Episode #221: Spring Trends and Other Fashion Fun

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Grit ‘n’ Grace — The Podcast

Episode #221: Spring Trends and Other Fashion Fun

 

Note: This is an unedited, machine-generated transcript that is 70-80% accurate.

 

Cheri Gregory 00:00

So what deeply spiritual topic are we delving into today? Amy

 

Amy Carroll 00:07

fashion Okay, I just said that let me say it again with my jazz hands fashion.

 

Cheri Gregory 00:13

Okay, but do I need to repeat thequestion?

 

Amy Carroll 00:16

It may seem counterintuitive to include fashion in a series about spiritual disciplines, but it’s really not that much of a stretch Sherry brendale Today’s guest is going to tell us all about it.

 

Cheri Gregory 00:28

Ooh, sounds like we’re going to have some deeply spiritual fun today.

 

Amy Carroll 00:33

Hmm loads of fun tips about picking the colors that will make you shine and spring trends that will delight every girly soul. Well,

 

Cheri Gregory 00:42

this is Cheri Gregory. And I’m Amy Carol and you’re listening to grit and grace, the podcast that equips you to lose who you’re not love who you are, and live your one life Well,

 

Amy Carroll 00:54

Today we’re talking with Shari Braendel, creator of the closet outfit planner, the visionary of Fashion Meets Faith, Shari inspires women to new levels of confidence through her online style programs. Her training academy for Christian image consultants and her YouTube channel Style Tips was Shari, the author of helped me Jesus I have nothing to wear. She is also the creator of the best selling capsule wardrobe online course the 27 Hanger Closet and the popular closet outfit planner.

 

Cheri Gregory 01:24

So Amy, between the two of us You are by far the more fashionable You’re always so well put together when we record a podcast, whereas my hair usually isn’t even dry yet.

 

Cheri Gregory 01:35

So what was it about Shari’s Closet Outfit Planner that appealed to you as someone who already has her fashion act together?

 

Amy Carroll 01:43

Well, I don’t know, my fashion together. But I have two creative outlets. I can’t draw a straight line. But decorating my house and passion are much a creative outlet. But I do get stuck in ruts, I end up wearing the same combination of clothes in my closet over and over and over again. And I tend to spend too much money buying random things that never get warm because they don’t go with anything else. So those are my two issues. Gotcha.

 

Cheri Gregory 02:11

Well, you know what motivated me to buy Shari’s Closet Outfit Planner? It was the photo that you posted a few months ago of this hall like this hall, h au l dot h ALL this H au l have gorgeous tops and skirts and jackets that you got while you were thrifting and I could just look at them and tell how well they were all going to mix and match and I thought I want to learn how to do that.

 

Amy Carroll 02:38

Yes, well that was the best thrifting trip ever and if you thrift you know that not every trip is like that. But I went with my fun friend fashionista Holly. We took our closet outfit planners with us and I did I spent $72.83 or something I had I don’t know Sherry how many pieces of clothing did I have?

 

Cheri Gregory 03:02

It was almost It was a dozen or more. I mean it was amazing.

 

Amy Carroll 03:05

I think it was around 15 pieces of clothing and everything mixed and matched. It was fantastic. And I think you just had a fun shopping trip of your own right Sherry

 

Cheri Gregory 03:15

I did what I love about Shari’s Closet Outfit Planner is it meant I did not cry even once during my recent shopping spree!

 

Amy Carroll 03:25

Crying and shopping?

 

Cheri Gregory 03:28

Yes, that is right. melting down into a puddle of tears is normal for me when I even think about going shopping for reasons that we will discuss in great detail next week. But here’s the thing the closet outfit planner kept me from feeling stupid. Like every other woman on the planet knows how to do this clothes or color or fashion or dressing thing and I haven’t got a clue. Instead of feeling stupid. I felt downright smart. I had a plan. I had a checklist. We love a good checklist. So I didn’t feel overwhelmed. It was amazing.

 

Amy Carroll 03:59

Well, the Closet Outfit Planner wins again. So saving money and feeling great and what you’re wearing is a definite Win win. Shari Braendel my friend We’re so happy to have you with us today.

 

Amy Carroll 04:14

Okay, so let’s start this is going to be the most fun episode and it’s our last episode of this season. We saved you know, the fun the party for last. But some people might be a little confused because we made this season all about spiritual disciplines. And some people might be going well how is fashion about spiritual disciplines. But here’s the thing, Cheri, I have heard you talk and this is not a non sequitur like this fits right and how does fashion fit in to spiritual growth?

