September in Review

By Wardrobeoxygen

While I am no longer doing my "summer vacation" where I will be breaking down my entire month of business with Wardrobe Oxygen, I do want to continue a month in review post and the chance for you to vote on the charity I will donate to. Each month I donate a portion of my profits to a charity; since you are the reason I can make the donation I'd love your feedback on who should receive it. I also will share the top-selling items from the blog and a summary of the month's business/behind the scenes.

Charity of the Month

One charity will receive a portion of my profits for the month of September; I need your help to pick which one! I will collect votes through the week and share the winning charity in Saturday's Weekend Reads. This time I decided to pick charities that are a little closer to home and a little closer to my heart. If you cannot see the voting widget below, you can access the survey at this link.

Top-Selling Items for September

I always find it interesting to see what were the best-selling items on the blog. September's sales show that you are preparing for the colder temps. I also was interested to see that items I didn't specifically feature in an outfit post or even write about this month hit the top ten, showing that content is getting plenty of eyes thanks to Google and Pinterest. Also note that I cannot track any non-affiliate sales which means if you bought anything from this cabi post, I am not notified.

  1. LOFT Ponte Wide-Leg Cropped Pants - This was thanks to this one blog post. I knew this would be a top seller based on all the DMs, emails, and comments I received regarding fit, location of these in the store, and styling questions. However, I didn't expect them to be #1 because so many of you admitted you bought them in-store. I am still loving mine, I hope you love yours too!
  2. Wit & Wisdom Ab-solution Skinny Jeans - These jeans were mentioned in my post about the best jeans for moms and only one fewer pair of these was sold than the LOFT pants!
  3. Curves 360 by NYDJ Slim Straight Ankle Jeans - Again, these were in the jeans advice post. I like the fit of the Curves 360 line by NYDJ and these look like a nice alternative to the super skinny jeans of previous seasons.
  4. Sam Edelman Double Breasted Pop Plaid Reefer Coat - I shared this coat in my hits and misses post and it also showed up for part of the month on the homepage. I hope to feature it in an outfit post soon because it's a truly gorgeous coat!
  5. Halogen Cashmere Turtleneck Sweater - To be honest, I am not sure where I shared this sweater. But it's a good sweater, I own it, I love that it comes in a great range of sizes and petites and six colors.
  6. Dagne Dover Allyn Tote - The CEO of Dagne Dover said she met a customer who called me the Dagne Dover blogger. I have to thank M who first introduced me to the brand many years ago. I have reviewed a lot of the bags from this brand and use them often; here is my Dagne Dover Allyn Tote review. I featured the blog in this post at the beginning of the month.
  7. Lands' End Softest Fleece Snap Neck Pullover Top - I only mentioned this in a Weekend Reads sale roundup but I don't blame this for being a top seller because it looks like the kind of thing I will want to wear from November through March without ever taking it off!
  8. Clarks Un Blush Go Loafer - I have had these loafers for a few months and have featured them before, but it seems the feature in this blog post pushed them over the edge to end up in the top 10. They are super comfortable, looks nice, and come in five different colors. At this link you'll find almost the same loafer from Clarks but in a leopard print.
  9. Colleen Rothschild Radiant Cleansing Balm - Colleen Rothschild had a birthday sale and a few other promotions this month that I mentioned in Weekend Reads; I also mentioned this product in the post about my simple yet effective skincare routine. Oh, I also shared it as a ride or die product. Consistently, Colleen Rothschild products are in my top 25 and I am thrilled to hear that many of you who have bought it have also found it to be a gamechanging product.
  10. Tinkle Eyebrow Razor - The only time I mentioned these razors this month was on my new ride or die products page. However, I have written about them in this post and this post and both continue to get a good amount of traffic. They're great.

September Blogging Behind the Scenes

This month set me up for a wild ride in October! A few of the things that took place in September:

  • Today Karl and I are heading up to NYC because Wednesday at 10am ET I'll be on the Today Show! I went up to NYC on September 13th to tape part of the segment, then went back up on the 27th for my outfit fitting.
  • September 18th I spoke to a class at the Howard University Business School about being a full-time influencer. That evening I spoke on a panel about diversity and inclusion in fashion for the DC chapter of the FGI.
  • I partnered with the jewelry company REALM and on the 16th announced this partnership. I'm really psyched about this because I truly love the jewelry and love the message and the woman, Ann King Lagos, who is the designer and person behind the brand.
  • On the 22nd I did a paid giveaway with Soma on Instagram where I gave away 20 of their SOMAINNOFIT measuring tools.
  • This week I am doing a paid campaign with Universal Standard on Instagram Stories; stop by to check it out!
  • This past weekend I did a paid campaign of Instagram Stories to share the upcoming launch of LNO Studio, a size-inclusive made to measure pants brand.
  • This month I have two super cool opportunities and as soon as I can I will share more. One will take place in DC, and one will require me taking a very early morning flight to LA. There was plenty of negotiation to make these happen, lots of calls and emails.
  • It seems wacky, but I'm already getting into a holiday frame of mind. I had calls with a few brand and affiliate partners and my ChloeDigital rep and the topic was holiday. Doing some things behind the scenes because I just can't share anything about it until November 1st, it just seems WRONG. But a good businessperson preps in advance!
  • Not really blog related, but we adopted a dog! Oscar is snuggled up next to me while I write this.

Financially this was a good month, on par with last year. A brand I partnered with back in May FINALLY paid me which was nice (still waiting on one I worked with in February, GRRRRRR), but I am still behind from my "summer vacation" without paid campaigns and focusing on sales. I still think it was a worthy investment. It gave me the strength to say no to a few opportunities that came my way this month - I want to stick to quality campaigns that make sense for Wardrobe Oxygen. I truly believe the more I say no, the more likely I will get opportunities that make me jump for joy screaming yes. This month was an exciting one, one where I felt that hard work paid off and I was being recognized for my efforts. I feel really good about October and thank you all for your support, friendship, and community!