Each morning I wake up and look into my closet, deciding on the perfect outfit for the day. Now some mornings its easy, my eyes are drawn to something special and I just throw it on, but then you have those tragic mornings when you find yourself staring blankly into your closet and not having a clue what to wear. This is when it hit me; I was looking at my own little department store. I have all the basics at home in my own version of Bloomingdales. I call it Sdales. Although I don't have the help of the nice assistants at Bloomingdales, I do have my own creative mind. So this is when I realized that everything I need to make my daily outfits is right here in Sdales. Especially today when the recession has limited many girls' abilities to shop for new clothes, it is important to find new ways to use the clothes we already have. With a little planning and ingenuity, it's not that hard. I just step into Sdales and make do with what I have in stock there. I might even pull out some of our vintage stuff from the racks in the back.

There are many outfits you can build around a basic article of clothing. For instance, take an ordinary black sweater. It's neutral, so it goes with everything and can transition easily from outfit to outfit. Day one of the black sweater outfit: skinny jeans, black sweater, and colorful or neutral flats. Day two: Black pants, white tank, black sweater, different color vest on top of the sweater, uggs. Day three: Khaki colored pants, bright tank, black sweater, black boots. Day four: Skirt, black sweater, flats or tall boots. Day five: Flare, high waisted jeans, black sweater (tucked into the jeans), long necklace, big bracelets, and tall, heeled boots. There are five distinct outfits pulled together using the same black sweater. I am sure all of you, with a little planning and resourcefulness, can create a new and different combination from our own person department store ' Yourdstroms. Even after the economy turns around, Bloomingdales and Nordstroms will no doubt face some tough competition from Sdales and Yourdstroms. No crowds, no fighting for parking spaces, and they always have our your size!