Thinking about my wardrobe - part 1

I'm back into the wardrobe blogs again - although I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not (body image issues) - because I have little to no confidence about my ability to choose clothing that looks good on me rather than just on the hanger.  But, I found a really good list of questions/considerations on Debbie Roes' site that I thought I might work through as I get back to being more serious and deliberate about my wardrobe.

Desired frequency of wear

Reading Debbie Roes "Recovering Shopaholic" blog has been a real eye-opener for me.  Last week, in looking at my P333 for February, I cleared out a whole bunch of clothes that no longer fits me.  The things that are still in good condition and are headed for my church's Community Shop include items that are more than ten and in some cases more than twenty years old (the blouse I bought for my confirmation in 1994, for example).  And the fact that they were in good condition is not because they didn't get worn.  I've never had a big wardrobe, and what I own generally gets worn a lot - unless I no longer fit into it, which is a big problem when you think of clothes I bought at age 15 compared to now.  But on Debbie's site she and her commenters are talking about things they buy and return; items from consignment shops (do we even have those in Australia?); and items that are OMG so out of date!  I am SO not trend conscious (see twenty year old blouse mentioned above.)  If I could still fit in some of those ten year old skirts you can bet I would still be wearing them.  Sadly they're all size 10 and 12, and I, unfortunately, am not.

But where I was going with this was the frequency of wear question.  In the post linked above, Debbie is writing about finding your individual "perfect" wardrobe size, and she talks about thinking in terms of eight wears per year for her items.  That number left me flabbergasted.  Only eight?  Perhaps after a few months of wardrobe tracking (something I'm starting now via the Stylebook app) I'll be less surprised by that number, but even the aforementioned 20 year old blouse probably had at least ten outings per year, and likely more than that, especially while I was working as a lawyer and was a lot dressier than I am now.

One of the items in my P333 wardrobe for February is an off-white top that I bought for my Masters degree graduation and haven't worn since.  I refer to it as my "duck tail" blouse, as it has a layered back to it that reminds me of Katniss' statement about her little sister Prim's blouse coming untucked in "The Hunger Games".  I feel like the duck tail makes my backside look big, and that means I have avoided wearing it.  But it's a good piece, climate wise, for February, and I need to try wearing it before I give up on it as a bad purchase (I love it from the front.  It's the back I don't like.)

Climate needs

The good thing is, I don't live in Melbourne, land of five seasons in one day.  That doesn't mean we don't have climate variation, though.  And as I've said before, I plan on offsetting the standard P333 calendar to group the months together in a way that I think goes better with the changes in climate where I live.  I'm actually very jealous as I read through Debbie's blog, with her reminders that San Diego really only has two seasons.  We definitely have at least four, with summer temperatures going up to 40 degrees (Celcius, obviously) at times, while in winter the top temperature can be around 10 degrees.  Obviously not as extreme as somewhere like Minnesota, but on the other hand, buildings are heated way, way better in Minnesota, and Canada, and even the UK, than here in Australia.  Because it's always hot here, don't you know.

It does mean I only really need one dress coat, and one more casual.  My casual coat is twenty years old this year - it's my year 12 class jacket, made from pure wool, great for the local climate in winter, and still going strong.  (I'm sorry, but I flip at the sheer number of coats and jackets that Debbie has for her "mild San Diego climate".  But then, I'm just not a fashionista.

Lifestyle needs

This is, in some ways, the big one for me.  I used to be dressier.  (I used to be a lawyer!) Now I wear a uniform four days a week at work, and my partner's aesthetic is much more casual, and that has influenced me, too.  But I'm also realising that if I ever left my current job and went back to needing to dress for an office of any sort, I'd have to do a sudden and significant shopping trip just to have enough clothes to wear.  I also had a period of time about a year ago when I realised I had only two tops and one skirt suitable for church, and was swapping the tops week by week with the same skirt.

I don't want to have a large wardrobe, but I do want to have a functional one.   

