I’ve defined my style and gone through and got rid of anything that doesn’t seem like my style any more. All good things. But I kind of thought by now I’d be buying up a storm, but, not so much. In fact I’ve not bought anything at all. It’s kind of frustrating.
I realise it’s because I want to have a plan. I’ve tried to update my wardrobe a number of times and have never really stuck with it. I don’t even know what happens. I get to this point I guess, and then I just … choke.
Actually no. What happens is I go out and start buying stuff. I go for something different, something I think is a change. Then I get it home, find it doesn’t really work with anything else in my wardrobe, and well it’s just not me. So it languishes at the back of my closet and never gets worn. I just threw out a couple of those items the last round of clean out.
I want to do something different this time and you know, actually change my style!
HOW TO MAKE A WARDROBE PLAN
Getting a layout for what to have in your wardrobe is fairly easy stuff. I even quoted one myself here. I think that I’d like to use the information that I’ve written about in this website so I’m going with that as my basic plan of what to get.
That’s a lot of stuff.
Some I already have of course, like black flats, black bag, 1 x winter weight blazer, link watch, jeans and a few others. But there’s a lot that I don’t have.
And the other thing is that I’m going to need to adjust for where I live, which in case you don’t know is Queensland, Australia. It’s winter here at the moment and raining and just generally crappy weather, but it’s also still warm. It doesn’t get really cold, or at least not any colder than can be dealt with by adding a cardigan.
Winter here is short. It’s all done and dusted in three months and that includes autumn (fall) and spring. After that it’s hot. Evenings remain cool for a while, but the days are hot. And then it gets hotter.
I need to put together some items for summer, and I need to do it now. My plan is to take the basic wardrobe above, adjust for seasonal conditions to decide what it is that I need, and then start fleshing out the items themselves.
What does that mean? Well, lets work through an example.
A black pantsuit
I’m not going to get a lot of use out of a suit. Not because it doesn’t fit with the lifestyle I have, but because it’s just too darn hot to wear a suit.
That said, I get that a suit is a wardrobe classic and is always a good option for any number of occasions. I just don’t want a black pantsuit. There I’ve said it. I don’t want a black pantsuit. I do want a suit, just not black.
Which doesn’t mean to say I don’t want black pants. Or a black blazer for that matter. I just don’t necessarily want them to be a match.
I’ve been looking at lots of clothes over the last couple of weeks, looking for inspiration about my personal style. I love the idea of black pants, white shirt and jacket, but I really dislike the whole corporate feel to it all. I flat out don’t want to go there.
I found this wonderful image on Igigi which I just love. This is more the image that I want to create rather than corporate black, though sadly not the jacket, because again, too hot.
So … instead of a black pantsuit I want black wide leg pants in a lightweight fabric like cotton. Or maybe a nicely draping rayon or viscose. Mid rise would suit me best and I’d prefer them a little on the long side so that I can wear them over heels. I’d initially pair with a lovely white blouse the finding of which will be a mission and a half (I have large breasts and a tiny waist so blouses are a nightmare to find).
That’s where I’m at. I want to have a plan of items to include in my wardrobe before I go out shopping. I’m going through the list of items that make up a well stocked wardrobe and deciding which items to include for me.
HOW TO DECIDE WHAT TO INCLUDE
If anyone knows a good way to do that I’d love it if they told me. Because to me it seems like such a laborious process. I’m looking and looking at lots of different outfits and clothes and trying to decide what will and won’t work for me. I am finding ideas, but yikes, it takes a long time. I find it overwhelming to look at so much stuff and go NO a hundred times to each YES.
That said, I have identified some outfits that I want to put together.
Pencil skirt, knit blouse and wide belt.
Cropped pants, knit top and outstanding shoes.
I really like the retro feel to this outfit and again the knit top is something I can work well.
I just love this jacket. I keep telling myself, I don’t need a jacket, I won’t wear it, because, hello, hot, hot, hot. But so pretty.
There’s a few things identified there – black wide leg pants, white blouse, pencil skirt, knit tops (x 3), wide belt, Capri pants and retro a-line skirt. Time to go shopping.
In all honesty, I’ll probably just buy shoes.
