operation: salvage wardrobe

So like every other college student (and every other person right now) I'm trying to cut back on expenses. And by "cut back on expenses," I don't mean "buy more expensive stuff because it lasts longer" or even "clip coupons." I mean 6-month shopping ban #2.

Since my first one was largely successful, I figure this one'll be easy, especially because this year I'm actually looking at how much money I'm spending and draining my family of to pay for food, rent, utilities, tuition, books, and transportation. Clothes don't even fit into that picture.

However, I have a very specific list of exceptions this time, including...

• a serious trench coat (because wet thighs are really uncomfortable, and a good trench should last forever)
• shorts to wear under skirts (because mine are from my uniformed Catholic school days, and they're in tatters)
• washable shorts in winter materials (for rainy days when I don't feel like a skirt)
• a hat that looks good (because my hair looks like death, and because I haven't found a hat that looks good on me yet)

I'm also extending the shopping ban to non-replacement cosmetics because I have been surprisingly spendy lately, and makeup is so perishable.

So no spending money on clothing, accessories, or makeup until July 25, 2010, with the listed exceptions. Oh, am I going to regret this.

Unfortunately, in conjunction with my shopping ban, I decided to ruthlessly clean out my closet, which left me with this:

A large portion of which are pajamas. So I went back to my To Dump pile and am now trying to salvage everything I can, lest my wardrobe become so small I can't go more than a week without doing laundry. The first victims of Operation: Salvage Wardrobe are this small pile of Clothes I Am Not Enthused With:

I'm still trying to think of different ways to style or repurpose them. In the meantime, I'm beading this cardigan:

And I have made these three skirts 8392753 times more wearable and 198735 times less likely to get caught between my legs while I'm walking by adding linings:

Avert your eyes, children! This is RISQUÉ!