To me, magazines fall into two categories…those where every picture is so breathtaking and every article so interesting that they need to be kept whole and those with a few great shots or ideas.

The first category is, thankfully, relatively small and mainly consists of copies of French and British Vogue, Jalouse, and the semi-annual collection issues of l’Officiel.

Any “keepers” are stored flat on bookshelves, sorted by title (yes, I need help).

I used to buy the upright magazine holders that are available but, apart from being expensive, they didn’t keep the magazines in as good condition. Plus, laying them flat on bookshelves means I can store a lot more in the space I have available.

The second category is much easier to deal with. Once I’ve read the magazine I go through and tear out any pictures or articles that I want to keep.

These are then trimmed and placed in my clippings box.

Then, when I have some spare time, I create look/idea-books from the cuttings that I’ve collected. So far, I’m working on my third book and I find them useful in so many ways:

They’re a great place to store wish-list items. I had a clipping of a Lucien Pellat-Finet cashmere skull sweater in one of my books for years. Every so often I’d look at the picture, sigh, and decide that even I couldn’t rationalize spending that much money on a sweater. Then one day I found one in Barneys during the sale, drastically reduced plus a further 10% off for opening a store card.

It’s really nice to be able to put together concepts or ideas for outfits or themes and then refer back to them. You seem to get a better idea of your style as a whole when you look through a book like this. To paraphrase the poet Burns, “to be able to have the gift to see ourselves as others see us”…that’s the thing.

I also keep articles in my books, either people’s thoughts on their personal style or useful addresses. Do I need a 1920’s handbag repaired? I know that I saved an article from Vogue about a handbag repair store in New York.

This Fall I feel like growing my hair. Alright, I'm not turning into Rapunzel but past shoulder length is long for me. More hair means more money on conditioner and "hair accessories" as they're called in drugstores. My one splurge was a ribbon wrapped link headband from Anthropologie. Urban Outfitters provided a mid-price lace patterned plastic headband and H&M came through once more with a plaid barette and red, faux-leather headband.

I would like to say that I'm done but I just got the Barneys Co-Op catalog and there was a black headband with an attached net veil. I'm not planning on attending any funerals, and I think the veil would make me cross-eyed after a couple of hours and yet...

I've never wore dresses much; I like creating outfits from separate pieces and additionally, to be honest, I've never found many dresses that I thought suited me. This Fall however, I seem to be able to buy nothing but dresses. At this point, I have four (yes, four) new dresses in my closet.

A tan, corduroy mini-smock from APC - innocent and cool
A black sweaterdress by Vince (I’m normally not a fan of sweaterdresses as they start off tight around the seating area and then tend to stretch and sag. This one avoids that by being tight in the sleeve and chest but with a tulip skirt.)
Red plaid from H&M with ¾ sleeves that can be left as they are or pushed up to become puffed
A striped, knee-length, pinafore dress by Hengst. This was on sale and is, essentially, a summer dress but I'm looking forward to layering it during the colder months.

I think I can safely say that I have now reversed any dress shortage in my closet and must stop this madness before it goes on.

If I could look a tenth as good as Carine Roitfeld when I am in my fifties I will be ecstatic. I think this could be one of my favorite looks on her…classic, but modern.

Here is the new math...last weekend I saved $1,500...I wanted (desperately wanted...needed...had to have) the Balenciaga "riding" hat.

The only glitch to my masterplan was the fact that the hat costs a little over $1,500. As I neither have a trust fund nor a sugar daddy that much money for a one-season-wonder (however beautiful) is out of the question.

Then I was browsing through Urban Outfitters and found this...$34!!!