Each year, I do some wardrobe resolutions for myself in January, to help me stick to some general style goals throughout the year. After some thought, these are mine for 2016…I’d love to hear yours!
via The Coveteur
1. Dress up more. In the months leading up to having baby Feather, I basically lived in gigantic jersey tent dresses. And then right afterwards, more muumuu like apparitions…and…pajamas. I remember the first time I put on an actual fitted dress and heeled shoes – it was a month or so after, and I thought I’d be so uncomfortable, after months of leggings. And yup, it was a little uncomfortable – hey, I hadn’t worn anything fitted in half a year! But it actually felt really good, to be dressed nicely and not be afraid of running into someone I knew and needing to blurt out, “I don’t usually look like this…I just had a baby!”. Being pregnant made me really appreciate my “old” body, the one that fit some of the beautiful items that I had neglected, hanging in the closet. I’m determined to wear some more of those items. In the Bay Area, almost every destination and occasion is casual clothing appropriate…but I’ll try to not always go that route.
2. Shop my closet. We moved last year, and in the process of packing, I unearthed so many goodies that I had completely forgotten about. Yes, this was even after I had read “Tidying Up” and KonMari method-ing my entire place….or at least I thought! I realized that there was a problem, when I found a black pleated scuba skirt…right after I had just bought almost an identical one from another brand, believing there to be a black pleated scuba skirt hole in my closet. And I had had one, all along. It was the most embarrassing and wasteful feeling. Clearly there are still some more treasures to be unearthed…and items that I need to fall back in love with again.
Doing this will not only hopefully help me achieve goal #3 (see below), but will also save me some money….definitely helpful since baby has entered the picture.
3. 25 items for 2016. For those who’ve been following along, I’ve had this same resolution for the last few years. And, I regret to report that I was not successful for 2015. I was doing really well and was actually ahead of the curve, all throughout my pregnancy, since I didn’t want to buy very much while feeling like a water buffalo. But the relief of being able to wear “regular” clothes again come August, coupled with an exceptionally good sale season, was very, very bad for my wallet this fall/winter. I definitely went a bit crazy, and ended up with 34 items for 2016 (not counting 5 pregnancy related which I didn’t include…). Oops!
This year, I’m going to try to be good. I have a full closet, with quite a few clothing items with tags still hanging. And with a baby, I won’t be doing as much travel, which should help a bit (when the euro so low, shopping is always tempting). I love fashion, and have resigned myself to the fact that I’ll probably never truly be “done” adding pieces. But there’s certainly some room to slow down.
What are your wardrobe/fashion resolutions for 2016?
14 Comments
Anna
January 11, 2016 at 10:27 amI’m surprised that you found the last sale season so good! I was actually quite disappointed and made the decision to buy even less (and I am already not a shopper). I do agree with your “Dressing up” though. One of my resolutions is to “be a lady”. At work I can come in wearing sweatshirts and jeans if I want to and it has made me dress quite poorly. I want to at least make a bit of an effort, don’t always wear my hair up in a bun that’s not nice-messy but seriously messy-messy, wear a bit of makeup, accessorize my looks and wear “three pieces”. I find that when I’ve already got two pieces – say a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, I only need to add a nice blazer or a statement scarf or necklace to pull the look together. Rule of threes.
And finally – shop my closet – I think that’s true for so many aspects. Shop my shampoo and conditioner stash, my bulk foods, spice rack, you name it!
Katherine
January 11, 2016 at 4:50 pmI like the “be a lady’ = I’m going to try to think this way too 🙂 Sounds like your wallet was safe this sale season!
Cassie
January 11, 2016 at 11:16 amI love the idea of only purchasing 25 items in a year. It seems completely doable, except that I’m 4.5 months pregnant and I foresee myself needing to purchase more tops before I’m done. What did you purchase maternity wise that allowed you to limit your 2015 pregnancy spending to 5 items?
Katherine
January 11, 2016 at 4:51 pmAll my maternity items were dresses, which made it easier – I got bigger during spring/summer so it worked. I think in the winter it would have been harder!
Grace
January 11, 2016 at 12:07 pmI love your resolutions! I think I’m going to steal #1 and #2. I still have to finish Kon-Marie-ing my stuff. the areas that I did were great, but my clothing is another area that needs to be looked at. I have three closets full of my stuff and that’s having gone through one pass through already!. I need to decide what brings me joy, and then continue to shop my closet. I’m constantly tempted by things bloggers post, and I’ve decided to think carefully before I purchase anything. Only buy what I need, and what I do buy, buy the best quality I can afford so I won’t be hopping around for the next “buy”.
