Wardrobe Taming -- Day Three
[ 12 September 2007 ]
Wardrobe taming series:
Day One 
Day Two Day Three Day Four Day Five Day Six Day Seven Day Eight
Okay, we’re on to day three! Good work everyone! I hope you all had fun in your slightly unfamiliar clothing yesterday.
Questions to ponder, & my answers (since I’m taking part, too!):
What are your thoughts on wearing your ‘problem item’ after yesterday?
I wore my grey knit jersey with shoulder buckles & my Burberry hat, both items which don’t get a lot of use. I bought the hat in New York last year & while it got a lot of use when I was in the States, once I came to Australia, I felt like it was “too much” or didn’t really go with my look. I wasn’t really sure how to incorporate it, but I think I solved that problem yesterday!
Is this an item you can imagine wearing in some other capacity?
Yes, definitely. I think that both those items are totally wearable & great, I just needed a bit of a push to start working them into my look again.
Can you think of an item that would allow you to wear your ‘problem item’ more often?
Not really, I just needed to do it!
The third part of the wardrobe taming series might take a bit of time as well. Assign yourself a chunk of time, maybe after dinner or before you go to bed, where you will sit in your bedroom & take stock of the items you own. Often when we look at our wardrobes, we think, “Oh, I could wear that dress, if only I had a grey t-shirt/good pair of stockings/long cardigan” — but since the thoughts are so fleeting, we never pay much attention to them, until next time we look at that dress.
What I’d like you to do is grab a sheet of paper & start writing down things you think would enhance your wardrobe. While I am pretty convinced that an enormous collection of Christian Louboutin footwear would propel all of my outfits into the style stratosphere, this is not a real need. I can get along okay without them (...for now!). Really, I’m talking more like basic items. Maybe you need a plain black t-shirt, or a cardigan, or a good pair of black shorts. Do you know what I mean?
Write these items down, & alongside (to help keep your mind organised) write the piece of clothing you already own to coordinate it with. For example…
Take this list shopping with you next time you go on the hunt. It will help keep you on track. It’s also a good idea to take the item you’re trying to supplement. (If you want to step into the realm of the super-organised/Virgo, blu-tack a piece of paper inside your closet door so that you can write down any ideas you have while you’re staring into the abyss.)
The other thing I’d like you to do is grab everything you own which needs taking in, hemming or stitching up, & take it to a tailor (or put it next to your sewing machine, if you’re good like that!). I’d like you to do this with anything that needs dry-cleaning, too. Think of all the things you’ll be able to wear once this is done! The mind boggles! If you can’t do it today, fold everything & put it in a stack near the front door so you don’t “forget”!
I personally have a great pair of black super-flared pants (hems need to be taken up), my kimono (needs about a foot chopped off the bottom), one grey sweater (has a hole which needs to be stitched up), & two pairs of boots (both my pairs of New Rocks need repairing). I have been putting off getting these things fixed for a LONG time. Getting the super-flared pants hemmed has been in the back of my mind since last October!!
Another thing — try to make a commitment to getting things fixed as soon as there’s a problem. The longer things sit, unworn, the harder it seems to get on top of! Not to mention, when these things drop out of your closet, your pool of possible outfits shrinks, & we don’t want that!
Again, if you can wear something you don’t normally, please take the opportunity, since it will give you more data points at the end of the week!
Super-love & cupcakes,
Gala
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I just picked up my sewing machine this morning (struggling against the flagstaff station masses!) and have already started a list of all the items that need repairing, hemming and making!
i’ll be sitting down in front of my closet to consider all your suggestions this weekend (which is also the first weekend after payday!!).
Charm — Yay, good for you! I wish I was good with a needle & thread (or sewing machine) but I’m just not. I accept defeat! & I am okay with paying someone else to do it for me!
I find the only thing that ever needs repairing in most pairs of pants I buy/own is the zipper! Is it so hard to find a zipper that behaves itself and isn’t constantly trying to show the world your underwear?
I have about 3 pairs of pants, a shirt and a (don’t laugh!) dog’s jumper that I have draped over my sewing chair at the moment… now to find the time…
P
x
Gala, feel free to pay me if you like :) a few other people i know have mentioned great big piles of mending that needs to be done in their homes but they have no idea how to do it, so they’re bringing it over and i’m tackling it for them.
The main things that I own that are fantastic but I never wear are my shoe collection. And I do mean fantastic – chunky houndstooth heels, vintage style ankle boots which fold down to reveal leopard print, black sling backs with a red polkadot platform. I love them all so much – I can just never figure where to wear them!
Practicality is another issue, I work 8 hour shifts in retail, so I live in my insane collection of flats (tartan, red leopard, ruby slipper-esque).
hey gala =)
you´ve been a great insipiration for me these past few months!
so i did it. i am following your rules everyday and yesterday i wore a weird t shirt that i never ever wear. it was a present from a friend of my parents who saw the piece and thought it was perfect for me. he lives in spain and i live in argentina. nobody wears things like this here so i felt kind of weird in it.
yesterday i wore it (http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/4145/panqeqe012pa2.jpg) and it felt fantastic! it makes me looks taller and slimmer. Thank you!
