"Shopping" in my own closet

It has been, in ways too numerous and too depressing to annotate here, a horrible week.

I needed a pick-me-up so badly that I nearly succumbed to the siren call of Retail Therapy. Yes, I went for a walk at lunch and tried on a bunch of clothes, telling myself it was OK because they were all on sale.

But once I donned the jeans and sweater, and took a look at myself in the mirror, I thought: I don't really need any of this. Sure, the sweater cost only $24.99, and the jeans were $20 off (still $59.99). But wouldn't I rather use the money for something more meaningful? The answer was yes.

Not only did I save money that day, but I came up with a better solution to for my rotten-week blahs. I put together an entirely new outfit from stuff I already had in my closet: A black shirt that everyone's seen before, a charcoal camisole that everyone's seen before, a black, high-waisted, pinstripe skirt that everyone's seen before, black tights and black winter boots. Oh, yeah, and the $20 necklace I bought last year with a gift card, which always garners a compliment. Here's how all the pieces looked together:

The reaction when I walked into work: "Wow, I love what you're wearing today!" "Will you go shopping for me?"

Just for fun, I was thinking I might ask all of you to try the same trick at home — then share the results by uploading a picture of your new-old ensemble to our Facebook page (when you log in, search "Todaysparent.com"). Hope to see all you frugal fashionistas there!