 

Shari Braendel 04:45

Well, first of all, thanks for having me. You guys. I’m so excited to be here. couldn’t wait to spend the time with you the day with you. I wish it was a day but it’s just a little short time so it fits into spiritual growth because we care about it. How we look and whether you might agree with that or not. It’s true. How many of you if you had to go to a wedding or you’re going to a special occasion, you think about what you’re going to wear. And so many times, the way we feel about ourselves is tied to that. It’s kind of tied to like, Do I have the right clothes? I don’t feel like I don’t like my body. I don’t I gained weight. I don’t have any clothes that fit. And so whether as Christians we think it ties together or not, it really does.

 

Amy Carroll 05:29

And I’ve heard you say, too, that it’s the way we represent God to the world to some degree. So you want to talk about that for a second?

 

Shari Braendel 05:36

Yeah, sometimes I think that we don’t think it matters. Like, oh, it doesn’t matter if God looks at our heart, not our outer appearance, which is true, which is true. Absolutely, absolutely true. But the problem with that is that there’s one little caveat there is that the outside world can’t see our heart, what they see is our outer appearance. And so we have to connect that for people. And so if we are the only Jesus that someone meets today, and I mean that in a representative of Jesus, how are we representing him? And there’s just this tie together that we have to really think about, it’s like, Okay, so how am I wrapping the God of the universe?

 

Amy Carroll 06:19

Awesome. Well, and I also think about it in terms of God created beauty. The world is beautiful. It’s not just utilitarian. And there’s something I think he’s planted in the heart of a woman that loves beauty to

 

Shari Braendel 06:31

Absolutely, it’s all through the Bible, and girlfriends love to get together and just go shopping or talk about beauty. I was talking to somebody yesterday, and she said, you know, we just finished our Bible study. And on the very last day, I said, Hey, why don’t we just give each other beauty tips, and she said it was the most animated discussion they’d had all season. It was like, because people want to know, it’s like, help me just a little Right. Yeah.

 

Cheri Gregory 06:57

All right, Shari. So what do you say to the woman who might be represented by me? So what would you say to a woman like me? Who protests that fashion just isn’t her thing? Or that she has no fashion sense?

 

Shari Braendel 07:10

Well, I think it’s a lie from the enemy, that she has no fashion sense. I think we all have a little bit. And if we don’t, it’s okay. There’s help for that. Right. I think the other lie that’s tied into that is just as a matter, and I don’t know if you say that to yourself, or if you’ve said it before, but I when I think about growing up, I had a mom who taught me how to dress. She just had really good fashion sense. I think for the majority of women, they didn’t have that role model. And so they were kind of left to their own like, Okay, what do I do? And I remember when I had my image consulting firm in Miami, Florida, one of my niche market were female attorneys. And many of them when I spoke to them, they said, you know, what we were taught, get good grades, go to law school, become an attorney, that nobody ever told us that when we got out into the world, our appearance was going to help us move forward in our career. And so whether we made partner or whether I mean, even these college graduates, they don’t even know how to dress for an interview. Because like they just didn’t think about it is important when we’re showing up in the world. I mean, it’s not utmost important. I mean, don’t get me wrong, like it’s not the thing, but it has to be a part of our spirituality, our spiritual walk our faith with God. Yeah,

 

Cheri Gregory 08:30

well, it’s so interesting, you should say many people didn’t have a mother I did. But I had a mother who wouldn’t go grocery shopping without a girdle on. And without having nylons on or you know, actual hosen like she would do the full hour and a half to two hour get up before going anywhere. And that doesn’t mesh with my personality style or my lifestyle. And so you know, part of being a recovering perfectionist is getting rid of the all or nothing thinking that’s like well if that’s what it means to be well put together, then there’s no hope for me I’m less of the person who thinks that doesn’t matter and more of the person who’s like I ain’t got time for that.

 

Shari Braendel 09:07

Well, because what you saw was a two hour

 

Cheri Gregory 09:10

ordeal let’s be clear ordeal.

 

Shari Braendel 09:13

Exactly. And that’s not healthy. I mean, we should be able to easily go into our closet put things on that feel good look good and not think about it. That’s my goal for women not that we have to have this whole ordeal because there there were other issues probably not that your mother had issues but oh, you know, we all

 

Cheri Gregory 09:34

you just cast a vision that I’m leaning in towards the idea of being able to just go into my closet and grab things that feel good so that I can look good and have confidence going out into the world so I will continue to be all ears there.

