Sliding into a rut...

I have had times in the past when I have absolutely hated my wardrobe, felt uncomfortable in any outfit I put on and had a constant list of new items I 'needed'. I shopped manically, with a significant portion of the garments bought being somehow unsuitable; either I soon realised that they were unflattering, or they didn't go with anything else, I had nowhere to wear them, or I simply didn't like them any more. But my level of shopping was so high that before long, I had formed a wardrobe which was complete enough to satisfy any occasion and with enough items which I knew make me feel good about my body and which I knew I could always fall back on.

But then I started getting busy, preoccupied and stressed and in a way which would have been unfathomable to me only this summer, my thirst for fashion slowly began to subside. Sure, I was still having fun with clothes and I still enjoy wearing my nice pieces, but I no longer seemed to have the time to shop. And whenever I do, I never seem to find anything I love which looks particularly nice on me. Nothing which screams at me 'you must buy me!'. I actually wonder if maybe you, my readers, have noticed the dwindling supply of 'my wardrobe and me' posts, in which I eagerly display my latest buy; I even returned the fun leggings in my last such post.

For a few months, this was nice. It felt nice not to see too many gaping holes in my wardrobe. And it felt nice, when it became obvious that I needed some warm cardigans, to be able to pop to the shops and pick up some good, functional cardigans without my heart aching for a million other unattainables. Oh, it felt nice to actually have some spare cash, which was of course duly spent on going out and presents for other people (one of the only kinds of shopping I still seem to be successful in!).

But, I'm also starting to get a little bored. Sure, as I said, I have plenty of lovely tried-and-tested outfits which I could wear, but I really am getting tired of it. Recently, I have begun to love my neglected horde of dangly earrings, realising how they can inject some fun into an outfit. Yet I am starting to miss those now rare occasions when I discover how fabulous this barely worn dress looks worn as a top, tucked into these jeans which I couldn't find a top to go with before!

And I do want to recapture the thrill of shopping, finding something which makes your heart race. I always said that retail therapy was the best kind. Yeah, buying pyjama bottoms and books is great fun as I've recently discovered, btu I'm sure you super-stylish bloggers will understand the difference. Plus there's always that fear: what if I've lost my shopping mojo? What if now is only the beginning of a long and painful metamorphosis into that textbook-laden, Ugg-boot-wearing scruffy student of my nightmares?!?