Wardrobe Taming -- Day Two
[ 10 September 2007 ]
Wardrobe taming series:
Day One 
Day Two Day Three Day Four Day Five Day Six Day Seven Day Eight
Ladies & gentlemen! As a follow on from yesterday’s Wardrobe Taming — Day One, this is the first in a week’s worth of closet-related tasks!
Now that you’ve completed Day One, I want you to walk over to the stacks of clothing you left out yesterday. Ignore the pile of clothing which needs altering — all the stuff which is the wrong size, has hems which are too long, has holes which need stitching, etc. So, look at the other stacks of clothing you have. Maybe you want to tackle the “I don’t have the confidence to wear this” pile. Or the “I don’t know what to wear this with!” pile. Pick something that you loved in the shop, but have since been eyeing with caution.
Your mission for today is to wear that piece of clothing. You can style it up with whatever else you’ve got.
Say your main item is a dress. If the dress you’ve picked feels really “out there”, it’s okay to wear a slim-fit hoodie over the top. Or your favourite jeans underneath it. If you don’t normally wear that dress because it makes your arms look big (& it reminds you you need to go to the gym), or it draws attention to your hips, or it makes you look short, spend a little bit of time problem-solving. How can you detract from these parts of your body? Maybe you could wear a 3/4 sleeve t-shirt under the dress, or balance out your hips with a wild necklace that makes a statement, or wear heels to add some height. If the pattern on the dress is really loud, balance it out with black or white or another neutral. You get my drift. Think creatively about the problem!
If you are really stumped for ideas on what to wear with these pants or that jacket, don’t be afraid to comment here & ask everyone else for their opinion! We’ll all do our best to help you out!
Now, if you can stomach it, I’d like you to do this all week. I know that this might seem daunting, since there will probably be at least one day you wake up late in a panic & reach for your jeans, but if you spend a little bit of time now & plan your ensembles for the week, you can just throw them on in the morning & go. Try them on ahead of time. This is really worth doing.
The reason for doing all of this, rather than just deciding to chuck everything you’ve got, is so you can work out whether these are things you will ACTUALLY wear. It might be that you just need a little bit of encouragement. Conversely, there might be a few items that give you a sinking feeling as soon as you look at them. It’s important to be able to make this discrimination in an informed manner. To get the best value out of the money you have already spent, you really need to get acquainted with what you own!
The other thing I’d like you to do today is to start a clothing journal. I know that sounds a bit ridiculous, but I have my reasons! You can use a little notebook or just keep a text file on your computer, whatever is easiest for you. What I’d like you to do, on the first page, is to either draw your outfit or write down what you’re wearing. From there, I want you to make notes throughout the day as to how your outfit makes you feel. Even the minute details, like “This skirt makes old men stare at me” or “I feel like a funeral director”. This kind of information is super-valuable, so be as detailed as you can!
Alright, now, get to it!
P.S. My article on How To Be Confident might help you when you’re taking the plunge with new types of attire!
Love letters & feather headdresses,
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excellent! i know exactly what item im going to try this with today! fabulous advice gala, and tres helpful. and i started my own ‘daily outfit’ diary and it’s REALLY helpful! everybody should do this!
xx
Gala is psychic! I just did a closet purge yesterday. It must be because some of my Fall purchases are coming in and I’m sick and tired of the heat and, consequently, my Summer clothes.
Plus, I was feeling in the mood to get rid of all the things that made me feel less than fabulous.
I’m so glad to be on the same page as Gala!
Yeah me! I’m inspired to take a more creative look at what I’m keeping and finding new ways to wear it.
