Let's talk about closet clean-outs. No one likes doing it because the process takes a long time and you have to part with pieces that may be sentimental. But, what if you could give your clothes a new life AND get gift cards to your favorite stores for trading in your unwanted pieces? That's exactly what luxury fashion trade-in service Material Wrld wants to do for you! Some background information on the company is as follows:

Material Wrld’s mission is to create an ecosystem where we can enjoy shopping quality products with the comfort of knowing that each item we chose to buy can always find a new home. We are reinventing the shopping experience for consumers and retailers alike by making it as easy to trade-in as it is to shop new, while extending the fashion lifecycle of high quality pieces and reducing its environmental impact.

Material Wrld makes it easy for busy women to instantly refresh their closets and shop new at their favorite retailers and brands, including Bloomingdale’s, Saks and Barneys.

Our complimentary trade-in service with high-touch concierge offerings and upfront retail partner gift cards make it seamless for our customers to:

• Refresh their closet and make space for new clothing 
• Extend the luxury fashion lifecycle and reduce its environmental impact
• Do Good While You Shop: MW matches a percentage of each gift card offer as a contribution to your charity of choice.

I tested out the easy three-step process and am pleased with the outcome. My only issue was the accepted brands. I realize items need to be super luxury, but I only had a limited amount of designers to send in. This won't be a one-stop trade-in for most people, but definitely a good choice for those higher end designer pieces! If you want to try it out for yourself sign up through this link or use code MEGANB989 to get an extra $25 on your first trade-in!

Three days after my items arrived at their destination I received an offer of $119, they would take 6 of the 12 items I sent in. Not bad! I knew I was DEFINITELY going to lose money on some pieces, but that's the price I pay for being blinded by labels/pretty clothes and buying them even though I know I'll barely wear them. Here is the breakdown

• Burberry Dress (Vintage Purple Pleated Long Sleeve Dress)
  OFFER: $25 
• Miu Miu Blouse (Purple Floral Print Cotton Shirt)
  OFFER: $16
  
• Jean Paul Gaultier Top (Beige Red Floral Print Camisole)
  OFFER: $15
  
• Proenza Schouler Top (Deep Purple Pleated Short Sleeve Knit Top)
  OFFER: $28
  
• Theory Dress (Purple Tiered Sleeveless Ponte Dress)
  OFFER: $15
  
• Salvatore Ferragamo Skirt (Vintage Umber Orange Suede Flare Skirt)
  OFFER: $20
  
• Marc Jacobs Denim Jacket (not accepted)
• Valentino Knit Camisole Top  (not accepted)
• Marc by Marc Jacobs Dark Navy Tee  (not accepted)
• Marc by Marc Jacobs White Print Tee  (not accepted)
• Equipment Purple Blouse  (not accepted)
• Balenciaga Pants (not accepted)

FINAL OFFER: $91
(rounded up to $100 because I chose Shopbop and they only give gift cards in $10 increments)

In the end I decided to keep the Proenza top because I still like it and can make myself wear it. Maybe in a few more months I'll be willing to part with it for the $28 (assuming I get the same offer a second time.) I was unsure about letting go of my Theory dress since I still think it's really cute, but I only wore it twice, so in the end had to let it go. Hopefully it will find a new owner who gives it more love than I did.

I also decided to donate one of my pieces rather than having it sent back to me, this way Material Wrld can donate it to Dress For Success or Goodwill. They also match 1% of each fashion gift card’s value in donations to a deserving charity.

What's really great about this process is that even though I gave up items they will have a new life and a new owner rather than ending up in a land-fill. Material Wrld call this "extending the fashion lifecycle."  See their illustration of that idea here:

image via Material Wrld

To learn more about their charitable work and why you should trade-in, visit this page.

After accepting my offer it took 2 business days to get my gift card emailed to me, easy as pie! Can't wait to spend my gift card at Shopbop, going to think long and hard about what to get so I don't end up trying to sell it in a year or two. The items that were not accepted are due to be returned today. After all is said and done the whole process from sending in items to getting them returned will have taken 8 days.

All in all, the process was simple and I got a fair price for the items. I wasn't expecting big money because the pieces I sent in were quite unique. While I may have made more money selling the items myself on eBay, the ease in which I was able to get rid of the items through Material Wrld is worth losing a little bit of cash, if only to get the items out of my closet sooner.

Enjoy this quick video I made showing the process! 


As a farewell, here are some photos of the pieces in action (except the JPG top which I was never brave enough to wear)

Who says you can't shop in the boys department? Not I! This sweater is from Neiman Marcus and Target holiday collaboration in 2012. I did actually get this in a size smaller than I should have, but they were sold out of larger (men's) sizes. But hey, at least now I can say I fit in a boy's medium and the shrunken fit is in.

Tee: Cullen Cashmere (Rue La La), Sweater: Rag & Bone x Neiman Marcus & Target, Jeans: J Brand c/o Marshalls, Flats: Chaps (Kohl's)

Some days you just want to walk around in a blanket. On this particular day I did the next best thing and wore my cashmere cape. Super cozy, especially when layered over a tshirt and turtleneck sweater for added warmth!

