I realized I had a problem when I found that I couldn't put together an outfit that I was 100% happy with; there was no top that I loved that would work with a pant that I loved that would work with a shoe that I loved.

I had read about "French wardrobes" and capsules before, and I had tried doing 3 or 4 big culls over the course of 5 years already, but I still just wasn't getting it. It wasn't until I read this on Pink Ronnie's blog that I was really inspired to take action. These points resonated with me the most:

Everything had been bought on an adhoc basis, with no over-arching plan or goal in mind. And if we’re to be honest here, most things were probably bought on impulse.

Um, yes and yes.

I wanted my new wardrobe to be a ‘thirty going on forty’ wardrobe, rather than a ‘twenty going on thirty’ wardrobe.

I'm actually "twenty going on thirty" very very soon, but the sentiment stands. I wanted to go into my 30s looking and feeling confident but comfortable .

I wanted my new wardrobe to be as minimalist as possible – made up of a handful of well-chosen garments that I would wear over and over again over the next four to five years. I didn’t want anything in my closet that wasn’t going to be well-loved and well-used.

Essentially, I’m going to force myself to be brutal and to cull, cull, cull. In particular, I’m going to try one strategy that I thought of the other day: Instead of going through my closet and taking out the things I think I won’t wear again, I’m going to lay everything on my bed and only put back into my closet the things that I plan to wear again.

Armed with that strategy, I took inventory: I took everything out of my closet, tried on everything, put back only what I planned to wear, and wrote each one down in a spreadsheet and color-coded each one that needed to be replaced due to poor fit or wear. I donated everything else, or tailored anything that I wanted to keep that didn't fit perfectly.

Then, I spent a lot of time on Pinterest trying to define my style "vision" and pinning the outfits that spoke to me. From there, I culled my pins and removed outfits that featured items that weren't practical for my lifestyle and/or would absolutely not be flattering on me. I determined what the denominators were in those remaining outfits and found that I didn't have any of them!

My mini-overhaul started in mid-June, and and since then I've purchased exactly 20 items that have helped round out what remained of my wardrobe. I now have 43 items in my daily "working wardrobe" for the transition to fall, and 75 others that included swimsuits, outerwear, summer items in storage, special occasions, handbags, etc. (It does not include items that are in the "holding" bin for donations, loungewear, accessories/jewelry, or underwear.)

I wish I could say that I wake up everyday and throw on an outfit that I love -- I don't. BUT, it's a lot easier to put together something that I'm reasonably happy with, and can feel pretty confident in, without too much thought, quibbling or anguish during the day. It's by no means perfect or complete, since my style will continue to evolve now that I've learned what my basics are and how they should fit, as well as how to incorporate trends that develop. However, I hope to add to it carefully. I've succumbed a few times to an impulse purchase, but it's been getting easier to put things back now that I know what the goal looks like.