Thursday, July 7, 2016

LuLaRoe on a Budget- Capsule Closet Style- Maximizing your bang for your buck





Michala M's VIPs Guide to LuLaRoe on a Budget

"I LOVE LuLaRoe but it's so EXPENSIVE for just an outfit." I hear this phrase so often as a consultant. But as a total cheapskate myself, I get it. Spending $60 for a pair of leggings and a top that I only wear together was not my cup of tea either. As my blog name suggests, I'm a thrift-aholic. I LOVE getting a deal so I really struggled with the LuLaRoe price tags at first. I'm here to tell you now, you CAN have an adorable LLR wardrobe on a thrifty budget and I'm going to show you how. In this post, we will take 15 LuLaRoe items and create an entire wardrobe look out of them. We came up with 50+ outfits using just these 15 items and a few staple accesories....but first, a little background on how we got to this point....

I have this friend, whom I love dearly and whom I shall not name but she knows who she is....We shall call her Sally. Sally was like many other people when it came to clothing. She would buy outfits, a top, a bottom, jewelry, etc to all go together and then would only wear those pieces together. Sally and I started working on mixing up her wardrobe and would build new outfits out of what she already had. Sally really didn't need my help in this area as she is extremely fashionable on her own. Sally just needed someone to tell her it was ok to mix it up even thought she bought all those pieces to go together. Now, I'm no fashion expert, nor do I claim to have all the answers, I just pride myself on mixing and matching and trying not to wear the same things together twice (unless I'm pregnant and then I have like 5 outfits that fit- currently my situation.) This is something I really love to do and have always done in my own life....I'm thrilled to help others!

So, when I was in college and even when I first started teaching, I had this INSANELY huge closet stuffed full of all my super great discount finds. I prided myself on never paying retail for anything. I tried to keep shirts under $10 and pants under $20. I NEVER got rid of anything because I liked to mix it up and wear them other ways; I viewed everything in my closet as a "staple." Now, enter adult life, church, kids, work, etc. I found that I didn't have the kind of time to do the bargain hunting/shopping I used to do. And with kids, it is impractical to expect them to be patient while you forage through endless clearance racks to find pieces that can be used in the wardrobe. I realize that there are some people that do this...not me. I like to shop ALONE. And so I began paying retail for clothes because I needed them and only had an hour or so to shop without anyone else around. I would say I was spending a few hundred dollars every few months on clothes. Nothing too extravagant but ALL my clothes from my shopaholic days still fit...kind of. I had TONS of clothes but I was unhappy with them all.  And then I found the gloriousness of capsule closets. I first read about it here from Unfancy  and her Capsule Closet 101 post. Her number one tip that stuck out to me the most was "LOVE IT? Put it back in your closet." If you don't LOVE it, don't put it back- either put in a box and reevaluate another day or just donate it. I went through this process with my wardrobe after my first pregnancy and got rid of FOUR HUGE trash bags of clothes. I decided that life was too short to have all these clothes I may wear SOME day. We keep this same mentality in our house. If we aren't going to use it in the next three months, we don't need it. If the time comes when we do need it, we can go out and get it. No sense in storing things for the eventual MAYBE. Get it?

Ok, so what am I getting at with all this blabbering? Well, In January of this year, I found LuLaRoe. I got my first pair of leggings and an Irma and the rest is history. I'm now a consultant....haha isn't that how it goes? After I started really building my LuLaRoe wardrobe (you have to wear it to sell it) I got to thinking about how versatile the stuff is and how it can be worn so many ways. Then I got to thinking about capsuling with LuLaRoe. I also noticed that a lot of people commented on how expensive an outfit is....Well, when you buy one thing to go with another and never wear it another way, yes! It gets pricey if you only wear one shirt with one pair of leggings. So, my darling baby sister and I got to work. She's a fashion maven and pro photographer (she's in the process of re branding so her website is not currently up and running but you can check her out on Facebook for now)....Let's talk about making some meaningful purchases that will go a LONG way and help you expand your wardrobe further than you could have ever imagined.

My fashion blogger friend, Heather, over at Rock, Style, Teach talks a lot about formulas. She likes to use these formulas to create outfits that work well together. I'm going to ATTEMPT to give you a LuLaRoe Must Haves Formula to follow so you can get the most bang for your buck here. This formula could be used for someone just getting started with LuLaRoe or someone who is looking to make their pieces go further.

Capsule Closet with LuLaRoe
We used 15 pieces to build this wardrobe.