 

Amy Carroll 09:46

Well I remember years ago hearing Shari say that you know if you have on a little lip gloss and some mascara, you’re good. And you know I was like that’s great because we Southern girls can overdo it sometimes. And so yeah, I love That? Well, so Shari, one of the things that you teach that I love the most, and it’s the simplest thing to is how to wear color. And so like, I’ve just gone through a transition of letting my hair go gray, and you’ve helped me transition my colors to no more brown for me. And so why is knowing our colors so important and fun to?

 

Shari Braendel 10:23

Well, number one, it saves you money. And so if for no other reason, you know what colors work for you and look good on you. And then you don’t have to worry about the others. So you have a wardrobe that will end up mixing and matching and look great on you. I also think that our colors are one of those areas of our lives that as we change coloring and we go gray or we get older and our skin starts to get a little more sallow or just more pale or you know, even when we change seasons, like from summer to winter, what happens is if we wear colors that do not reflect our natural beauty, then it just is going to make us look tired, sick, and sometimes even older than we are

 

Amy Carroll 11:05

so glad. And we’ll give the link to your website where our listeners can go and take a little color test and find out what color palette works best for them.

 

Cheri Gregory 11:13

Oh, another quiz. We love quizzes. Yes, we love

 

Amy Carroll 11:17

Disney princesses and color.

 

Cheri Gregory 11:19

That’s right. It sounds more fun than the Disney Princess class.

 

11:22

So

 

Cheri Gregory 11:22

definitely. All right, well, speaking of colors, the seasons are changing. And we are so excited about this. So tell us about the colors that you’re seeing and some of your favorite spring trends.

 

Shari Braendel 11:37

Okay, well, you’re gonna see a lot of bright colors this season. And I think it’s because we’ve come out of the whole COVID thing. I mean, we’re still in it, but people just want some excitement, some joy. And you can do that with color. And it’s interesting, because Pantone, they’re the ones that decide what is the color of the year and the colors, you know, they come out with? Well, last year when we were forecasting for this year, they had this really pretty blue and it was just beautiful would have looked nice on everyone. But in December of this year, well 2020 they changed it, they came out with two new colors, and one was called illuminating, which is like this super bright yellow, and the other was just sort of a subtle gray. And I think it’s just that they wanted people to think okay, let’s go bright. Like it was so bright. But I’ve even noticed I was in TJ Maxx just probably early January and all the Home Goods area was gray and yellow. They had all you know their displays gray and yellow. And so we kind of had to do a 180 on or 360 I don’t know which one you do. But anyway, we had to rethink what colors were we gonna use even for what we do at fashion beats faith for the year for our planners and that kind of thing. That’s really fun. I can give you a few other colors if you want. I just kind of stuck on that, but you’re gonna see lots of purple, you’re gonna see that in all ranges. So light, medium dark, you’re going to see beautiful pails, so mint greens and blue which is called thruline. It’s just a really light beautiful blue, you’re going to see light yellow, which is called lemonade, you’re going to see bright orange, bright green. And so you’ve got your brights you have your lights, you’re not going to see a lot of black this season. You’re also not going to see much brown at all, but the main neutral that you’re going to see is kind of like a dark navy. It’s called inkwell And so yeah, it’s it’s gonna be a fun pretty season I think.

 

Amy Carroll 13:31

I can’t wait because I love bright colors. So if somebody only has a budget Sherry to buy one or two new things for spring, What should she buy,

 

Shari Braendel 13:40

I would say that the one thing that she should buy is a pair of light wash jeans because they are all the trend and whether you get those in a wider leg or a crop would be a great way to uplevel your wardrobe and make you look a little more on trend. And I would say something that has ruffles like a blouse, ruffles or eyelet or maybe some sleeve detail and you can go to places like h&m and I don’t make anything off of them but I was just in there last week and they had some really pretty blouses for right around the $30 mark and they were pretty good quality so just something that actually you could mix and match with other things in your wardrobe and I would get that blouse in a floral

 

Amy Carroll 14:27

hmm and I love eyelid I’m excited that I was coming back because I think it’s such a pretty

 

Shari Braendel 14:33

I wouldn’t get the eyelet in a floral

 

Amy Carroll 14:36

it’s such a pretty feminine fabric

 

Shari Braendel 14:38

is you know another thing you’re going to see a lot of this season are white dresses. Right like white cotton dresses. It’s just we’ve really we’re just making this swing like cool. Let’s brighten everybody up.

 

Amy Carroll 14:51

Yes, we need some happiness love it

 

Cheri Gregory 14:53

love it well and you said wide leg as well as crop gene so how wide can those legs be cuz share I’ll confess I love me a good bell bottom.

 

Shari Braendel 15:02

Do you go? Okay, you can just?

 

Shari Braendel 15:05

Absolutely,

 

Amy Carroll 15:06

yeah. Well as Sherry’s little so she looks amazing. And that’s awesome. I wouldn’t look so great.

