Into Autumn

My father's photo of Paris circa 1970s

Well. I'm at the six month point for this blog. When it began, I was planning my S/S wardrobe. Now, it's time to begin planning for F/W , and I'm happy to report I feel much better prepared for that endeavor. (I say, as if it will be such an arduous task. ;) )

First, to review how my S/S wardrobe plan ended up: It went through a lot of changes, as I re-assessed my needs, what I like that actually looks good on me, versus just what I like, or like on other people. Naturally, some of those changes reflect changes in my life - I recently turned 28 and started a new job on the very same day, so clothing that is appropriate for my age and new position has definitely been on my mind!

That said, I'm pretty happy with the wardrobe I ended up with this for the previous season. Of what I purchased, I actually kept much less than I expected, however I'm not especially disappointed by that. It's been quite a learning experience searching for, buying, and then reviewing my purchases, even if that means discarding the ones that didn't turn out how I expected -  or forcing myself to admit I'd made decisions I knew better than the to buy, ha.

I now have very few pieces of clothing overall - only about 25-30, counting bags and shoes - yet I'm feeling very well dressed. I'm a lot more certain I can come up with an appropriate outfit I will like and feel good in than I've ever been before. Coming from someone who's been buying clothes for herself from maybe the age of seven, that's saying something. And a little shocking for me to realize, actually.

Much of that success has to do with really thinking through my purchases. Before, I bought the majority of my clothing primarily based on whether I thought it was pretty or not. Now, when I buy something new I take much more time finding an item that is not only pretty, but that I can potentially wear often, with many other pieces in my wardrobe, and that will more than likely last through more than just a few wears. And, if it doesn't work out, I just send it back and keep looking. This is something I've had a real problem with before! Apparently I didn't trust my own judgment to know if something looked good on me or not, so rather than returning many purchases, I would keep wearing them to see if I could "make" myself like them, either because they were something I thought I ought to, or because I didn't want the hassle of taking them back to the store for a refund, or looking for something else. Sometimes I would know I would be doing this even as I purchased a piece of clothing. As you can imagine, I wasted a lot of money that way. Sloth is surely one of my vices. :)

Still, I continue to really want new items all the time. Part of it comes from the fact my wardrobe is pretty small, and is unfortunately lacking in a few really basic pieces. Since I'm adding things so much more slowly now, I have this irrational panic that it will take me just forever until I feel like I've a good base of clothes to get through a work week. Totally not true - I haven't even gotten rid of the majority of clothes that didn't meet my new standards/tastes. I could easily wear those when I run out of my preferred pieces, I just don't want to! I'd much rather go ahead and buy a bunch of new things to fill in the wardrobe holes I've fabricated (ha ha) for myself. It's how I've always approached dissatisfaction with clothing. Now I'd like to address that want for something new some other way besides shopping. How is yet to be discovered. Ideally, it would mean just not worrying about it at all!

Another thing I've found difficult was buying items from ethical suppliers as often as I'd like. That's always. And that's also unrealistic, so I've discovered. I know I'm not the first person to make this lament, but it is very difficult for me to find items with the right intersection of price, fair labor practices, and style. As far as style, I'm neither a hippie nor a hipster - okay, I'm actually a little of both, but my taste in clothing is conversely quite classic and even somewhat conservative, so although it's not always the most correct thing to do, there are going to be times when I'll choose LOFT over People Tree. 

Then there's the matter of materials. I'm a vegetarian because I don't want to kill animals, but I still buy leather and silk. It's so hypocritical, and thankfully there's always the option of buying certain items secondhand, which I'm happy to do with silk when it comes to clothing, and leather when it comes to bags, but shoes. Shoes. I could easily dedicate a whole post to my problems with shoes, but suffice to say, I've more or less given myself a free pass to purchase new leather ones. They just look nicer and last longer. If I can ever find an equal alternative, I will certainly use that instead, but for the time being, hypocrisy it is.

So, I've learned a lot. Going forward, I'd of course like to continue with what proved to be successful, as well as add some new strategies to deal with the problems I've encountered. I'm pretty optimistic about how my wardrobe will turn out now, and it's definitely been fun to put the work into it. It's seeming likely that when the next six months has passed, I'll be able to celebrate a year with this little blog, hopefully while being in a very happy place with my clothes. ;)