The Five People You Meet on Poshmark

I've been on Poshmark for about 6 months now, and have made a few hundred dollars selling my clothes, so you could definitely say I'm a fan. Throughout my time on this app, I've noticed that Poshers can be diveded into five major groups, with the exception of a few outliers of course. If you've bought or sold on Poshmark long enough, you'll probably recognize these people. And if you're not on Poshmark yet, make an account, list a few items, and sit back and wait for the first type to show up.

The Low-Baller
The low-ball offer made in the comment section is the signature move of this type. They'll like a few items, one for $15, another for $10, and then maybe a third for $8, and then they'll leave the comment, "I'll do $5 for the items I've liked." What?!?! Are you serious? Yes, please let me lose money on the gas it will take to go to the post office to mail your three items for the $2 I get to keep. For those of you who are thinking, "well isn't that kind of the name of the game?" Look, I'm all for making offers. Offers are great! But everyone on Poshmark knows the app takes a commission off the profit, so you're essentially asking for the items to be given away. If I wanted to give my items away, they'd be in a Goodwill bin, not on Poshmark.

The Unrealistic Rater
This type is a lot harder to recognize, because by the time you spot them, it's too late. I won't name names (although you can go on my Poshmark account and figure it out), but someone purchased a pair of like-new 00 pants from me and then gave me a 1-star rating. I saw the alert and panicked! What could have happened? Was the package set outside in a puddle and they were ruined? Did someone open the package and steal the pants from her doorstep? Nope. Turns out the 00 didn't fit her so she felt I didn't do a good job describing the pants. Umm...the pants are a 00. I'm not. I have no way of knowing if they fit like a "true" 00. The number one rule of Poshing is ask questions. If you want to know how they will fit, ask the seller! I have a tape measure lying out just waiting to answer questions like that. If you don't ask the questions and then don't like the results, blame yourself, not the seller.

The Overly Eager Seller
"Thank you for liking my listing!!!! *heart* *smiley* *heart* *heart eyed smiley*" This Posh personality is the equivalent of the sales guy in the mall chasing you down so you'll let him straighten your hair. "Pretty lady! Pretty lady, is that your natural hair?" Please just let me walk by. They mean well, they really do, but sometimes you just want to keep your eye on an item, not be sold on it that very moment. Now, confession time, I've totally been guilty of this, so I get it. You want to make that sale and it's so close you can taste it! But let's face it, no one wants to be hassled whether its in the mall or over an app.

The Posh Goddess
Every now and then, I run into a closet on Poshmark and my jaw drops. Designer bags, adorable tops, dozens of dresses, and all of them are perfectly modeled and realistically priced. Yup, these ladies are the Posh Goddesses. They've got it all figured out and must be making a nice buck doing it. What makes this group even more fabulous is that when you share their listings with your couple thousand followers, they'll turn back around and share your listings with their hundreds of thousands of followers! I imagine that's also the same feeling you get when you're in a crowd, cheering for a celebrity, and suddenly they look right at you, smile and wave. Now that's class.

The Everyday Shopper
This last group is where I, and probably the majority of Poshmark people, fall into. We are the people who like to shop, have overly loaded closets we'd like to clean out, and wouldn't mind making some easy money. These are the people who have like-new Mod Cloth Panda shoes for sale simply because they were bought on clearance and never worn. Be nice to this group, because they could turn into the goddesses one day.


If you're on Poshmark and any of these ring true, let me know in a comment below. If you think I've missed a group, I'd love to hear what other Posh People are out there.
In the meantime, check out my closet because I have recently added about 20 new items!

Developing a Personal Style Through Style Intentions

For the past month, I have been using my Stylebook app to calendar my outfits. I once thought this was a mark of insanity, but it's actually not that much extra effort when you have all your clothes logged in the app anyways. What has surprised me most about doing this is that besides the weekends, I wear the same handful of items all the time. And no, I don't technically have a uniform for work. I knew something must be wrong when out of 85 tops and 55 bottoms, only a dozen were being used. Thanks to a flowchart found on Pinterest, I was able to diagnose that my closet does not match my true personal style. Flowcharts are never wrong #science. That's great to know, but the more I thought about this, I began to realize I'm not even sure how I would define my style. Thankfully another pin had the answer. I've decided to blog my way through "6 Steps to Setting a Style Intention."