 

Shari Braendel 15:15

When you said Cheri’s little, I was like, Do you know who you’re talking to? I thought you’re talking about me. I’m five foot 11. And I’m like, Amy, you

 

Shari Braendel 15:22

know me little. So there we go two Sherry’s.

 

Cheri Gregory 15:28

I love it. All right. Well, Shari Braendel. You’ve created a tool that both Amy and I love the closet outfit planner. So tell us what it looks like for spring and how it can help us save money and look our best.

 

Shari Braendel 15:41

Thank you for asking. It’s my favorite thing. in the whole wide world, we actually launched one for fall last season, and we’re launching another one back, it’s just become one of those tools that women are craving. Like, as we were launching for spring, they were like waiting, like, when is it coming? When is it coming? When is it going. And so basically, I have hand picked the 27 pieces that you would need in your closet. And then it’s a 15 page PDF with links to online shopping sites. But basically, we give you the colors, four colors per color code. And so you don’t even have to think about it, you look at the planner, and we’ve laid out all of the pieces. So the 27 pieces, so you get a picture. Now here’s the thing, these aren’t the exact pieces that we want you to have, we want you to inventory your closet first. So use the planner as inspiration. Don’t go out and spy on your 27 pieces, you likely have most of these things already in your wardrobe. Or if you don’t, then you’ve got this tool that you can go shopping locally at a boutique, you can shop at a local consignment store to have more sustainable shopping, you could go to a thrift store, you could shop on poshmark. It’s really awesome. Okay, so once we have the pieces laid out, then we give you a closet inventory checklist. And so it’s got it needed. So all you do is you go through your closet and you go, Oh, I have this Oh, no, I don’t know what to look for. And again, the first thing on the planner is a pair of light wash wide leg jeans. But in the corner or the display, we say get a pair of light wash jeans in your style of choice. So if you don’t like wide like don’t do that, get a pair of skinny get a you know, get a pair of shorts if you want. And then we take and we put together 30 outfits. So we give you seven bottoms, 14 tops, my numbers might be off six layering pieces, and two dresses and a skirt. And so then we show you a diagram of 30 different outfit combinations. So with jewelry with shoes, and we don’t link to the jewelry and shoes, it’s just for you to look at and go, Oh, that’s how I can put that outfit together. Oh, that’s how that is. And then more than that, we then go to a whole chart. And we list every item down the side and then some across the top. And we put a check mark if it goes together. So you don’t even have to think you go Okay, that works. And there’s over 150 combinations for that. And so it’s just become one of those tools that for 20. It’s only $27. That really would be the first thing I would buy before the wide leg jeans. So you don’t waste money. You know,

 

Amy Carroll 18:19

it’s funny, because I went shopping the other day, and I almost got some spring things and I was like nope, I’m waiting for my outfit planner, because I thought I want to have a plan when I go out instead of just randomly buying thanks, Sherry, I stepped on you What were you gonna say? No, I

 

Cheri Gregory 18:34

was gonna say I mean, Amy and I both got your follow up closet outfit planner. Of course, Amy got it first. And then she went and did some amazing thrifting and came back with this amazing array that looked fabulous together for you know, a very reasonable price. And so you know, I got it too. And I printed out and I went upstairs and you know, this was like, this was like menu planning only better. And because I went from feeling completely overwhelmed feeling like there was no way I had no idea where to start. And I went to my closet. And I was like I’ve actually got a good start. You know, I got a lot of the things that Cheri B says I need. And so then when I was out in the stores, even if I didn’t bring my checklist with Whitney, which I learned to do, I learned to make sure I had it on my phone because as a PDF, I could keep it there you what you did is you gave me a vision. Sure. And so when I was in the store, I’d be like Hang on a second. I think that’s that may not be the exact top but it’s close enough and it looks like me. And so I love that you have so much flexibility in it. I’ve tried things in the past that were really rigid, right? And that wouldn’t have allowed me to do wide leg if they said it should be cropped. So I love that this is guidance, and that if I want to think I can but I don’t have to. That’s exactly right thinking is overrated these days.

 

Shari Braendel 19:46

And here’s the other thing when you go to the website, if you don’t know your color, because there are six different planners to choose from based on your best colors. They’re right inside that website. You can take the free color test and it’ll pop out To the planners and so that is very helpful for those of you so don’t freak out. And if you’re like, you know what, I don’t want to take a color test, pick the planner that you like the colors and go with that because it shows you what the colors are and just go okay, I like those two colors together.

 

Cheri Gregory 20:15

I’m gonna pick that me I think you subject color for winter, didn’t you?