Project 333 - February 2016

So I spent some time on my wardrobe today: not all the time I need to spend, but a decent amount.  I didn't get anywhere near looking at the various things that are boxed up, but given how long those boxes have in general been packed up (since before we moved into this house) those items will no longer fit and will basically go straight out, either into the bin or to my church's Community Shop.  I already have two boxes ready to go, including about six winter skirts and three blouses that I cleaned out of my closet today (all two to three sizes too small), as well as throwing out 4 discoloured white blouses, one handmade skirt that has served me very well for over ten years, a denim jacket that was discoloured at the neck - and thus isn't worth sending to the shop - and a stained longline cardigan that I do not want to get rid of but have to.

I also made some progress on putting together my February Project 333 capsule.  As I mentioned in my previous post, this capsule is just for the one month, to get me back into the cycle that I feel works best with the climate where I am.  Some of my considerations for my February capsule include a weekend in Sydney to attend a concert at the Theatre Royal; the general climate for February (hot, generally with highs above 30); and the fact that my capsules don't actually cover my work clothing, which is a uniform.

As for my actual Project 333 - currently my plan is as follows:

• one white denim jacket
• two dresses (one sleeveless maxi, one skater)
• four tops
• one cardigan, one long sleeved blouse to be worn as a "topper"
• three skirts
• three pairs of 3/4 pants
• (current total: 15 pieces)

Things of note: I find it really difficult to photograph my clothes, so I try to pic up photos from the internet, preferably from whatever store I've bought it from, but when I'm trying to get photos of older items (or I forgot to find the photo when I bought the item) I just go for vague approximations.

Clearly there is no defined colour palette, which is related to another problem I've discovered: I have far more bottoms than tops.  Which is totally not a balanced wardrobe!  So, there may be some top-shopping in my near future.  I would love to find a more palette-appropriate top that I could swap in for the coral, which really doesn't suit my other colours for this season.  

I honestly don't know whether I should add one pair of long pants in case of unseasonably cold weather, but with a pair of 3/4 length jeans in the mix I think I ought to be fine, especially as February is often the hottest month of the year.

Except for the dearth of tops - and needing to make a decision as to whether I add two or three t-shirts for out-of-the-house wear - I think this may be the clothing part of the capsule.  Which is not bad at all (but this is, again, only for a month.  Three months provides a greater challenge due to climate variations).  I'm hoping I can choose four pairs of shoes, and then toss in accessories.  The current numbers would leave me with space for about seven accessories, which for me would be a LOT.  (That said: two bracelets, one necklace, leaves only four pairs of earrings which - not actually a lot.  But then, I've never really had any intention of including accessories (or shoes) in my P333 capsules.

There's still two days left in this month, so I hope I'll be back on Sunday with the final word on my February collection.

Clothes OMG

I'm trying to revamp/reinvigorate my wardrobe.

My current job requires an actual uniform: there are various options, but I've settled on a polo top and black bottoms, almost entirely black trousers in winter and black 3/4 length trousers in summer. 

But having worn a uniform for five years, my general wardrobe has fallen into jeans and pop culture t-shirts. This summer I had two church-worthy tops to swap between Sunday by Sunday. 

But it's jolly difficult to buy anything that looks good, fits well, is good quality and isn't out of my budget. I've been scouring blogs: from Putting Me Together to the Vivienne Files to Unfancy.  I like the idea of capsule wardrobes; I'm trying so hard. 

Thing is, I'm not skinny. Or well off. I've got an overseas wedding to save for, and previous credit card debt to pay off. I want more purple and bright pink in my wardrobe and as much as it suits me, I'm getting sick to death of coral.

There's a long way to go.  As much as this weekend we're going to the city, I can't imagine that I'll really have time for shopping.  Even if I did.. cost.  Always an issue.

I'm investigating other options.  Buying online and such like.  People in the US make it sound so easy, but of course here in the damned Antipodes...

Updates as necessary...