Given that I’ve recently moved from academic medicine to private practice, I have new freedom to dress the way I want.

The dress code at my old job was all suits, all the time, and after 8+ years, I’d grown pretty sick of it.

Most people who worked there also dressed in really boring, predictable ways that were aggressively unfashionable.

Shedding my exoskeleton from that chapter feels wonderful, but to some degree I’m back to where I was when I graduated from high school.

I’d been stuck in navy-and-white uniforms for four years and when I left for college at a famously liberal campus, I owned exactly one pair of jeans. I didn’t know how I wanted to dress, because up to that point, I hadn’t been able to give it much thought.

Finding my style took some time, and there were painful missteps, like these off-white J. Crew shoes that I owned circa 1993:

These did not look good with almost anything, especially the forest green denim pants I would occasionally pair with them. Typing this makes me wince.

Lately, too, I’ve had a style crisis where I want to move in a more modern direction. A lot of my suits are already donated, but if given the chance, I’d get a completely fresh start with my wardrobe.

Getting the house prepped for selling also forced me to cull and organize my possessions in ways I hadn’t done for years, and seeing the embarrassing amount of clothes I own (many with tags still attached) brought the point home that if I am bringing in something new, it’d better be worth it.

With that in mind, here’s what made the cut for Spring/Summer 2017:

These Lucky Brand peep-toe booties are a cool taupe-y color (“Dark Driftwood”) that seemed like they would look good with skirts, dresses or pants, and they seemed like a way to force myself to keep up with regular pedicures. Another blog I follow described them as insanely comfortable, which was enough to tip me into buying. This was the first thing I bought for spring and had to wait over a month for the weather to cooperate enough to avoid snow on my toes.

These were impulse purchases from a boutique:

I can’t really justify them other than “impulse.”

After that, I was on a dry spell for a few weeks, and then got the shopping itch again.

With one of their many sales and a $25 reward card, I was able to get this coat from the Gap for less than $35:

The fit is a bit more oversized than I’d like, especially since I’ve been wearing it more like a blazer (i.e. all day) and less like outerwear. The pale pink color felt fresh for spring.

Speaking of pale pink, I added this tee during my biggest spend of the season, an order from J. Crew:

This was only $9.99, but it’s a final sale item.

The rest of my J. Crew order:

This was too cute to pass up. It’s even better in person. I love this shirt.

Also on sale, this bell sleeve sweater: 

With a pair of slim black pants, fun shoes and either a scarf or a necklace, this feels like what I want to wear this summer. 

I debated this move, but I ultimately added these berry print shoes to my cart when the price dropped to under $100:

What was much easier to justify was the berry print bandana (no longer available; I got the last one in store when I was on a scouting mission to see how the bell sleeve sweater was sized), which I got for less than $10 ($8.50, to be exact). And no, I do not plan to wear this with the shoes.

The final item on my J. Crew spree (and the last thing to make it into my closet): this necklace.

Argh, I know. I know. I know I said no more statement necklaces. And yet here we are.