After a morning of shopping I cuddled up in a nice big chair and read for a while. I've been trying to get back into reading and started off by finishing the 4th book in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle.  The final book, titled Inheritance, came out in November 2011 and I got it the day it came out. I made it halfway though and kind of stopped reading (the books are like Lord of the Rings - super detailed!)  This outfit is actually a couple weeks old, so I have since finished the book, and boy does it feel good being done. I started the series in 2006 when they made a movie out of the first book: Eragon.

Top: Vanessa Bruno (Coco's $10 sale), Cape:  b chyll (Roundabout Resale), Jeans: Genetic Denim c/o Piperlime, Boots: Vince Camuto (Marshalls), Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs (Saks Fifth Avenue Friends & Family Sale), Necklace: gift

I've been trying to wear my scarves more often lately. I only have a couple and they are both printed so it's hard to wear them all the time. When I used to commute to NYC every day they got PLENTY of use, but now that I don't have to walk 30 minutes in the cold they aren't as necessary.   On this particular day I wore the scarf instead of a full on coat, because I just had to go from the car to my parents house. (I did put a coat in the car in case I got stranded somewhere)

Sweater: Witchery (Jaime's Blog Shop), Jeans: Free People, Scarf: NOMA,  Boots: Eighteen 68 'Megan' (Gilt),

And we're back to using my tripod! This is what I wore to go to the dentist a few weeks ago, so exciting! We've been having one heck of a Winter. Snowing at least twice a week so just as it starts melting off the driveway we get more. So the driveway was covered in snow and ice (we do shovel/snow-blow, well, when I say 'we' I mean my cousins.) Luckily temperatures have been on the rise so the driveway is all clear and the snow is beginning to melt.

Cardigan: Ralph Lauren c/o Marshalls, Sweater: Merona (Target), Jeans: Free People, Boots: Grandma's, Necklace: Isabelle M (gift)

I've tried a few long sleeve sweater dresses in the past, but most have been too chunky, shapeless and added bulk to me. Then I encountered this gorgeous sixties style swing dress at Roundabout for 75% off their price (which is already a consignment store price.) I saw the burgundy fabric peeking out of the rack on my second go around through the store. As most of you know burgundy (and purple) is one of my favorite colors to wear. It was also brand new with tags, how does it get any better than that?

It is from a diffusion line for Balenciaga, Balenciaga.Knits. According to the tag, Balenciaga selected several emblematic designs from Nicolas Ghesquiere's collections. Their development is focused on researching materials and new cuts.

I wore it on a slightly warmer day, which felt like a heatwave even though it was still in the upper 30s (°F.) It is made of wool so there is a teeeeeny bit of an itch to it, but after wearing it a few more times I'm sure it will soften up.

Dress: Balenciaga Knits (Roundabout Resale), Necklace: Geoclassics, Boots: Eighteen 68 'Megan' (Gilt),

We may be in the dead of Winter (with more snow than we need in a lifetime) but that doesn't mean we can't get prepared for Spring. FarFetch has done some of the legwork for us and created a guide for Spring/Summer shoe trends! They have created a set of cards to share the basics on the top trending shoes, below are a few of my favorites!


They have also done some of the hard work and created a few outfits based on trends. Want a Seventies style outfit? Or perhaps you're looking for a sportier look? Have no fear, FarFetch is here! (had to do it, sorry) I would gladly add any of the following shoes to my wardrobe, all available at FarFetch:

Even though it has been very cold (and snowy) this year I haven't been getting much use out of my coats. I usually just suffer in the cold from my car to wherever my destination is, much easier than having to worry about carrying a coat around.

My friend Jenna took these pictures for me before we went out to lunch. I remember the days when NO ONE was allowed to watch me take my pictures (with my tripod) let alone take them. But this year I've been embracing the fact that I can get photos done quicker if someone takes them. My dad is my main photographer if I go home for dinner, otherwise it's still my tripod.

Coat: Zara, Sweater: Inis Crafts (Marshalls),  Jeans: Current/Elliott (The Outnet), Boots: Cordani (Roundabout Resale), Bag: Etienne Aigner, Necklace: SPARKLEFARM

Happy Friday!! This is the outfit I wore to go shopping with Lydia a couple weekends ago. We went to Roundabout because they had a Pop-Up outlet store to get rid of the rest of their Winter stock! After that we braved the cold (and in Lydia's case, snow) for our outfit pictures. Then we warmed up with some ramen at Mecha before heading our separate ways.  I wore one of my new blazers (that I had bought at Roundabout the weekend before) and my only heeled shoes that can handle snow/ice. Was getting a little bored of flat boots every day.

Blazer: Brooks Brothers (Roundabout), Sweater: Everlane, Jeans: Free People (eBay), Boots: Cordani (Roundabout), Scarf: NOMA, Bag: Wink & Winn (giveaway)

Welcome to my final NYFW post (unless I decide to post some looks from shows I did not attend.) Many of you may know Michael Costello from his time on Project Runway and Project Runway All Stars. That is how I first became a fan of his so it was really cool to be able to see his pieces (and him!) in person.  Unfortunately all my pictures are blurry, so I'm using photos from Getty for this post.

With his collection, most of the pieces were unwearable for us normal folk. A LOT of see through lace in the chest area, not so good for non-runway.  However, that doesn't take away from the beauty of his pieces.  The collection was full of gorgeous lace, sequins knits and luxurious black dresses. I wasn't a huge fan of the hair, but it's a runway so I guess we can let it slide. My favorite look was a black long-sleeve v-neck dress with sequins, so gorgeous!