Here is the link to the step by step guide! If you have a few minutes (10-15) you might enjoy going through the process with me!

Step 1: If you're following along, you'll see that the first step is to list 5 words that describe how you want to feel after you get dressed. I decided on stylish, comfortable, polished, pretty, and confident.

Step 2: Next, I'm supposed to think of someone whose style I admire and consider the top 3 things I love about her style. Although no fewer than ten names popped into my head just now, I'll use Kendi from the blog Kendi Everyday. I like that her style is simple, classic, and feminine. I think she feels comfortable and confident in her outfits, and I really appreciate that she knows how to accessorize without going overboard.

Step 3: This step took me back to Pinterest, so I've decided to share my board with you. Go ahead. Click it.

Follow Stephanie's board Style Intention on Pinterest.

What this helped me realize is that I love neutral outfits with a pop of color. If the outfit or dress is all neutral, I want it to have some other interesting aspect, like a shimmer or a scalloped detail. I also like completing pieces like blazers, cardigans, or awesome shoes so that the look feels cohesive, not like separate pieces.
After this step, I'm starting to feel like things are coming together. I can't wait to see what's coming next...

Step 4: Looking at all the descriptions I've written down so far, it looks like I value details that make clothes visually interesting, as well as comfort for the occasion, and complete outfits that convey polish and confidence.
For this step, my words are: detail, comfort, polish, confidence.

Step 5: When I look at the outfits on my Pinterest board, I feel interested, happy, confident, like people in these clothes are friendly and smart.

My Style Intentions:
I want to feel confident when I get dressed every morning.
At 3 PM I want to look in the mirror and see an outfit that looks detailed and polished.
I want to wear clothes that feel comfortable and combine for outfits that look smart.
I want to wear clothes that make me feel happy, friendly, and interesting.

And we're done! I hope you took this little mini workshop with me. I definitely found it interesting, and I'm no longer on the fence about many pieces in my wardrobe (hint: they'll be in my Poshmark shop soon @ShopCCR). Comment below if you've also found your style intentions and let me know what you came up with!

Stripes with a Side of Floral, Please

How is it already September? But a better question is why is it still 100 degrees outside? We're at the point in the year when I'm ready for an Autumn chill. I love waking up to crisp air and a cool breeze. Let's face it, coffee never tastes better than when it's starting to cool off outside. I love being able to layer without dying of heat, and I'm especially looking forward to wearing boots again.

Even though it's a million degrees, not even the heat could keep me from wearing this scarf with my striped top. I love how it feels like a floral without actually having flowers. It's more like a modern watercolor interpretation of flowers, or at least I think so. And we all know stripes and floral patterns go together like pumpkin spice lattes and mildly offensive jokes.

Shop my Look: Top / Pants (Loft) / Scarf (Hollister Seasons ago) / Shoes (Target seasons ago)

Teacher Foundation Wardrobe: Day 10

Here we are at the end of August and the end of an era. And by era I of course mean the Teacher Foundation Wardrobe. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have! Throughout this process, I learned the value of basics and how a little creativity can save a lot of trouble searching for what to wear. This capsule demonstrates an essential clothing principle: if it's remixable, it's a staple. Who would have thought that a sequinned shirt could count as a versatile piece of clothing? I certainly didn't. But once I was able to see it away from my stuffed closet, next to only a few other pieces, I realized that it goes with a lot! The same is true of my wine colored pants. Although they're a color (not just black, white, or gray), they count as a neutral because they look good with just about any color.

This mini capsule experiment was so much fun that I'll probably repeat the process in spring with brighter colors. If you'd like to try your hand at making a foundation wardrobe I would love to hear how it goes. If you need more inspiration before trying it for yourself, then make sure you continue to follow Kate in the Classroom since she lives the capsule life 24/7!

Here's a look at Kate's entire Teacher Foundation Wardrobe. So pretty!

Teacher Foundation Wardrobe: Day 9

Every now and then, a remixed look comes together and it makes you wonder how on earth you had never put those items together before! I'm so glad I decided to put this sequinned top in my capsule because up until now, I always thought it was more of a weekend with jeans type of look. Now I'm seeing that sequins can actually look quite professional when paired with classically serious pieces. It's hard to pick a hero here. Is it the necklace? The shoes maybe? I feel like if you were to take away any part of this outfit, it wouldn't have the same effect.

