wardrobe revamp: making plans

Back in high school, maybe even in middle school, I noticed a tendency in my own habits: when I am nervous about a new phase in life or a new place to go--generally, from middle to high school to college and now to graduate school--I think rather heavily about what I will wear in each of those places.  In middle and high school, it was easy; we wore horrifically unflattering uniforms (box pleat skirts, polos, and oxfords).  Nowadays, it's not so simple as choosing a khaki, navy, or plaid skirt and a blue, red, or white polo or oxford.  I never thought I'd think this way, but I actually miss the simplicity of an entirely interchangeable wardrobe.  I've been trying to compile one lately, and I think I've got most of it set up with these sets on polyvore, keeping track of what I already own.

I want to go in with a plan.  In order to fill out the gaps in my wardrobe--or, at least, the one I am planning--I'll need to make some purchases.  But instead of picking whatever is cheap, regardless of how much I like it and how well it'll work with other things, I'm going in with a plan and the intent to purchase quality items that will last for years, like all of these.

I can't really afford all of them, so I'll do some secondhand searching and a little bit of buying at Target and the like--after all, I have tops from Target that I've been wearing upwards of five or six years, and they're still in good shape.

The next step, once I go through my clothes, is figuring out the best thing to do with the extras.  I don't want to dump it all someplace where it'll just get thrown out and I don't think much of it could be sold.


Left to right: lightweight voile popover shirt, sailor popover shirt, paper bag skirt, the scholar satchel, ruffle shrug, t-strap heels, gathered-neck tee, easy-care blouse, linen henley, lightweight cotton sweater, cotton gathered skirt, flat front chinos, slim fit jeans

style.

Let me warn you now that I'm a little verbose today.  Will you stay with me?

You might have noticed that today is the last day in May.  Remember this post, when I said I wouldn't be buying anything until at least the end of the month?  How I have too much stuff?

I pretty much made it.  I bought some yarn on an impulse (but cheaply!).  It's actually more of a type I already have, but they're going to discontinue the color and I needed more for the project, so I suppose it was kind of justified, even if I have a bit of guilt.  I didn't save a lot of money because of gifts I purchased and because of necessities, like gas.  I also bought some running clothes because I don't have any that fit and I desperately need to exercise, but I used a gift card for those.

So I'm content, but I think I need to push myself a little more.  I laughed at this old post from Heart of Light (yes, I did search for and read through people's old posts from the hiatus after I first heard of it), because it's so much like me.  I love some of my clothes and possessions for reasons I don't always remember--some association of emotion but not always memory--and I'll be ridiculously sentimental about giving things up.  My friend Beth passed along some advice and a resource that I'm going to try when I'm in "my own" home again, so I do have a plan to take on this monster.

Once I get back to Louisville and all.my.stuff. (ugh), I'm going to sort, clean, simplify, and reduce my wardrobe to what will fit in one closet.  I want to make it so everything can be coordinated with everything (almost, anyway), so I quit making so many goofy not-quite-right outfits.

Then I'll shop for what I need to fill in the gaps.

After that?

I'm done shopping again for a month.

Photos link back to their sources.  I found them via the pretty organized flickr pool, a very effective way to get inspired to organize!

interruptions :: musings of the stylishly inept

Sometimes I can manage to put things together and look good.  Yesterday, I even matched.  Back in high school, Kat and Kay used to just about gasp in amazement when I came to school in a matching outfit, and we wore uniforms.  I try.  I really do.  I've gotten better recently, but I still feel like something is remiss most of the time when I try to put an outfit together.  I wonder where enormously stylish people, like Annabel of Blushing Ambition or Taylor of The Little Deer, get the ability to recognize what looks good and what doesn't, and to put it all together.  Half of my problem is that I'm always cold, so I'm inclined to wearing multiple layers.  This picture captures one of my worst moments of layer wearing, and I'm only sharing a tiny little part of it because it's not a good picture of me at all.

I'm not only mixing sweaters, but mixing black and brown.  I was cold, okay?

I think, sometimes, when I write about all the lovely things I find in the world, or post gorgeous outfits on my style pinboard, I may come across as fashionable.  True, I own skinny jeans (okay, three pairs of slim-fitting jeans, not actual skinny jeans, but shush).  I have a pair of Toms that I could wear constantly.  Today, I'm  even wearing a brown sweater that matches the brown in my top, and I'm not wearing black shoes.  

The truth is, though, I don't really care.  I'd rather be comfortable, like I am right now.  I never wear heels because flats are comfortable and they suit me.  I also have this tendency to dislike clothes that call attention, because I generally don't like to call attention to myself in any way, and I wonder if that plays into my lack of serious interest in fashion.  Perhaps I don't dress incredibly cute not because I'm kind of cheap (hey, I like saving my money!) but because I'm content with a plain wardrobe that doesn't draw attention.  Sometimes I think the psychology of wardrobe choices could be explored to very interesting extents.

I've had my wardrobe on my mind lately because I packed up a good bit of it last weekend in preparation for our move (one month away!) and realized that I actually just want to pitch most of it.  It's not that I don't like any of it, but rather that I would kind of like to start from scratch.  I'm thinking that I might actually do so this summer, but I want to make sure that when I get rid of things, they go somewhere that won't end up in a landfill.  Because if I do start a major purge, there will be a lot of things that go.  I got rid of over half my clothes a year ago and I don't miss a thing that I gave away.

This post is scattered, I know, like my wardrobe, and I'm a little sorry for that.  I've been interrupted about five times since I started writing it (an hour ago), so hopefully my scatterbrained ways haven't confounded you too much today.  My goodness, this post is full of fluff.

I can occasionally put together a pretty decent outfit, and my skills with virtually coordinating a combination are much better than my practical real-world talents.  I even managed to pull these two outfits together in a fairly short time.  Kaboodle is kind of fun, just so you know.

I'm linking up with long distance loving's Friday Fancies, where you'll find a bunch of stylish bloggers posting adorable outfits.  Maybe I should look around and learn a thing or two about matching.

still winter...

but I'm thinking a bit about spring style.  Have you seen Ruche's newest lookbook?  I've been wearing layers upon layers for too long now, trying to keep my perpetually cold self warm (it's a losing battle), so weather just warm enough to wear leggings and skirts again sounds just dreamy.  Wearing only one layer of long sleeves sounds pretty heavenly as well.

 

{from the neutral palette selection on Ruche}

I have a white linen dress, but wouldn't have thought to wear it with a cardigan like that.

{from the mix and match selection on ruche}

This striped dress and belted look is adorable, too.  The cardigan (oh, how I love cardigans) is darling.  I wonder if it could be work-wearable with the right pair of leggings?  I suppose tights would work too, but I definitely prefer leggings.  How do stylish people manage to always look, well, stylish?  And how do they know what matches?  I think I missed some fashionable gene.  But eh, no big deal.  Wearing my comfy jeans pretty much always wins over the stylish ones I do own...somewhere in my closet...I think I'll go read a book instead. *wink*