Curating: A Navy Dress Experience

Crochet Cocktail Dress by Blueband

When I first started my wardrobe plan, I knew for certain that I wanted to add a work appropriate navy dress to my closet. I've probably mentioned before, but I'm slightly obsessed with navy. An improvement from the past, when looking at my wardrobe one could only assume my life's goal was  to become the world's first navy/human hybrid species. And my sub species would have been navy-dress-human, because, really. They. are. all. cute. In other words, it's not hard for me to like any of them, so I ended up buying the first one I tried on. I found it in a thrift store while looking for some much needed work clothes. It was from Target, 100% polyester, empire waisted with a deep v-neck. To give you an idea of the inappropriateness of those cuts, let's just say I'm 27 and still fit into Forever 21 tops. 

Unsurprisingly, I began to dislike it. I felt a little like I had wasted the enjoyment of shopping for something new on a inadequate piece. Actually, I'm sure I felt a lot like that. I decided I was going to "upgrade" it, and began to look for potential replacements before realizing I could spent my money better on other items from my wardrobe plan I needed more urgently. I wouldn't replace the dress until those things had been bought. But, while I was focusing my funds elsewhere, I continued to wear the dress, because: hey, navy dress! Even a bad one is a good one, as they say about pizza (among other things.) I also have a pretty small wardrobe right now, so even if something isn't my very favorite, it is usually still worn simply due to lack of other options.

And, rather anti-climatically, now I really like the dress, and no longer feel the need to replace it with anything. I think a large part of that is that I didn't allow myself to look for something "better" , which was more or less an excuse to give me more things to shop for. I'll freely admit I enjoy shopping , and I doubt I'll ever not, nor do I care to, but, like any other enjoyable thing, shopping can be easily overdone. I sometimes get to the point where it's like being at the end of a second slice of cake -  I force myself to keep eating it because it was just so good before, logically I should still be enjoying it, right?  

My life's motto  in a t-shirt by Skreened

So, when I  give myself another option to shop for, I will think I'm extending a fun experience, when I'm really unaware it's no longer enjoyable because I've had too much of it . Unfortunately, not only am I wasting time (I could extend the metaphor to say like wasting calories on the second slice of cake, but that would be ridiculous. Cake is the reason calories exist.), I also make myself unhappy with what I do have with this constant stream of "better" options I discover. 

Not that my dress is the best made, most fashionable, coveted brand, or whatever else I cared to replace it with, but that I no longer think about these things when I put it on.  I know it works. Actually, it works beautifully, and is now one of my favorite items to wear. Admittedly, it isn't because I just decided to love this piece.  It's cute on its own, it's a useful cut that can be worn almost anywhere, and it's a flattering color. I also now have several outfits I can make with it very easily that look quite nice.  Rather than the lesson being that I can make myself be super happy with what I already have because that's always an inherently better choice, it's perhaps to at least attempt to work with something before deciding it's inadequate; not immediately discard it if not just perfect, as if that makes it worthless. I'm sure once this dress has been worn out, I'll purchase something that is an improvement over the issues I had with it in the beginning, but I no longer feel the need to do so. 

Really, I wonder if I didn't want to replace the dress not because it was nonfunctional, but because it didn't fit the image I had of what should be in a curated wardrobe - the highest quality fabric and construction, a perfect fit, a special brand. But what do I really know about it when I've never really gone through the experience of creating one before? Again, I'm learning, while those are important factors, having the patience to wait until I really know what I need, then again to learn how actually use it once it's here, is just as valuable.

I'm at the point of culling more wardrobe items that didn't work, so this is something to think about.