People, it's time for a happy dance. Today is Friday which means we all survived the first week of school! I've had coworkers conversationally ask, "any plans for the weekend?" and I'm just thinking, "yeah, I'm going to sleep." It makes me grin to think about not having an alarm wake me up tomorrow. I could sleep until 8 or 9 and not have that weird moment of wondering why an annoying sound is interrupting my dreams before remembering summer is over. But if I'm being honest, I do have other things to accomplish other than sleeping. I'd like to get outside! It's weird, but being inside all day again really makes me miss mornings. It's August, so unless you get outside early or late, there's no point in facing the 100 degree weather in between. Florida people, testify. So although sleep sounds good, waking up for a morning walk would be nice too. No matter what I end up doing, I want to relax with Dan. We've both been going a hundred miles an hour all week, so I can't wait to slow down and enjoy time with him. I know he's looking forward to it too.

Teacher Foundation Wardrobe: Day 8

I'm happy to report that school has been great so far! I've met most of my students (a few still haven't shown up) and they are sweet, smart individuals. The seventh grade teachers who had these kids last year told me I'd love them, so I'm thrilled to find out they are right. That being said, I had forgotten how tired teacher-tired is. I get home and it's all I can do to keep from falling face down on the bed and taking a nap straight through until morning. This makes scheduling outfits even more important for me! I used to be able to just throw together an outfit each day and be fine, but now that I wake up, do chores while I actually wake up, and then have about thirty minutes to get out the door, I need to know ahead of time what I'll be wearing. I've enjoyed this capsule so much, I plan on scheduling my entire week of outfits each weekend. Although paper and pencil would work just as well, I'll be using my Stylebook app to plan and schedule each look.

The look I'm wearing today is my classic black pencil skirt, a loft tank with fun side trim, and a Hollister scarf I've had forever. It's been over a hundred degrees lately so instead of layering with a jacket or sweater, I decided to add a scarf. It brings a little texture and contrast to the look without making me sweat. That's what I call a win win.

Teacher Foundation Wardrobe: Day 6 (and 7)

Around seven o'clock last night, I realized I had forgotten to do something fairly important: a blog post! I was so exhausted from day 1 of classes and so anxious for day 2 that I completely forgot to plan a post. So hopefully you don't mind me rolling out two outfits in one day!

The top outfit is a fun take on a couple classic pieces. There is nothing more essential than a black pencil skirt and a chambray shirt. To make the look more unique, I like to tie my shirt in a front knot and add a statement necklace. With those two little changes, this look goes from completely straight-laced, to something with personality. Basics made not so basic.

Look number two speaks for itself. A simple shirt and colored pants made an outfit with an easy front tuck. I truly believe that all it takes is a front tuck here or a knotted shirt there to add personal style to really foundational pieces.

Teacher Foundation Wardrobe: Day 5

It's the first day of school! I'm so excited I could hardly sleep last night. Excited, nervous, anxious, whatever you want to call it. I'm also excited that this look with the sequinned top means that all 10 pieces of my capsule have been used. This look came together on a whim when I decided that polka dots and sequinned stripes should definitely go together. The finished look is fun but totally teacher appropriate. Good luck to all the other teachers out there experiencing day 1. We should swap crazy stories tomorrow.

Teacher Foundation Wardrobe: Day 4

Yesterday was 6th grade open house at our school, and let me just say, I have some adorable kiddos this year! Now I know what you're thinking, "um don't you teach 8th grade?" and the answer is yes! But I also teach one elective for gifted children that includes all three middle school grades. Although I'm not sure I could handle all 6th grade all the time, I do love their energy and cuteness for one class.

This week has been dragging by and ending too quickly all at once. I can hardly believe I see students on Monday! Even though this is my fourth "first day" it doesn't feel any less stressful. I feel like I can barely keep up with my list of things to do at work, and so naturally my list at home is suffering. The floors need to be swept, there are always dishes in the sink even though I wash them first thing every morning, and I don't remember the last time our bed was made. Am I the only working wife out there who feels like a failure when these things go undone? I'd like to say I was past that point, but I'm really not. I know that once I'm back into a schedule, things will get better, but for right now I'm just a tired, stressed out person who is trying desperately not to ruin all the cutting back on caffeine progress I made over the summer. And that's why this capsule is so important. Can you even imagine if I didn't have these staple pieces waiting to be easy outfits? I'd be doomed! And yes, those are the same pants two days in a row. Don't judge me.

