Hello & Goodbye: April 2014

Tan & Coral Linen Dress, Personal Photo

This post is rather long, but here's what I purchased and purged this April. I noticed some themes this month that I wanted to address in greater detail, which is why I didn't combine these purchases with the ones from May: the word count would have been enormous. Or, more so than it already was. I may need to work on being a little more succinct. That's never been a strong point of my writing, as I'm sure you can tell!

Hello: Wardrobe

Old Navy White Cotton Boyfriend Cardigan
This is the clear winner of purchases for April. It's now almost July, and I can say I've worn it pretty much constantly over the three months I've had it. While I don't like white very much around my face, I've found that cardigans or jackets in that color don't seem to have the same effect of washing me out that full tops, do. So I can wear I color I like quite a bit with them, that I wouldn't otherwise. Of course, white is also very versatile, so it's easy to just put this on when I'm heading out the door in a short sleeve/sleeveless top, about to face the arctic circle that is my office.
Criteria: Fiscally Responsible (Inexpensive, worn regularly), Ethical (Second hand)
Price: ~$6

White House, Black Market White Cardigan Jacket 
This was a very impulsive purchase. I saw someone wearing something similar at a seminar I attended, and it looked so pretty and professional on her, I kept thinking how much I'd like to add one to my wardrobe. I was happy to find it at my local thrift store, though it didn't really fit into my plans. Still, it's very pretty and gotten a lot of use, so I have no intention of discarding it. My wardrobe plan will just have to deal for now. :)
Criteria: Fiscally Responsible (Inexpensive, worn regularly), Ethical (Second hand)
Price: ~$6

Tan and Coral Print Linen Dress
Upon my pulling this from the bag, the first words out of my sister's mouth were, "Is that attractive?". She also once claimed a skirt I had just bought looked like "someone skinned a couch". I'm not sure where I'm going with these anecdotes, but I can say for sure my sister and I have very different taste here, because I love this dress. As soon as I saw I *had* to have it, and even though it didn't look fantastic in the fitting room, I took it home. The combination of colors and the print were too much for me to resist - I believe the pattern is intended to be leaves, but I think it looks like coral, which is one of the most beautiful things in the world, if you are me. I originally wanted to alter this, but after wearing it a few times, got to where I like it as is. My only issue is that it's a little dressy, so I can't wear it as often as I'd like, but when I have the occasion for it, I almost always choose it.
Criteria: Fiscally Responsible (Inexpensive, worn regularly), Ethical (Second hand)
Price: ~$10

Goodbye: Wardrobe

Cerulean Button Down Shirt, Pink Work Pants, White Work Pants
Excuse my pretension, I just really like the word cerulean. :)  Anyway, I bought all of these with the intention of making "simple" alterations to them, not realizing most of those were still outside of my extremely finite skill level.  Right now I'm just not all that interested in improving my sewing, so they got donated back to the thrift store. The only item I was really disappointed about losing was the button down, but it's such a common piece I can easily find another that fits me better.

White Lace T-Shirt
A pretty shirt, but not on me. White's not the best color for me, and coupled with the fact the shirt hit me at the worst possible, thigh engorging angle, I never liked wearing it. I actually cut it up to use the lace on another shirt I was trying to repair, but that didn't work either, so it was pretty much trashed.  C'est la vie.

White and Mint Chevron Scarf
I knew as I was buying this I wasn't going to use it. It is really pretty, and I like the color and pattern, but I bought it because myself and others had just discovered the store that sold it, along with tons of other cute clothes, and I liked being in on the fun of joining in the shopping. I tried to wear it a couple times, but it was too chunky for my taste, and the color didn't go well with any of my other pieces. This was a case of liking something, but it just not being my style. I want to avoid making purchases like this in the future, but I can't say I'm upset with myself for doing so this time. I did enjoy the experience of buying it, and mistakes like this are almost inevitable when shopping in a social setting. Or is it just me?

Notes:  I only kept three out of 7 pieces for this month. Why?  Well, for one thing, when I bought most of these, I don't think I had a clear wardrobe plan made, so I didn't have much guide to aid my buying except what I liked in the store. Also, I was shopping in a thrift store, which, while one way to find inexpensive and higher quality items, didn't work for me with these items, because I was purchasing things that didn't fit with the idea that I would be able to easily alter them so they would. Trouble is, I don't really know how to make those alterations, so I was using limited funds to buy things I couldn't actually wear, even if I had nothing else, because of how poorly they fitted. I gave most of those back when I realized it was too much trouble for me to practice alterations right now, so my wardrobe never increased, I just spent money. Oops. Well, now I know not to buy anything secondhand that doesn't already fit well, or that I do know how to fix.

Also, a lot of the pieces I bought were experimental, or something I bought prior to having a more refined idea of what I liked wearing. I experiment with the hope that I can expand my comfort level beyond maybe four colors and silhouettes, but the more I do, the more I realize I just want to stick with them! I almost feel like that's a bit counter intuitive, but then again, how much does it really matter if I'm not wearing anything else? I think I try to add things because it seems like "everyone else" is dressing differently, so then there must be something wrong with what I'm doing, or that it would be an improvement on my style to make myself dress the way I see (or feel like I see) all around me. After discarding so many items in April for the bought for that same reason, I've more convinced  that it's usually best to just stay with what I know I like. Not that I'll never experiment with anything else ever again, but that I know I can trust myself to look at a piece and go "I'll won't wear that", even if it's very trendy, or there's one aspect about it I like within all the others I really don't. Incidentally, Emma from This Kind Choice has just written an excellent post on the topic with some good advice for adding experimental items to your closet.

So that's more or less what I wanted to consider with this post. It's been very helpful for me to look over my purchases this way; it makes me feel less like they were total mistakes, or that I wasted money, because I can recognize what patterns are in my buying habits that make it so I either keep or discard something. Now I know why something that was discarded was bought, and can use that information when making other purchases, rather than just ending up thinking I have no idea how to dress myself. :)