31 for 31!

Yikes, it's almost May!  And that means I'm turning 30 in less than a month, but it also means Mission: Put Together 2013!  And this year it also means an attempt to seriously pare down my wardrobe as I attempt to also participate in the sub-challenge 31 for 31, wherein I will choose only 31 items to wear for the entire month of May.  

My 31 items include shirts, cardigans, pants, skirts, dresses, and shoes.  Notes below on why I am not limiting accessories (or you can probably guess once you've seen my 31 items!); also, I apologize for the poor photo quality, but husband at the library studying for finals means me home with the 15-month-old means I only had time to take these all with my cell phone by the lamp in the living room at 9pm after baby bedtime.  Let's get started, shall we?

8 Shirts:
+Coral from Old Navy
+Black from Mossimo for Target
+Purple from Liz Lange for Target
+Blue/tan multi from Liz Lange for Target
+Turquoise from Mossimo for Target
+Brown/tan skinny stripe from Motherhood (it's a maternity shirt. Don't judge.)
+Grey/white leafy pattern from Merona for Target (or is that Kohl's?)
+Salmon tank from ON

4 Cardigans:
+Grey shrug from Old Navy
+White cable 3/4 sleeve cardi from Merona for Target
+Tan/white 3/4 sleeve argyle cardi from J Crew
+Purple flowy ribbed cardi from Kohl's

7 Pants:
+Dark tan pencil cords from J Crew
+Skinny jeans from ON
+Turquoise skinny jeans from ON
+Purple skinny jeans from ON
+Grey pinstripe slacks from JCP
+Black capri slacks from JCP
+Khaki cotton capris

 

4 Skirts:
+Denim w button detail from Gap
+Khaki from ON
+Grey-brown from ON
+Blue medallion pattern cotton skirt from Mossimo for Target (actually this is meant to be a strapless dress, but I've always worn it as a skirt.  I don't do strapless, and it works great as a skirt!  It even has pockets!)

4 Dresses:
+Black w white polkadots
+Purple, both from Ross
+Turquoise knit dress from Mossimo for Target

+Coral/white stripe jersey dress from Merona for Target

4 Shoes:
+Turquoise thongs from Target
+Brown leather BOC sandals
+Purple ballet flat Privos

+Red ballet flat Crocs Metallic leather flower Clarks:  I almost forgot about my Clarks until I popped over to the Flickr group and saw a pic of mine from last year!  So cross out the red ballet flats, which didn't really make much sense anyway since not a single other thing is red in my entire 31:31 wardrobe, and replace those with the metallic Clarks.  Thank goodness for last-minute reminders!

Looking at my choices all together like this, and knowing that I chose ALL the colorful spring-weight clothing I own for this challenge, I see some major holes in my wardrobe already:  all my colors are purple or turquoise, with just 3 items in the coral/salmon family, and NOTHING else but neutrals!  That is nuts.  But I truly don't own anything else!  I really need some mustard, lime, green, etc. in there.  Hopefully I'll get some gift cards for my birthday (30! OMG!) on May 25th, and then I can take everything I've learned from Mission: Put Together 2013 and go forth and brighten up my wardrobe!  

I really do tend toward neutrals and denim and safe, boring clothing.  The bright skinny jeans were a gamble for me, and of course I ended up LOVING them.  I wish I could go buy more pairs in cranberry, mustard, and red!  But I don't have them, and so I can't use them in 31:31.  And my known lack of color is why I am not limiting my accessories at all, because I am really going to need my scarves, earrings, necklaces and bracelets to bring in some additional color, texture and shine and brighten up all those neutrals!