limited to bootcut...if you have some full on 70's flares, you can also use this tutorial to save them.
Step 1: try on your pants and with a pin or a piece of fabric chalk, mark on one leg where you want to start tapering (around the knee, usually), and another mark to show how skinny you want to go at the ankle. [having a cute assistant is optional]:

Step 2: with your starting and stopping points marked, carefully (if you're using pins) remove the pants and turn the pants inside out, moving your pins to the inside. Don't worry if your markings move a centimeter or two...these are rough measurements and can be adjusted as we move on.


Step 3: Then with your pants turned inside out, sew from the knee pin to the ankle pin at a nice even angle. Start sewing just barely off of the pants and gradually angle onto the pants. This will make a nice taper with no weird tucks or gathers at the knee. [as you can see, my pants are not turned inside out here, but make sure yours are! Also, make sure you do this seam on the inside of the leg. The outside will be much more noticeable!]:

Step 4: try the pants back on with one leg "skinnied" and one leg not. If you are happy with how the skinny leg looks, move on. If not, resew your seam and then try them on again. Once you're happy with your skinny leg, cut out the extra fabric and secure your cut edge with a zigzag stitch or a serged seam.

Step 5: fold your pants in half and measure the skinny leg against the bootcut leg. Mark where you started and stopped and then do an identical seam on the other leg. Try your pants on and make sure you're happy with both sides. If you are, cut out the extra fabric on the second leg and secure the raw edge.

And Voila! Skinny Jeans!
A quick note: These jeans were a little bit long, so I considered hemming them, but then once they were done I decided I liked the bunching at the ankle. Plus, I figured I'd be cuffing them occasionally so I wanted to keep the nice professional hem at the bottom that would show when cuffed.

Any questions???

An Art Lesson

[yellow top: swapped, magenta dress: target (maternity), sandals: target, belt: cozy, watch: dkny, earrings: handmade gift from a friend]

In art color theory classes, you learn about the color wheel. How red, yellow and blue are the primary colors, and how when you pair those colors together (like red + yellow) you get the secondary colors green, purple, and orange. And then the complimentary colors are the ones across from each other on the color wheel, like orange and blue, or red and green.

And then you have my outfit: yellow and magenta. And I guess you could kind of say it works because digital media uses magenta, yellow, and cyan as their primary colors, which they call the subtractive primaries, but really who knows about that stuff? And who cares about studying all this anyway? It all gets complicated and the colors start blending together and your eyes begin to cross from staring at too many colors and....let's just pretend that yellow and magenta were meant to be together. OK?

And you thought your college major was hard.






By the way, Peanut has discovered how to use the camera remote. I have about fifty pictures pretty much identical to this one. I guess he wants to participate in the 21 day challenge too...

[jammies: target]

Pattern On Pattern

[floral shirt: from the Netherlands (gift from mom), pinstriped skirt: downeast basics outlet (altered to my size (formerly about 10 sizes too big)), sandals: target, earrings: stolen from my little sister (oops!), watch: dkny]

Let me just put it out there right now that I am NOT a fashionista. In fact, I sort of loathe that word and all that is associated with it. It sounds pretentious and kind of kitschy and reminds me of a person that wears way too many accessories and thinks it's awesome. What I should say is, I don't really know anything about fashion. Because last time I checked, mixing patterns was a no-no. Aren't there a million stories about wives telling their husbands to go and change because, "striped shirts and plaid shorts do not match!"

Then all the sudden mixing patterns was the cool thing. The runways and pinterest are suddenly exploding with pattern mixing. Seriously, fashion is so hard to figure out. Pretty soon we'll all be wearing sandals with socks and think it's the best thing ever. Whatever...I'll jump on the bandwagon.

p.s. A few of you asked about my bootcut to skinny jeans alteration...I happen to have a pair in my closet that are waiting to be altered, so I think it's time for a tutorial. Stay tuned!

Jane and Jill

[cardigan: target (gift), top: gap, belt: cozy, jeans: abercrombie (altered to skinnies), sandals: target, earrings: claires, watch: DKNY]

Have you ever heard that story about Jane and Jill where the parents say how smart Jane is and how pretty Jill is, and all Jane hears is that she's not pretty, and all Jill hears is that she's not smart. Well, we had a little version of that in our family growing up...the kind that is meant in good fun, but has scarred me for life. When talking about the shapes of our faces, my parents would say "This is Janssen," and then they would shape their hands into a nice tall oval. Then they would turn that oval horizontally and say, "and this is Merrick," and then they'd shrink that hand shape into a teeny tiny circle and say, "this is Landen."

So yes, that's me. The pumpkin head. It's one of those things that as I get older I know is not true, but I cannot, for the life of me, get it out of my head. And thus, I avoid big stud earrings because I feel like it makes my already wiiiiiiiide face look even wider. But today I'm wearing these earrings because they're the ones I got for my sister's wedding and they need to be worn more than just once. And because they looked good with my outfit. And because I am nothing but generous and kind to you readers who I know wanted me to wear some big earrings today.

The Fave Five.

[mustard cardigan: Cozy, polka dot blouse: jcpenneys, white shorts: old navy, black sandals: target, white watch: DKNY (dillards), earrings: tiffany's]

I'm not sure exactly when it started, but I'm guessing sometime around 5th or 6th grade I started getting really picky about my clothes. I found four or five shirts in my closet and would rotate through those (and only those), until they started falling apart and then I'd pick a new set. My poor mother would buy me new clothes and they would then sit in my closet collecting dust because they weren't one of my "fave five."

Even as an adult I found myself falling into this trap. I had a few shirts that I loved and that I'd constantly wear, while others fell to the back of the closet, unworn and unloved. But then along came this polka dot blouse -- not a comfy t-shirt, not a typical everyday mommy type of shirt -- and I fell in love. This shirt made me realize I could love more than five shirts. I didn't have to wear it once a week to love it, but I could rotate through all my shirts and love them equally. Ok, I still wear my favorite boyfriend tees from target almost every other day, but still....I'm trying. Give a girl a break.

By the way, for the next three weeks, I'm participating in Kayla's 21 Day Challenge.