What are you doing this week? And what will you wear?

You will now have your basics, your key items identified and sorted (maybe added to) and ready to wear. So now comes the fun bit. Making conplete outfifts for whatever you are doing this week.

I went to the city yesterday, and am seeing a friend for coffee and hospital visiting. I have family coming for dinner on Friday.

Between the outffit here and this one, I think I have things covered! I have hung these two outfits at one end of the wardrobe, while I contemplate the rest..

Loojing out the accessories that I like with this top..

I think I will wear this brighter version when I visit my friend in hospital - I'd like to think it might cheer her on her way to recovery.

The top is from Sea Salt - useful, easu to wear and easy to look after casual clothes and a local shop offers residents a generous 20% discount on them.

Do you have a favourie lablel you might explore?

Slowly does it this time round with my wardrobe sort.  A close look at what is left after steps one to five, reveals that my key items are jeans - dark navy narriw leg, long sleeved crew neck cototn T-shirts also navy,  ankle boots navy leather.

Not very exciting but can be dressed up and dressed down and can take me (allmos) anywhere, so I am checking them over for condition and making sure I have them ready to wear. Style wise I choose classic for these. I just bought a second pair of Supersoft indigo mix Sienna straight leg jeans from M&S (photograph the label and find a helpful assistant if like me you are not able to read lables and signs.).

The other two key pieces are a navy duvet coat, and a lightweight showerproof one both with hoods. The lightweight one is great. I have been wearing it for years and it still looks new. Slightly crinkly material so it rolls up small when need be without looking any the worse, the colour is like natural linen or the froth on a capuccino. I really love this colour.

STEP SIX   Identify/consider/improve/plan/shop your key items. I would suggest taking some time ovver this. Make notes, take photographs etc.  Getting this bit right makes the rest easy!

Hopefully after steps three and four you are left with only clothes you can wear - clothes that fit, are right for the time of year, are clean and in good repair (not needing altered. A little more culling required?).

There are so many ways of doing this sort but this time I am going to look at my activities for this week only and decide what I am going to wear for each one. The whole outfit.

So STEP FIVE  is to create two or three outfits out of the clothes that I do wear and that are ready to wear. The nicest, most attractive and most apporopriate that I can manage - which may take quite a bit of thought. I suggest that even if you are staying at home all this week, you still create two sets of at home clothes that you feel really nice in, and that you actually enjoy wearing.

..as a guilt-free wardrobe?

I was so shocked at the nunber of things I don't wear!

Were you?

STEP FOUR. Renove to another place hot weather clothes (or whatever is appropriate for where you  live).

What the wardrobe said the morning after I had done steps three and four was 'Aaah, I can breathe!'

So STEP FIVE is to take a breather and a sterp back, and to find sources of inspiration for the next few steps. Can you find half an hour or more to browse YouTube, books, magazine articles , whatever motivates you.? Make it fun it will get done to quote FlyLady. While  I take a short blog break I will ponder this.

Don't miss the fascinating comments on this last post. I don;t say often enough how much I appreciate your comments. They motivate me to keep going. There is friendship, kindness, humour and wisdom there and they enrich my life every day. Thank you to everyone who has ever commented.

I may get into the deep existential questions later, but right now I am looking at the clothes I have with a dispassionate eye.

STEP THREE I am making this step as easy as possible by suspending judgement and postponing decisions on what to do with these items. So, all I am doing in this step is removing from the wardrobe, for now, all the things I do not wear.

One muddle sorted! I had a lovely day in the garden yesterday. Do you think maybe life is just sorting out muddles, one after another?!

The last time I asked the wardrobe question was in this post. Do read the comments. I am sure some if not all will resonate with you. Lucille's comment especially spoke to me this time

I spoke to the wardrobe again this morning and it said it was having an identity crisis, and I replied 'So am I!'
So over the next few weeks I will tackle this (the wardrobe sort and the identity crisis). In my usual grasshopper brained way I will probably jump about but I will also focus on small do-able steps that won't stress me out.

Join me?

STEP ONE  The simplest of starts to sorting the muddle. I rearranged the hangers and put all the sweaters together, all the tee shirts together etc etc.

STEP TWO  Over the next day or so I will wash what clothes are in the laundty basket and retrieve those at the bottom of the ironing pile. I will do this after dark because the sun is shining and I am getting out into the garden!

So far, so easy. No big decisions, no judgement, just doing it. 

Re-reading Simply Stylish I came across the question 'What is your wardrobe telling you?'

So I went up and asked it.

It was a little slow to reply.

And then it said just one word:

'Muddled.'

Hmm..

A colour I have mever worn before. I think I can get away with it if I have a scarf next to my face...

I like the proportions of a short jumper over a long T shirt with narrow jeans and have not seen short jumpers in the shops for years, so I snapped up this even though I had doubts about the colour.

Tackling my clothes feels like a hige task right now though it has felt like fun in the past, so I will look through my own Simply Stylish posts and see if I can get that fun feeling back!


Will wear this tonight when out for a family dinner. That will be fun :-)

Old faithful shoes go quite well..though getting a bit scuffed.

