tee shirts - Lands' End
Pants – Eddie Bauer, socks & tights – Lands’ End love, Janice ... View the Post
Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature
tee shirts - Lands' End
Pants – Eddie Bauer, socks & tights – Lands’ End love, Janice ... View the Post
It's amazing how much wearing a uniform for work can change the way you look at getting dressed in the morning! Most days, by biggest concern is getting my tie tied correctly, or seeing if I can finagle being allowed to wear a hairnet rather than a visor or ball cap. Oddly enough, the hairnet is cooler, and doesn't interfere with my peripheral vision as much. Plus, I sell more because I get that little old lady sympathy purchase...
But I did dress up a few times - working the pink and grey combo a lot this month...
On St. Patrick's Day, in honor of the last day of the 6 Nations Rugby tournament, I wore my completely out of character "This is NOT Soccer" tee shirt...
And late in ... View the Post
Let me say this right up front - some of these items can be worn VERY successfully by other women, so please don't jump all over me if some of your favorites are on my list. This is MY PERSONAL stuff to avoid - nobody else's. Although at least one or two of these are always going to be a challenge to virtually anybody... ... View the Post
These next eight garments are things that I wear almost the entire year - maybe not the dog days of August, or the teeth of a bitter blizzard (not that I really remember what that's like), but month in, month out, these clothes never go into storage.And the accessories - same thing. They are my standby goodies, over and over again.
Both striped tops - L.L.Bean bot tee shirts - Lands' End both dresses - Lands' End both pair of pants - Eddie Bauer
Scarves - Hermes Flacons, and Jardins des Metamorphoses earrings - Cartier Stone necklace - J. Jill pearls - Etsy gold penny loafers - Cole Haan cross-body bag - Osgoode Marley Tote bag - Tumi
If I were to pack the eight solid black garments I chose for my last wardrobe ... View the Post
This month saw a couple of dinners out with friends, and a couple of job interviews which weren't overwhelmingly dressy - the bakery job didn't really require full-on suiting, thank heavens. So I found that for another month, I had everything that I needed or wanted, and was comfortable, appropriate, and (I hope) attractive for all activities.
I visit catalogchoice.org every week to continue to pare down my temptations which arrive in the mail. Fewer catalogs = fewer dead trees, less recycling, and less time thumbing through them looking at things I don't need.
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Every season, you can find lists upon lists of "what's hot, and what's not", which basically means "what you should go out and purchase, and what you should throw away". I refuse to let someone else tell me what I need, like, or prefer, so I decided to put together my own personal "What's Hot" list. The results follow....Sometime soon, when I catch up on sleep, I'll do a "What's NOT" list too.
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What I wear all winter long - to "go-to" wardrobe for almost any occasion:
black cashmere cardigan - Lands' End. If my entire wardrobe horribly disappears, this might be the first garment I replace. Goes over every tee shirt, dress, or blouse, all year long. the short-sleeved sweater that matches the cardigan - also Lands' End. Like a tee shirt, but cashmere. black cashmere turtleneck - Lands' End AGAIN. I wear it with jeans, I wear it with silk pants, I wear it with a velvet skirt. black cashmere v-neck sweater - LE, of course. over a tee shirt, or on it's own... black velvet jeans - Eileen Fisher. Jeans, but so much more. black velvet corduroy trousers - Eddie Bauer. I love these pants ... View the Post
So I've decided that I'm going to curate my wardrobe in groupings of eight, in keeping with the plan that seems to be working so well for other wardrobes that I build! And first up, the highly utilitarian work wardrobe for the winter holidays. Cotton turtlenecks from Lands' End, sweatshirts from Lands' End and Adidas, and jeans from NYDJ (stretch jeans are ESSENTIAL if climbing is in your job description). I didn't need a lot of clothes, because I'd have to come home most evenings and immediately launder whatever I'd been wearing... To me, this wardrobe, while not particularly dressy or innovative, is elegant, if you define elegance as simple, timeless, and appropriate to the situation at ... View the Post
This month's activities included some of my heavy-lifting job (jeans, cotton turtlenecks, sweatshirts), a few lunches and dinners out with friends, and one cocktail party. I already owned everything I needed for all of these activities, so I never felt that "need" to buy new clothes. And I stay out of the way of temptation in stores, I've cut out all catalogs; overall, I felt only the occasional twinge of admiration for something. Admiration does not HAVE to equal desire; more on that idea tomorrow.
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I've been thinking and thinking (and occasionally writing) about a closet purge. Now let's be frank, the word PURGE is pretty repelling - I can't come up with one good association to the term...
And it's just dawned on me - I don't want to PURGE my closet, I want to build and choose my wardrobe. Construction, not destruction!
So the new plan is:
Try to determine a target number of garments (starting on the large size, and then whittling down as possible) Build a wardrobe based on "eights". I don't know why, but the number eight seems to be a nice number of garments for a... not a capsule, but more of a "capsulette". Capsulina? Capsulechen? Sell or donate garments that don't survive the audition ... View the Post
I'm now 122 days into my year-long "no new clothes" vow, and I am finding that, honestly, it's not difficult, and it's really quite... mentally freeing. When you eliminate things from your life (like I NEVER think about sky-diving!), it frees you up to pay attention to other things. Walking up Michigan Avenue without window shopping and mentally "trying on" all sorts of garments is what has given me the mental bandwidth to observe the various looks that I've been able to share with you. And when I don't shop, it gives me some perspective on the buying behaviors of other people, which is quite educational. More on that tomorrow...
What I wore in December? Work clothes, my swimsuit (hot tub in my building!), and ... View the Post
This has in many ways been the easiest month so far. Day to day, I'm only wearing a variety of gray or black tee shirts, jeans, and my work shoes. (and of course, my apron, which is NOT pictured here...) If anything, December might prove to be even more dull fashion-wise than November!
Working in retail is a great way to condition yourself away from constant shopping; the endless glut of unnecessary stuff that we have to handle every day makes the idea of actually buying something and taking it home absolutely repulsive. What an insane frenzy of over-consumption the holidays are in the United States...
And I must give a warm, grateful shout out to my work shoes - Camper Pelotas. They are durable, ... View the Post