Luv
Poochie
www.shoedaydreams.com
I red the first article a few hours ago (for me you posted both articles the same day xD), but I wasn’t at home till 9 pm (and I have to study), so I didn’t have time! But it’s a great idea; I may choose some piece today when I go to bed, and later on I’ll do the entire closet ;)
I have wrote some clothing journals btw, it’s a awesome idea :D
I’m really looking forward to trying this out. It’s the times when I’ve been more daring, and pulled out something that was awesome but that I didn’t really have the confidence to wear, that I’ve actually gotten the most compliments on what I’ve been wearing. It’ll be interesting to see what happens and how this all plays out. Thanks for the inspiration!
i’m really scared to do this, because i don’t have many clothes to start with & even LESS clothes that I actually like/fit/look good… and zilch money/time to buy more!
what’s a girl to do!?
So,I love wearing dresses and skirts, and I must have like….10 or so. But since I’ve had my baby, I’ve had really thick ankles. The swelling has never gone down. I can’t even wear wide calf boots. So I don’t feel like I can show my ankles anymore. All my dresses/skirts fall between my calf and ankle. Any idea what to do to make these things wearable again?
That it is so strange – I just tried on “the skirt”, you know, that item of clothing you always change out of before you leave the house. Of course, by the time I read your post, I had already changed out of it into my trousers! Maybe I’ll go and put “the skirt” back on…
o. well this will be quite the challenge… it’s so diffucult to wear what you want when you have to go to school as well. i’m always scared i’ll get negative attention, like people whispering & laughing behind my back.
you know, you should start a lj community or something, where we could all post entries from our clothing journals & try to help each other out!
I have just taken three items in to be re-hemmed – finally this stuff is wearable!
And yeah, I could see this site having a forum or similar
Inspired by your post, and because I’ve been ill all weekend and want to cheer myself up, I’ve decided today to wear a dress I really like but have only ever worn once before! As it’s kind of an “evening dress” I’m wearing it over jeans, but I love how it looks! Thank you for giving me the confidence to do something different! x x x x
I really love this, but after trying on my clothes. I don’t feel too good about myself. I have varying sizes in my wardrobe from a UK 10-14, and well jeans that are too tight that gives you a muffin top just doesn’t look good.
But i am thinking positively, onwards and upwards all that! xx
I was wondering if in the next post you could advise upon the transitional period of ‘girl meets woman’.
I’m trying to stem away from the reserves of brightly coloured t-shirts teamed with childish designs I have littering my wardrobe. Should i condemn these to the charity shop?
Will you show us some inspirational shots of which items in your closet you’re applying this practice to? (If you are)
Curious about the claims on apple cider vinegar, I did a brief google. I found this.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0GCU/is_n6_v14/ai_20152545
The interesting facts mostly come in near the bottom of page four.
“If it sounds too good to be true….”
(then youre probably drinking vinegar for nothing)
I had a total blast cleaning out my closet, up until this point, where I am supposed to be deciding whether I can make my “maybe clothing” work in my wardrobe. I am afraid I will get rid of something and wish I had it later! I also am not sure where to draw the line between wanting something just because and wanting it because I want to wear it. For example, I have a pink satin shirt that does not fit me well AT ALL. (it fits in the shoulders, but let’s just say that I am a practically waif-like thin person and this shirt was made for someone much larger around the middle.) However, I still want to keep because if I wrap one side in front of the other and pin it there, I can wear a vest or tank over it and it looks awesome. But I don’t know if I would have the guts to try it for an actual outfit in public, as I’m not sure whether it would bunch up underneath or anything. More importantly, I’m not sure if being able to pin it together and slap something over it is fashion ingenuity or just being ridiculously cheap and afraid to throw anything out. What do you think?
arg — If you’re really not sure, keep it but impose a time limit on it. So, tell yourself you’ll keep it for two months, & write the date on your calendar. Then see what happens. You might take the risk, you might not. If you don’t, throw it away in two months time. If you do & it works, keep it! Hope this helps!
I have had loads of fun doing this, for about the 4th time, and discovered loads of stuff I’d forgotten about but I have a problem.
I was given some really high quality tight leather jeans a few months ago which have been lurking at the back of my wadrobe since when I started following this they reappeared and I realised that I really want to wear them but have know idea what to wear them with. Help?