This outfit is the perfect Friday look. It's so simple, so easy, and very comfortable. I love heels, but I definitely grabbed a pair of flats to change into when my feet start hurting halfway through the day. Whenever I wear black on black, I imagine I'm channeling Audrey Hepburn, even though I don't have the honor of looking anything like her. It's all in the self-perception, right?

Shop my Look: Pants / Loft Top Last Season / Loft sweater past season / Shoes

Teacher Foundation Wardrobe: Day 3

It's only day three and I've already worn 8 of my 10 capsule pieces! Day one was the black pencil skirt and diamond top. Day two was burgundy cropped pants, chambray shirt, and polka dot sweater, and now here are my black cropped pants, grey tank top, and black blazer. That means that starting tomorrow, you'll get to see some remixing happening! I can sense your excitement through the screen, and I appreciate it.

These pants are the Sloan Fit ankle pants from Banana Republic. I bought them on sale at least two years ago and they're as sturdy and dark as ever. I love pants that don't show wear! The top is from Loft and is crazy on sale right now. You may want to go get one if you enjoy clothes that are both comfortable and cute. Who doesn't, right? So far I'm really happy with my selections for my capsule. These ankle pants are a tried and true staple, as is the blazer. These pieces are so versatile, they are closet staples I could not live without.

I hope this series is inspiring you to think about your closet staples. Want more inspiration? Hop on over to Kate in the Classroom and see how her capsule is unfolding!

Shop my Look: Pants (Banana Republic) / Top (Loft) / Blazer (TJ Maxx seasons ago)

Teacher Foundation Wardrobe: Day 2

I can't believe it's already Wednesday and I see students in five days. Crazy! Today is our first day to just work in our classrooms. What else have we been doing you ask? Trainings, rotations of more trainings, and team building games. That's right. Apparently knowing how to cross a gymnasium on square tiles of carpet while not sharing a tile with more than one person or passing my own team will make me a better teacher than having time to create lesson plans and set up my classroom. On the bright side, schedules are finally out and it looks like I will have two English 1 Honors classes, two regular language arts, one advanced language arts, and the 6-8 gifted elective class. The curriculum for gifted is new this year, but since I taught the other classes last year, I'm not too worried about having four preps.

I have school on the brain, but let me switch it off for a second to talk about this outfit. Out of all the outfits I put together for this teacher capsule, this one is probably one of my favorites! I love the look of layering a sweater over a chambray shirt, but it's never worked for me before. For that reason, I decided to go with my thinnest chambray and an open sweater. I feel like I can breathe in these layers! These pants are a few seasons old, but Loft has a pant that is almost the same color again this year, so I'll link to that below. It's hard to pick the MVP (most valuable piece) in this outfit, so I'll have to call a tie between the top and pants. Whether you're a teacher, a stay-at-home-mom, or a doctor, a good pair of cropped pants and a chambray shirt are essential. Stick around to see how I repeat these pieces in my Teacher Foundation Wardrobe!

Shop my Look: Pants (Loft) / Top (Loft) / Sweater (Loft Previous Season)

Teacher Foundation Wardrobe: Day 1

Hey guys! If you missed the introduction to my teacher foundation wardrobe yesterday, you should go back and read it. Everyone else, come with me to outfit number one!
For this look, I decided to dress down a black pencil skirt by adding cognac accents and a casual button down. The staple here is really the skirt because of its versatility. I honestly don't know how my teacher wardrobe survived before I had this skirt. It wasn't expensive, probably close to $15 on sale at Target, but it adds classiness to a closet instantly. When I was selecting my items for my teacher staples for this series, I knew I had to include a pencil skirt because if I were to advise any new teacher on what to buy for work, this would be it. And when it comes to pencil skirts, fit is everything! Not too tight, definitely not too short, and you're good to go any given day.

I'd also like to share Kate's first look from Kate in the Classroom. Go check her blog for the details!

Shop my Look: Skirt (Target) / Top (Loft last season) / Similar Shoes

Teacher Foundation Wardrobe

One of the best parts of blogging is the people I get to meet. With very few exceptions, fellow style bloggers are a friendly bunch who like to share ideas and collaborate. One connection I've made is with Kate from Kate in the Classroom. Kate is an aspiring teacher who substitute teaches in a diverse school district while completing her education degree. Kate in the Classroom is about Kate’s teacher style- what works in the classroom, and some general thoughts on fashion and life. Kate documents her real, every day style in an effort to contribute to the on-going personal style conversation and provide another example of a young, professional wardrobe. One thing I love about her blog is that Kate uses the capsule wardrobe model to help her select the right pieces for her lifestyle. Since I'm fascinated by the capsule wardrobe movement, but too scared to commit to it, I love to read about Kate's journey and learn from her experiences.

