I’m definitely someone who champions maximizing the clothes you already have in your wardrobe. Don’t get me wrong, I buy new clothes all the time, but the trick to not spend too much money is to be consciously aware of what is already in the closet. I don’t really bring more than a few “versatile” mix-and-matcher clothes from London back to LA. I still have a semi-full closet in my mom’s house (I know, poor her.) The truth is, when I comb through my old closet in LA, I always find pieces that I have forgotten. Oops.

This a blue dress is one that I bought in Taiwan about 3 years ago. I’ve worn it a few times, to parties, and then retired it safely into the corner of my closet. When I rediscovered it on this trip, I wanted to wear it out… but it was too cold, even for LA! So I went into my luggage and pulled out my crop top dress shirt and a pair of jeans. Voilà! Breathed new life right into my old dress.

This look worked out better than I thought, because realistically, not all outfits work out the way they do in my head.

We ended up going to a museum, the Getty Villa. It was up in the Pacific Palisades/Malibu region, so the weather was breezy and cool. My layered outfit kept me warm. The best part of the dress was always the extra material hanging in the front, and it allows me to tie it up or wear it as a scarf. Whatever I felt like.

So next time you think you have nothing to wear, look again, and maybe you can breathe some new life into an old piece as well.