Here are my “i dont know what to wear it with” and my “i dont have te confidence to wear it” piles: http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/8007/panqeqe011zr8.jpg
I wanted to thank you for this series, and for your articles about how to be confident and avoid creeps! Your advice is definitely good, but hard to follow. I keep trying though! My trouble stems from a bit of harassment I had to deal with at work almost a year and a half ago at this point! Unfortunately, I let it drastically alter my style at work. All of my skirts went unworn last winter as I slumped around in a new collection of too-big-for-me pants and steel-toed shoes.
Current problem: I’m still afraid to wear miniskirts even though I have 3 (maybe 4 but the last one falls a bit closer to the knee and doesn’t scare me as much). I ventured out on small excursions in them over the summer, but the weather is turning cold where I am and I have a fairly large (over 80 pairs!) collection of fun socks and tights that I would be able to put to use as well, if I get over my fear. I think what I need to get me into them is a good pair of casual knee-high boots. But the ones I want (Fluevog Bondgirl) are out of my price range at $239 USD. I don’t suppose you (or anyone, really!) could recommend a cheaper yet similar option? Ebay never turns up black ones.
Other than that I have been taking your advice this week. I didn’t have to do the initial weeding because moving in May accomplished that bit. Today I am wearing a top that I was afraid would be too short/tight but turns out with the right pair of pants (a bit loose, and NOT low-rise) I quite like it.
When all the fall stuff started coming out I was making a list of the stuff I needed/wanted. That and having a color palette that I’m trying to work more towards, has really helped.
Transitional times are the best for weeding, so great timing on this series.
Luv
Poochie
http://shoedaydreams.blogspot.com/
Miss Jeskah Fatale — Oh, retail is a killer when it comes to footwear! (Been there, done that!) My advice would be to wear your amazing heels anywhere but work. To the supermarket, to parties, to shows, to collect the mail, to buy a coffee. If you don’t get into the habit of wearing them now, you never will!
pau — Wow! Those piles are enormous! You could do this task for weeks! ;D I love the jumper you wore yesterday, it is totally cute! Definitely too cute to just sit in a drawer somewhere!
mmonquito — No problem, honey! I’m thrilled to help. Keep trying the zip-up technique (in the ‘avoiding creeps’ piece), because it works better than anything else I’ve discovered. I’m not sure what you could get instead of your Bondgirl boots, but I would suggest that — since you like them so much — you put down a deposit & then pay them off in little installments, as you can. It might take you a while to get your paws on them, but at least they will be yours!
Poochie — Ahh, good call! I’m currently thinking about what I’m going to wear this spring/summer & it’s kind of boggling my mind, nothing is appealing to me much! Eep!
I like the look of a man’s fedora on women, it gives them an interesting look, but most modern fedoras are pretty cheap looking. I have a 100% fur felt fedora by Akubra, from their Heritage collection, which is a superior grade of hat, and wonder of wonders, it is made right there in Autralia. (I purchased it with a US dollar credit card so I cannot quote a price on it, the credit card converts it to U$ automatically.)
I think these particular models have been discontinued in favor of a style a little closer to Harrison Ford’s fedora in Raider’s of the Lost Ark, which is merely ‘bashed’ a bit differently than a standard fedora.
If the look of a fedora is appealing to you, buy a good one, it will last decades with a bit of care. If it gets wet, shape it carefully and let it dry undisturbed and it will retain its shape, with additional softness, you too can look good in a hat.
You need to add a cool band, such as a braided horsehair band, to give it a bit of individual style to make the look your own.
I keep reading this series thinking, ‘doesn’t everyone do this?’. I am a wardrobe geek. And possibly a misplaced Virgo?
Nadine — Definitely a wardrobe geek. Me too, though there are still some things that languish in my wardrobe.
Oh, sigh. Came home from vacation, ready to haul out all my lovely vintage shoes to wear, only to find a leak that sprung while I was away and 40 pairs of molded through shoes. There goes that plan.
Ah well – no real matter. At least it’s only stuff. There will be others.
But, now I also have to get the mold smell out of my clothing before I can really start experimenting. I’m looking to have a go at this in a week or so now, especially after seeing all the lovely bits I still have laid out on the lawn in the sun.
I know this is really late, but I’m just now going through your archives. I think this project overall is a great idea and I plan on giving it a shot too, but I really, really hope you didn’t send that “kimono” in for shortening – that’s a yukata (summer/light/cheap kimono), and it’s SUPPOSED to be long! You cinch it up when you wear it, so it’s adjusted to your height normally. If you search for “how to wear a yukata,” I’m sure some sites that can explain how to tie the obi and everything so it fits right will come up. I was taught how years ago by my Japanese host mother, and she’d have a heart attack if she heard of someone chopping a foot off the length, so I had to speak up. :)