Last week stylist Jamie Bisel of Making the Most of What You Have paid a visit to my long time friend Anne Morrison in Kingwood, Texas to help her with her retirement style. Anne formerly worked as both and electrical and chemical engineer before moving into management roles in the petrochemical industry. Some of her career was spent in downtown offices while other parts were spent in plants and overseas production facilities. Those jobs left Anne with a lot of denim for plant work and some very cool accessories she used to change up her look in the form of a fabulous scarf and jewelry collection.
Anne graciously opened up her home and her closet to Jamie to see how they could re-purpose her wardrobe for her new lifestyle. You can watch Jamie and Anne’s wardrobe planning video on the Closet Reboot YouTube channel by clicking on the following picture and continue reading to see how Anne’s outfits worked out.
Anne recently joined the Kingwood Garden Club and needed an outfit for the new member coffee. Jamie probably worked this one the longest – she wanted something super on fleek since these ladies are very stylish and tend to dress up. Jamie gravitated to this adorable white and black polka dot skirt, but wasn’t quite happy with the top. She started with this black tunic which looks great with the scarf, pearls and sandals, but wasn’t quite what she was hoping for. Then Jamie found this lovely gray scale floral blouse which elevated the outfit – when pattern on pattern works, it’s super stylish! She changed out the black sandals for some nude pumps and added a black belt at the hip. Anne mentioned getting several compliments at the coffee – not to mention several ladies commenting that she looks way too young to be retired (because she does!).
Anne also has a girls trip coming up to the Texas Hill Country. She and a girlfriend will be spending some time in Wimberley, Texas where they will enjoy hiking in the mornings followed by lunch and shopping in some of the great local artisan shops. Jamie noted that with Anne’s long legs, shorts are particularly flattering on her and luckily the warm Texas climate accommodates them more of the year than not.
First Jamie wanted to take advantage of 
the “athleisure” trend with this cute red athletic jacket. Anne also had this fun halter top with huge lapels. The top was about to get donated, but Jamie loved the lapels and showed Anne a way to wear it with the jacket that felt more natural and looked great. At first, Jamie paired the tops with this denim skirt, but then she ran across this cute little black skirt more in keeping with the athletic look. Jamie tried athletic shoes with the outfit, but given Anne’s inventory, these cute little turquoise sandals worked the best. Jamie noted that color doesn’t matter if the pieces look good together and these definitely did! We can’t wait to see pictures of Anne sporting this outfit around Wimberley!
The black hip belt made another appearance with the next outfit paired with these beautiful vibrant blue shorts. I love this color on Anne! But, my favorite part of this outfit is the black shirt which once belonged to Anne’s 17 year old son. As a fellow boy mom, I’ve been enjoying wearing my sons hand me downs now that they are bigger than me. Anne has one more year before her baby Jack heads off to university – it’s always nice to have a few things they have left behind that we can keep so close to our heart! This time Jamie did stick with the black sandals which elevated the outfit a bit and worked great with the black shirt. Jamie completed the outfit making use of some of Anne’s jewelry which she really appreciated since she doesn’t get as much opportunity to wear it anymore. Jamie layered two necklaces and added these sparkly red earrings for an extra pop of color.
Next Jamie brought back one of Anne’s 
beautiful scarves this time as a belt. Like many of us moms, Anne is a little self conscious about tucking in blouses (I had the same issue), but Jamie insisted she tuck this lovely plum colored cowl neck shirt into theses adorable black scalloped shorts. Anne looks great and tucking the blouse allowed Jamie to add the beautiful scarf in the shorts belt loops which tied all the colors of the outfit together including the gold jewelry. Jamie also reached for these larger earrings which are big again this season from Anne’s 1980s vintage jewelry box. Jamie doubled the gold tassel necklace so that it is framed just right by the cowl neckline of Anne’s plum blouse. The clogs completed the look and kept it grounded for the casual Hill Country boho vibe that Anne really appreciated.
The next outfit was my favorite and I have it on good authority that I may not be alone. Anne couldn’t wait to wear this one so she wore it in Houston and apparently didn’t have to wait until she left the house to get a compliment! Jamie repurposed the clogs with these adorable bright pink shorts and vertical blue stripe button down. This scarf pulls together then pink blue and white perfectly, but was too short for a belt so Jamie had Anne tie is around her pony tail – such a cute and chic look at the same time! We all felt the white belt really made the outfit though – interesting again how such a small thin detail can make such a difference in the completeness of the look. A long necklace was one more finishing detail – such a darling look on Anne! She seriously does not look old enough to be retired in this ensemble for sure!
For Anne’s last outfit, Jamie again went 
with a pair of blue denim shorts that flatter her long legs and are right on trend. The blue and white floral top adds additional texture to the faded denim shorts. Jamie layered a long navy sweater on top and belted it with one of Anne’s aged metal chain belts. The patina actually looked great with the rustic look of the faded denim. Jamie elevated the look with Anne’s nude pumps and this lovely beaded necklace. Again the necklace length didn’t quite work so Jamie had Anne link the clasp within the regular necklace for the perfect length. This will be a great early evening outfit for when the suns stats to set – layering in Texas is an absolute must with our Fall / Spring temperature variances.
I can’t wait to see pictures from Anne’s girls trip and she also let me know that she recently purchased some new beige pumps and gold sandals to update her look so it will be fun to see how she weaves them in to change and update her look.
As for me, I’m still in recovery mode from shingles, but feeling much better. My new Cole Haan glasses will be showing up in all my pictures for at least 2 more weeks until my doctor clears me for contact lens wear again. I made it into the office all last week even if not quite at 100% (see two of my outfits above) and was able to make my scheduled shopping trip with Jodi Skorupski to fill some holes in my wardrobe last Friday. To see Jodi’s advice on purchasing the perfect fitting pair of jeans, check out our video (click on the following picture) on the Closet Reboot YouTube channel.
Be sure to let me know what you think in a comment either her or on YouTube and if you are enjoying these posts, please give me a Like and subscribe to my blog and my YouTube channel. In the meantime, have a fabulous week!
XOXO,
Misty Ann
Closet Reboot 