 

Amy Carroll 20:19

Yeah, so in my planner, the neutral was a Navy. And I just I have more black already in my closet. And I think Cheri had said you could swap it out for black for sure. And so since I already had those pieces, that’s what I did. And I love black. I wear it all the time. So it really does help because I think all of us get in these ruts with the way that we dress. And even with the planner and the fun stuff. You know, Sherry, I posted on Instagram, I did this thrifting trip with my friend Holly who’s fashionista. She tells me what not to buy. And she’s like, yeah, and so I came home, I think I had 20 pieces for $76 it was like amazing, amazing. Not every thrifting trip is like that, but it was a good day. So it was not expensive. But I had just fallen into the right of wearing the same things again. So I pulled out my outfit planner again the other day and said I want a new outfit. And I looked I had already had a pair of pants in my hand and I was like and now this and it was it was so fun.

 

Cheri Gregory 21:27

Now Shari you also have a Facebook group where women you know, I’ve seen pictures where they’re following your closet outfit planner, and then they take a picture of themselves and they post it and I just love it because there’s women from all different stages of life with all sorts of different body shapes and colorations and I just love that they have the confidence to post it and say I think that’s a good representation of this particular look or whatever and I find that really inspiring I’m like wait a second, she looks fabulous. If I put a few things on, I might actually feel the confidence to take a picture and post it to

 

Shari Braendel 22:01

that’s awesome and I love that they say this is outfit number 26 from the planner and this is my take on it and so then other people can look at it go oh that’s what she did with 26 Let me see what I have my closet that I can do the same thing so yeah, it’s really fun.

 

Amy Carroll 22:14

Okay, so Sherry This is also fun we could talk all day but what is your best advice for women who want to feel and look their best this spring and summer?

 

Shari Braendel 22:23

Well buy some purple

 

Amy Carroll 22:25

ah yay that is that is good news for me.

 

Shari Braendel 22:30

It’s good news for everyone. There’s a shade of purple for everyone it honestly almost doesn’t even matter what shade it is purple just makes you feel good makes you look good lips your outlook sometimes and in the Bible. You know proverbs 31 woman was dressed in purple.

 

Cheri Gregory 22:46

Love it. Amy you know what I noticed while Daniel and I were taking walks around our campus during spring break, do tell purple like it is everywhere right now.

 

Cheri Gregory 22:56

So why do you say that Shari’s advice to wear purple is good news for you.

 

Amy Carroll 23:00

Well, so I’m a cool and Shari’s color palette because my gray hair now and it’s one of my cool colors, but it’s also one of my favorite colors. I used to have a purple dining room.

 

Amy Carroll 23:13

and I used to have a lot of purple in my closet but it’s in my closet outfit planner this year and I was so excited and I realized there’s no purple in my closet right now. So I just ordered a skirt the other day. Oh, lavender skirt. I can’t wait.

 

Cheri Gregory 23:27

Well friends, We sure hope you’ve enjoyed listening to Episode 221 of grit and grace, the podcast as much as we’ve enjoyed making it for you.

 

Amy Carroll 23:35

And we want to say a big thank you to Shari Braendel of fashion meets faith and creator of the closet outfit planner for making this episode possible. Check out our web page at grit and grace the podcast.com slash Episode 221 there you’ll find this week’s transcript a link to the cause that outfit planner and another link to Sherry’s Facebook

 

Cheri Gregory 23:56

group. Oh my goodness, I love Shari’s Facebook group. A couple days ago, I shared a photo of an outfit that I wasn’t sure of. I got such great feedback. Some of Shari’s Style Squad gave me the official seal of approval. Other members waited and then share herself told me that it looked good. And it was marvelous for somebody with my level of insecurity. It was just great to be able to run it by other people who know more than I do.

 

Amy Carroll 24:22

Yeah, and you get an invite the minute you buy the Closet Outfit Planner, so it’s a little exclusive.

 

Cheri Gregory 24:28

Well in speaking of Facebook, if you’re not yet a member of grit and grace, that community we would love to have you join us there. Just go on Facebook and search for grit and grace the community which is our little Facebook group, and we will would love to have you join us

 

Amy Carroll 24:43

Next week we’ll be discussing what we learned from Shari Braendel of fashion Meets Faith and how it’s impacting our closets!

 

Cheri Gregory 24:50

for today. Grow Your grit,

 

Amy Carroll 24:53

embrace God’s grace,

 

Cheri Gregory 24:55

and as God reveals the next step to live your one life.

 

Amy Carroll 24:58

Well we’ll be cheering you on, so TAKE IT!