I need to limit the # of purchases in general. I’d put myself on a shopping ban, but I think all out bans make me go a bit crazy, so in the meantime I’m going to just try and be mindful of my purchases. Have to finish KMing first!
BTW, I love your site. I always love your book recommendations and the articles you share. Makes you stand out from the other fashion web sites 🙂
sherry @ save. spend. splurge.
January 11, 2016 at 1:23 pmI’m trying out Luxe Minimalism this year.
Actively, strongly, NOT LETTING ANYTHING into my wardrobe without first exploring my inner psyche and why I am interested in buying this piece and what I think it is going to do for me.
3 outs for the year allowed.. one is already done (military jacket).. 2 are pending. Not sure what I want. Brora cashmere v-neck in navy? Or .. ??? no idea.
AD
January 11, 2016 at 1:45 pmI always love these resolution posts of yours! Also living in Silicon Valley it’s so hard to “dress up” in a world full of denim and tshirts. I generally don’t make wardrobe resolutions, just personal ones but this inspired me to think about mine! I’m having both our bathrooms remodeled this year so I have to be a smart shopper. I’m limiting stuff to my current wish list (balenciaga moto jacket, LV montaigne mm, LV louise, new laptop, and a few other things 😉 ) to try to reel in unnecessary spending. 11 days in and it’s helping me to stay focused when I try to wander around internet shops! Can’t wait to see you how you do again this year!
Also — just wanted to say! I purchased both the Everlane cashmere crew and the N. Peal cashmere boyfriend sweater and even though the everlane is a lot softer I prefer the N. Peal because it fits my body in a more casual way. Thanks for enabling me!
Iris
January 11, 2016 at 6:40 pmI love your wardrobe resolution series! It is interesting to see how your resolution evolves. I was notified of my first check from Ann’s Fabulous Finds! Thank you thank you for recommending such a great consignment website. Their service is great and they sold my goodie in a great price! I also used yoogi’s closet you recommended!
In terms of closet/fashion/beauty(allow me to add this one) resolution: I hope I’m not buying any bags/jewelry in 2016, just like what I did in 2015. I’d like to spend more on high end skin care products. I’d also like to get a pair of leather pants from Helmut Lang and more intimate wear. I’m still on the fence about a lightweight moncler down coat and stuart weitzman lowland boots and a red herve leger dress.
Katherine
January 11, 2016 at 9:05 pmI’m so glad you liked Ann’s and Yoogis…way easier than eBay 🙂
Anonymous
January 11, 2016 at 8:47 pmRelax, slow down, enjoy life, there are many things out there besides fancy things that can put smile on one’s face.
flawlessskinday
January 12, 2016 at 11:39 amI usually lurk your blog (I know sounds creepy, but I swear I’m not ^^), but your post reminded me the feeling I had years ago when my daughter was born. I know that feeling, being able to wear “regular” clothes after pregnancy. I kinda did all my shopping at once after delivery. I still think you did well with just 34 (minus 5^^). I’m sure you will have no problem sticking to your resolution, I’m going through little purging state with my closet too, so we’ll see how well we fair in 2016. Good luck!
Katherine
January 12, 2016 at 6:15 pmThank you for coming out of lurkdom (even if its just this once, hehe!). Good luck to you too in 2016!
Mercy
January 13, 2016 at 7:23 pmTravelling was also not in my mind after giving birth but as soon as my baby started walking our family started planning where to go. So we just got back from holiday now that baby is 1.5 yo though my only mistake was maybe 3 weeks was a lot for him. So much moving from one place to another because he got sick on the last week, a terrible cough and cold situation. Very hard to manage too when baby is sick while not at home that we both ended up losing weight, well, good for me but not for him 🙁
http://www.busyandfab.com
Revanche
January 16, 2016 at 5:15 pmI’ve got the same resolution as the last couple of years: be very selective of what I’m buying and make sure it really fits our lifestyle. I used to dress business casual but haven’t had to in the last couple of years, so of course I slid into fashion-entropy into being very casual (like you, pajamas! jersey dresses!) and then a little further into lazy-casual 🙂 Of course part of that was the complications of being pregnant through winter.
That and I haven’t outgrown clothes in ages so this year’s theme is removing pieces that aren’t appropriate and useful anymore, and only adding things that make a lot of sense long term. I’m sure, I always thought I was buying for long term but you can tell I didn’t – I let my guard down for good sales more often than I carefully considered the longetivity of the item so now I’m gauging it on the 10-year rule: would this both still look good and look appropriate 10 years from now?