Wardrobe Planning 2014: Garments

As mentioned in the previous post, here's the "layout" I've made to base my Spring & Summer wardrobe purchases on. It was originally quite a bit different, but considering I don't have tons of spending money for new purchases (my clothing and beauty budget for the year is slightly less than $500), but do already own plenty of perfectly good items, I cut it down from a very ambitious, having to purchase new nearly everything, to a more realistic, making use of what I already had list. Obviously, that's going to fit a lot better into my Eco-friendly and Fiscally Responsible criteria: zero resources to be used and zero dollars to be spent can't be beat!

Anyway. Going by the commonalities I noticed when I compiled my outfit inspirations from Pinterest, as well as really trying to assess the needs I have for my clothes, I came up with some basic guidelines for my wardrobe:

• Dress Code: Business casual interchangeable with everyday.
• Keywords: Sophisticated, feminine and classic.
• Colors:  Navy, black/charcoal grey and white neutrals with pink, red or brown accents.
• Focus: High quality additions (when I buy something new, I have to know it's going to get plenty of use for a long time), interchangeability between seasons (I want to use what I have throughout the year as much as possible so that I can buy less overall), utilizing tailoring more often to make pieces fit just right (in other words, I want to be able to alter nice pieces I find in thrift/consignments stores that would otherwise be too big).

And here's how that translates into the actual pieces I plan to buy:

Tops:
(Items in grey are not yet owned)
White Button Down
White Lace T-shirt
Breton 3/4 Sleeve
Sleeveless Variety Top
Cream/White Top
Lace Sleeveless Top
Navy Button Down
Navy T-Shirt
Black Sleeveless Shell
Red Floral Sleeveless Top

When I say "variety" I mean a piece that's a print and couldn't be considered a basic. I tend to buy a lot of basic items, because I'm very picky about everything what kind of prints I like everything when it comes to clothes, but especially what kind of prints I like. Most likely I'll end up buying a soft floral like the one pictured, since that falls within my exorbitantly stringent preferences. Otherwise, I actually like most of my tops to be more basic, as I'm fond of using jewelry and scarves as the "statement" focus of my outfits. It's a great way to use more gaudy pieces without looking totally ostentatious.

Covers:
Navy Blazer
Navy Cardigan
Cream/White Cardigan
Variety Cardigan
Black Cardigan

I'm not sure how I only have one usable cardigan when they're, like, my favorite thing ever, but I guess they're one of those things that are so easy for me to buy (I like them all!) that I don't think much about how much use I'll actually get out of them. My intention for buying new ones is that they're warm. I thought I would need different weights for summer and winter cardigans, but the AC in my office has told me that, hahaha, no, "too hot" is not a problem I will be having there. On the upside, that means I should be able to wear the same ones through the year, which means less winter clothing taking up my limited storage space during the summer!

Bottoms:
Charcoal Grey Pencil Skirt
Black Chiffon Maxi Skirt
Navy Pencil Skirt
Floral Grey Pencil Skirt
Black Flared Skirt
Navy Flared Skirt
Black Tapered Trousers
Navy Tapered Trousers
Rose Tapered Trousers
White Tapered Trousers

This was one area I had originally planned to buy a lot of new items for, but after looking at what I already owned, I decided that would be kind of ridiculous. I think I wanted to add to my current collection because the colors aren't exactly what I'd expect from a Spring & Summer palette. However, with the recent addition of the rose and white pants, I'm not too concerned about this any longer, especially since the darker pieces will be combined with more warm weather style tops. Next year I might replace a few things with lighter colored pieces, but for right now I'd rather focus my budget on other things. Not to mention, I actually prefer to own a smaller number of clothes overall, so I might find I'm happier with "recycling" my bottoms from Fall/Winter into Spring/Summer than having to deal with more pieces total.

Dresses, Shoes & Bags:

Dresses:

White Structured Dress

Variety Dress

Navy Short Sleeve Dress

I love dresses more than just about any other kind of clothing, but currently own only one. Because, like I said, I'm super picky. They need to be the right mix of casual and formal to be both work appropriate and able to be worn on time off, while also falling into my very narrow standards for attractive color, print and style. That means I either own 500 floaty navy dresses or, apparently when trying to refine my wardrobe, 1 floaty navy dress and the intention to buy some that aren't. 

Bags:

Brown Medium Sized Purse

Black Tote Bag

Black Clutch/Wallet Combination

I'm not really a bag person. Or, more accurately, I'm not a multiple bag person. I currently own one purse (similar to the brown one pictured), which I love, and wouldn't be interested at all in buying another, except that my current one is too small to fit the papers, laptop, etc. I have to carry with me for work. So, under such duress, I'm looking for a tote bag. I'm considering the one from Angela Roi pictured,  though I might prefer finding another one secondhand. I'm still not sure if I feel new vegan bags are that much more beneficial than secondhand leather. Finally, I would like a clutch purse. This is totally hypocritical of me (Ms. One Bag Lady), because I do not need one - my lifestyle is hardly clutch intensive, to say the least, so I've set this item to 0% priority, and I will only buy one it if it can also be used as a wallet. Which I don't need another of, either...But clutches are pretty, darnit, and I have to find some excuse for owning one, so there it is.

Shoes:

Black Heels

Black Pointed Flats

Red Ballerina Flats

Brown Work Appropriate Sandals

Similar to bags, I'm not huge on shoes. Four pairs for me is just plenty, and I'm good wearing the same ones the whole year, excepting when I switch out boots for sandals during the summer. They're the only shoes I'm really missing this year (although my current black flats really need to be replaced), so hopefully I will be able to find some that can be worn to work, are comfortable and are eco/animal friendly. Oh, and that will last more than one season. So far, I'm kinda starting to lose hope!