Wardrobe Essentials: Shoe Trees

If you have listened to any of these Wardrobe Essentials posts, then you're either considering or already have a shoe rack that is getting pretty full. One of the main concerns with shoes, being that they tend to be the most expensive items, is the care and prolonging of their life in your closet. The list goes on for the ways to take care of your shoes, but the easiest one you can do requires almost no effort to do.
They come in all shapes, colors, and functionalities.
Shoe trees are something that should be in every pair of your shoes, especially the leather-soled variety. They are made to fill your footwear when they're not on your feet, in effort to hold the shape and aid in the breaking in of the shoes. The wood variety are the ones you should be looking for (especially cedar) as it will perform all the functions of a regular shoe tree while also deodorizing that foot stank from your shoes. I prefer to keep them all very similar, if not matching, to give your shoe collection a clean and unified look that wow impress anyone that sees it.
Stop in at the Woodlore website for all the shoe trees you'll need!
Check in tomorrow for a fashion piece that deserves your consideration and next Wednesday for another edition of Wardrobe Essentials!

Tech Tuesday: Brick-a-Pic

There are moments that release your inner nerd, moments that bring you back to the good old days, and then there are the moments that combine both feelings into one fantastic nerd-out. Today that moment came in the form of Brick-a-Pic, a small start up looking to change the way you hang wall art. Instead of just framing picture, you upload it to the Brick-a-Pic and they create a custom Lego set of your picture for you to build; if that doesn't make you nerd out, then you might need to check you pulse! Besides the fact that you get to construct a Lego set, you are also creating a unique decoration for your place with tons of character aka nerd stuff.

Check in tomorrow for a style piece that needs to be in your wardrobe and next Tuesday for more exciting tech!

Monday Outlook: Quilted Clothing

Yes, leather is going to be exceedingly popular once the chill starts to set in, but there's only so many times you can throw that tan or black hide on without thinking you might need to change your look up a little bit. Wool? Cashmere? Heavy cotton?
How about instead, you go for a quilted piece that is sure to keep you warm while also giving your outfit a sporty edge. Quilting is essentially stitching meant to keep insulating materials in place, but stylistically, these stitches also create a level of texture that you won't get from any leather or wool piece alone. Most items out there will feature bright "ski-slope" colors, but go for something to the tune of muted and understated; remember, you're not begging for attention here.
I personally prefer the square cross stitch that creates a tiled pattern on the garment, a tribute to hunting jackets of old. That's not to say that you need to stick to this style alone because options with horizontal, vertical, diagonal, etc., are also out there, each creating there own unique character within your outfit. My advice is to get a lightweight and heavyweight piece so that you can have the quilted option no matter what level of cold you're experiencing.
Check in tomorrow for some exciting new tech and next Monday for further fashion trend insight for the coming months!