Qty
Style
Price
Total
1
Classic T
$35
$35
2
Perfect T
$36
$72
1
Randy
$35
$35
3
Irma
$35
$70
1
Lindsay Kimono
$48
$48
2
Cassie
$35
$70
1
Maxi
$42
$42
2
Nicole
$48
$96
2
Leggings
$25
$50
15
<Total Pieces
$518.00
Wardrobe Total>

For this capsule, we went with 7 shirts, a kimono, 3 skirts, 2 dresses, and 2 pairs of leggings. With that combo we came up with 55 outfits. We didn't take pictures of any of the outfits with the black leggings nor did we include them in the count of outfits as we felt they were pretty self explanatory, they could be worn with any of the pieces we included here so that could essentially increase the outfit count to over 100!  We could have done so many more outfits and combos but tried to limit ourselves for the sake of time. We included our FAVORITES in the image below just a little ways....

So the formula for this that I talked about earlier would be: (please remember that this is a GENERAL idea- it is not the end all be all! :) )

15 Piece MUST HAVES FORMULA 


  • 1 pair of patterned leggings with lots of colors or with a neutral that goes with a lot. We chose the purply magenta color and it went with all the shirts we chose!
  • 1 pair of solid black leggings- because everyone NEEDS these.
  • 2 solid shirts (black and white)
  • 2 striped shirts- one that we chose (Irma) was more of a brown tone and the other was black and white
  • 2 "pops of color" shirts that go with your leggings
  • 2 Cassies- 1 solid that coordinates with your colors and 1 neutral colored pattern (black and white)
  • 2 Nicoles- 1 solid black and 1 pattern that coordinates with the colors you have chosen
  • 1 Lindsay- in a neutral color and pattern (stripes are a safe bet) 
  • 1 Randy- We opted for black and white
  • 1 Maxi- Cheetah print is a really awesome pattern that is easy to pattern mix. ;) Pretty sure everyone needs this skirt in their closet!


Also used that I didn't include in the 15 piece count-
1 Sutton Necklace from Stella and Dot. This piece is a MUST have. I wear it at least once a week. :)
It for real goes with everything....

1 Stella and Dot Necklace that has been discontinued :( This Belle Necklace would be a cute alternative!
1 Thin black belt
1 Thick Black belt
1 Brown belt

And now...the OUTFITS!


For close ups of each outfit, please join my Facebook Group and look under the Albums for OUTFIT IDEAS

Now, let's look at the Maxi. This, in my opinion is one of the most versatile pieces that LuLaRoe offers. There are TONS of Youtube videos that show you all the different ways you can style it. Some of them are a bit out there for me but I have included some of my favorites below: 
Maxi with Classic using the "hairtie trick"
Maxi as a Dress
Maxi with Lindsay
Maxi with Perfect
Maxi with Randy
Maxi with Irma as Halter

Maxi with Cassie as Shirt
Maxi with Classic Shirt and Cassie as Scarf
Maxi as a Dress


Maxi as a Kimono with Leggings and Classic T



My new favorite- LEGGINGS AS A SCARF! With Cassie and Classic T!

As I said, this is just a general idea of how to style some basic LuLaRoe pieces. Getting started with LuLaRoe can be incredibly overwhelming with knowing how to start. Happy Roeing!

All jewelry used in this production was from Stella and Dot-
My friend, fashion style blogger, and also soon to be LuLaRoe Consultant,  Heather Lindenmeyer is a great stylist to help you out with styling needs! :)

You can shop her Stella and Dot HERE
You can also join her VIP shopping group on Facebook HERE


Because I LOVE LuLaRoe and want to share with you all, I have created a HUGE give away that will last for the rest of the month of July....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

80 comments:

  1. Love the cassie as a top with the maxi! Super cute!

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  2. I love the maxi with the Lindsey!

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  3. The maxi with the Irma as a halter...how cute!!!!

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  4. I am a big fan of mixing Randy with skirts! Thanks for the time you put into creating a capsule!! So helpful to see it all work together!!

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  5. Ughhh I need this. So love this!

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  6. Love the outfit with the leggings as a scarf!

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  7. Love the maxi with the randy! I want them all!!!

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  8. I love the Maxi with the Perfect T!! So classy.

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  9. I love the Maxi with the Perfect T!! So classy.

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  10. What an amazing idea! I can't believe how much work you must have put into this. I'm so interested to try out some of these combinations myself.

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  11. This is blowing my mind! Love it!

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  12. I like the idea of using a maxi as a kimono!

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  13. I love the Randy with cassie and a belt. I'm definitely going to try that!

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  14. I love how versitile everything is, but that the Cassie can be worn as a skirt, shirt or scarf is pretty awesome. I think the maxi with the classic t and the cassie as a scarf is my top pick

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  15. Irma as a halter is my favorite idea!