A few weeks ago, Kate contacted me to see if I'd want to collaborate on something "teacher related." Of course I said yes and we began brainstorming. In no time at all, we landed on a concept that we both loved. We decided to create a mini capsule for teachers, 10 outfits from 10 pieces, to demonstrate how a little creativity can go a long way. Follow us for the next two weeks as we show you how ten carefully chosen staple pieces can create a selection of easy, go-to outfits. I love a one hit wonder outfit as much as the next girl, but it's important to acknowledge that having a solid wardrobe foundation is far more useful than trendy pieces that don't work more than one way. If you're interested in joining the challenge, this post will give you a good place to start as I explain how I chose my ten pieces. And when you're done here, go straight to Kate in the Classroom to hear her side of things!

When planning ten outfits (five for a work week), I knew right away I would want five different tops so I wouldn't have to wear them more than once per week. But before I picked tops, I needed to start with a color palette. Using my Stylebook app, I searched through my available work pants and skirts, and chose my black pants, black pencil skirt, and wine colored pants as my bottoms. Then I looked for colors that would go well and selected black, white, gray, and burgundy. I like how simple the colors are because it makes the possibilities endless! I then selected five versatile tops, a sweater, and a blazer that can all be mixed and matched. Kate and I decided that we would not include shoes or accessories in the capsule since we wanted to focus on foundational clothing items. Once I had my ten pieces, I began by creating two new outfits per top on Stylebook. I quickly discovered that I can actually make way more than 10 different outfits with the pieces! This whole capsule thing is actually much more diverse than I would have guessed.

The next two weeks of posts will look a little different from my usual blog photos. Instead of going outside, I decided to take all photos on the same neutral background to help create focus on the clothing. I will also be opting out of purses since I want this to speak to teachers (teachers carry laptop bags and rolling crates of books, for those who don't know).

It turns out that great blogger minds really do think alike, because when I saw Kate's capsule for the first time I had to chuckle. They're pretty similar for coming out of two different closets! See for yourself:

I hope you're as excited for this as I am. Come back tomorrow morning for this capsule's first look. Be sure to comment below if you're planning on joining us on this capsule challenge. It's going to be a good time!

Keep it Simple

Now that I'm back in the Monday-Friday workforce, it's time to celebrate every weekend and cheer for every Friday. I'm surprisingly exhausted from sitting in trainings for the past few days, so it's nice to have simple options for clothes, like my favorite Loft jeans and this adorable top. It's so comfortable and easy, so I'm excited by how smoothly it will transition into work-wear by pairing it with some dress pants. In the interest of simplifying my life this fall, I got my hair cut! I've been toying with the idea of getting a lob for awhile, and with all the pictures of perfectly messy, wavy lobs on Pinterest, I decided to go for it. My natural hair is wavy with random curls, so not needing to straighten my hair every day will be so much easier as the school year begins. Now that I'm not fighting nature anymore, it turns out I need a little help! I'm on the hunt for some new hair products to help control and shape this new style. Here's what I've used so far:

Curl Defining Cream by Living Proof - This one is currently my favorite because it smells so good. The product has medium control when scrunched into damp hair. It does a pretty good job of taming frizz, but doesn't really boost my curls. I will probably combine it with a mousse and be happy.

Miss Jessie's Pillow-Soft Curls - I bought this product because I know people who use it, but it's simply not for me. This product offers no control as it only seems to soften curls, not shape them. It's probably really good for people with more consistent curls who want extra conditioning.

Redken Curvaceous Ringlet Perfecting Lotion - This product could work wonders and I still couldn't stick with it because of the strong smell. It's also a tiny bit too sticky, similar to a gel. I believe this product would be best for someone with very thick hair looking for a little something to weigh it down. That's not me.

Let me know what you think and if you have any advice on styling my new lob. And most important of all, HAPPY WEEKEND!

Shop my Look: Top (Loft) / Denim (Loft) / Heels (Maripe) / Bag (Michael Kors)