The other weekend I made a trip to Target to buy some new hair ties and perhaps browse the bathing suit section.  Two and a half hours later, I emerged with a complete summer wardrobe!

Signs of summer in New York are here.  For one, I planned this week's outfits while dipping my toes in my apartment building's pool.  The more annoying and unavoidable sign of summer is showing up to work a wilted, melty, sweaty mess with your clothes sticking to you.  Once you dry out and try to make yourself presentable again, you shiver in freezing office AC the rest of the day. Repeat until September. 

I spent quite a bit of time thinking about how I would resume my shopping when the month past. I wanted to have a strategy so I didn't go back to old ways of over-shopping. I focused in on pieces that I thought would really move the closet needle: statement necklaces, power dresses and sandals. 

Every woman should have a pencil skirt in their closet. With the right fit, a pencil skirt can flatter any figure. In a past career, I met with potential clients frequently, so I wore a lot of pencil skirts in black or shades of grey paired with a crisp button down. Boring. Since then I've pushed the pencil skirt beyond the business suit scenario to really own it and feel confident. 

I made an impulse purchase of a sleeveless trench a while back.  It hung in my closet through a whole month of no shopping without being worn, begging for its shot, yet intimidating the crap out of me.  I must’ve made about five different outfits with it as the main piece and each one just didn't feel right, until today.