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  16. I need to get my hands on that cheetah maxi!!

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  17. This is great, I have been looking for something like this! I have been working hard to make sure the pieces I have go with the other ones I already have!

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  18. This is great, I have been looking for something like this! I have been working hard to make sure the pieces I have go with the other ones I already have!

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  19. The maxi with perfect (and that belt) looked great!

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  20. My favorite is the maxi with the perfect and the wide belt.

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  21. "LEGGINGS AS A SCARF! With Cassie and Classic T"
    This is my favorite, would would have thought leggings as a scarf !! love it!

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  22. Leggings as a scarf?! Genious!

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  23. I love the Randy with Cassie! <3

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  24. I absolutely love all the outfits!!!! Maxi as a kimono over the classic is so cute!!!

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  25. This is an awesome opportunity! So cool love this idea

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  26. I love the legging and maxi as a top! So cute!

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  27. I agree!! I love LuLaRoe but for myself it's more expensive than what I usually buy. Even one outfit adds up to a lot. This is a good idea to buy coordinated pieces.

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  28. I love the white perfect Tee with the julia skirt! SO cute!

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  29. You taught me so much more than I knew! Thanks! I will have legging scarves this winter!

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  30. You taught me so much more than I knew! Thanks! I will have legging scarves this winter!

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  31. I love this idea! I have friends who do capsule wardrobes

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  32. Super great ideas! I'm a visual learner so this helped! Just starting my wardrobe. I only have 5 pieces so far.

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  34. This is great! I just discovered LLR less than a week ago, and I can use some of these ideas!

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  35. This is great! I just discovered LLR less than a week ago, and I can use some of these ideas!

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  36. I like the maxi with perfect t.

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  37. Will have to try the Irma as a halter. My favorite piece is the Classic T, but it wasn't an option.

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  38. I loved the irma with the cowl neck! Didn't think that was possible!

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  39. I loved the irma with the cowl neck! Didn't think that was possible!

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  40. I love anything with a Cassie! I was so surprised how flattering it was, even post baby!

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  41. I'm working in a capsule wardrobe now... I'm planning to LLR it as I go. I will NOT be able to stick to 15 pieces! there are WAY too many prints I love! But this was SO helpful and creative. Mahalo!

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  42. I absolutely loved this blog! I was recently introduced to LLR and fell in love but have been having some financial and personal issues so this was a great read on how to create outfits with pieces I've already bought within 2 months!

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  43. Thank you so much for sharing this! I got so many ideas for how to mix and match more of my wardrobe! My fave new outfit to try is the Irma over the Nicole and belted!

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  44. Thank you so much for sharing this! I got so many ideas for how to mix and match more of my wardrobe! My fave new outfit to try is the Irma over the Nicole and belted!

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  45. There are so many awesome ways to style clothes... these are great ideas!

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  46. How do I do the hair tie trick? I love the Maxi and classic.

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  47. Maxi with the Lindsay! (Now I need a Lindsay...)

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  48. Maxi with the Lindsay! (Now I need a Lindsay...)

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  49. I loved the black Nicole with the Lindsay and the Cassie as a scarf with the big black belt!

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  50. I like the hair tie trick! So cool. (Arielle Zander Adomnicai)

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  51. I am all about the leggings, although there are some adorable skirts, too! (Also, I shared the contest on Facebook, and it did not give me the 10 entries.)

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    1. :) love the leggings too. You share the link on Facebook and for each person who clicks on it and enters the contest, you get an entry up to ten total. It's not an automatic 10 just for sharing. Does that make sense?

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  52. The Maxi with Cassie as a shirt is my favorite!!!

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  53. What a smart way to make these clothes go a long way!

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  54. Also leggings as a scarf is genius for the fall/winter.

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  55. I love the cassie and the irma belted!

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  56. The maxi with the Irma as a halter.

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  57. I like Cassie with the Classic T

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  58. I love the Nicole with the Cassie as a scarf and the wide belt

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  59. I like the perfect T and cassie. Love all the clothing I have purchased.

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  60. no outfits with black leggings were included!

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    1. Thank you for your reply. Please note that this was mentioned in the blog post... "We didn't take pictures of any of the outfits with the black leggings nor did we include them in the count of outfits as we felt they were pretty self explanatory, they could be worn with any of the pieces we included here so that could essentially increase the outfit count to over 100! "

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  61. Hi, I love what you've done with those outfits. You have a talent! I'm a queuebie and would really appreciate it if I could use those ideas while giving you credit, of course, while I'm getting started. May I do that? Pleeeeease?

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  62. Still a great post! Have come back to look at this several times - Thanks!

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