PS   The evening did not go quite as planned. We had barely started our meal when my grandson was sick all over the seat, his Mum and the floor of the restaurant.  We abandoned the night out!

It may well be a bit  narcissistic to write about my clothes (It may well be a bit narcissistic to write a blog!) but clothes are important to me and fashion is my fun.

I think I have always loved clothes and can remember very clearly things I wore when I was little more than a toddler. I studied printed textiles at Glasgow School of Art, and I love people watching - just seeing what people wear and trying to understand what it is about those people who just get it right...

There are quite a lot of posts under Simply Stylish if you have time to browse, and in 2013, in an attempt to get my own style right for me and avoid buying things I then did not wear, I started my own style notebook.  See here.  This has been invaluable.

The biggest wardrobe change since then is  that as I can no longer drive, I use public transport and that definetiely requires different clothees. Buses, ferries and trains combimed with unpredictable weather can make it quite a challenge,

Well travelled Mary collects scarves as souvenirs - a treasure trove of memories!

Here's how my friend stores and displays her scaves. You can see her colour palette is very different to mine, and she loves pattern. I think it looks like an art work. Gorgeous.

Scarves

 
I've been sorting winter scarves. I love scarves. The thicker ones I keep rolled up in a drawer, the thinner ones I hang. I prefer natural materials - wool, felted wool and linen. Most of them I have had for many years. No matter what I am wearing I think adding a big loovely scarf and a pair of earrings can take me anywhere!

A different kind of street photography. I enjoy a browse every now and thhen of The Sartorialist. This one features scarves..

..of clothes. Shopping in my own cupboards again, I am enjoying the change to different textures and colours. I know in many parts of uk you are still weating tee shirts and shorts, but it is cooler and wetter here on the west coast of Scotland, but I don;t mind. I am ready for a change.

All several years old - the jacket from Zara, good fabric, not terribly well finished but very inexpensive. The scarf from The White Company - very fine wool, it feels really beautiful and doesn't crease. The brooch I've had forever and the earrings are from a wonderful website called Scandinavian Silver - sadly no longer trading it seems.

I am wearing these with jeans and soft brown leather lace-up ankle boots and a new white long sleeved tee shirt has provided a freshness.

Must see what else I can find!

I did find a bargain! Cotton, quilted and fully reversible - reduced from £50 to £31. For the chillier days to come.

I have plans for some sunshine!

Isn't it wonderful to make plans again, with a reasonable expectation that they will come about? Do you have plans? Do you find that the planning part is almost as exciting as the event?

Love them!

The rest of the online shopping?

Not so good....

I bought a pair before breakfast today! (Well there has to be some fun in life when you are tidying in Marie Kondo's komono category ..... )

My post yesterday made me think What if they discontinue my favourite shoes?

It happens doesn't it? You spend years finding the perfect shoe/pen/shampoo/bra/whatever and before you think of stocking up it's discontinued, or they make a new version, or change the formula.

A friend sent this phtograph of a childrens' shoe shop in Bruges. Thriling. Better than a sweet shop!

Back to my favourite shoes. See this post. I have them in lime green and in blue and have just ordered them in red  (half price in White Stuff sale) - all of which go with my neutrals  navy and grey, and can be matched with my new necklaces! 

I just need somewhere to go now!

Among my copious notes I found this advice -

If the shoe fits, buy it in every colour!

!
I photographed this shop window in Venice one evening and planned to visit it next day, but next day - lockdown!

Oh well, I couldn't have afforded to buy every colour and would have had a very hard time choosing...

..and a good way to spend dull wet day.  I have tidied tops, bottoms, dresses, nightwear and jackets, and so far have 9 things to part with (two of them unworn :-(. )

Some years ago I bought this necklace at the Saint Nicholas Fair in York from a lovely jeweller called Anna King. It has been a graeat favourite.

I always meant to order more, and to ask if she woould make me slightly shorter ones to sit inside the neckline of my standard Tshirts - a simple look I really like. It took lockdown to make me get around to it! They arrived today adding a little zing to both the day and my wardrobe.

The quality, price and service were all excellent (she arranged to send one to a friend too).  I think you may like a browse of Anna's website here.

Surely not as dangerous as comfort food!

In my style notebook I copied down:

We want that utopian place where comfort meets good looks

 It may be useful to identify the clothes you have that fit those criteria - then buy them in several colours! I have done this with Fly Yaz shoes and fine knit sweaters from Hobbs,

But there are also shabby old things which provide great comfort - A Cotton Traders thick jacket which I put on for outdoors breakfast on coolish mornings, or to snuggle in on the porch as the sun goes down. It's like an old friennd always there at the back door.

You may remember my kagoul which also hangs at the back door fell onto the newly painted floor. I bought a new one and waterproof trousers online - essentials in rural Scotland. Don't quite spark joy but I suppose there is joy in not getting soaked to the skin..

I'm having fun with MK's step by step approach (see link on yesterday's post). It's good to have an overview of all my clothes and figure out what still works and what doesn't.

I had the beach to myself this afternoon.

..in for a pound.

The full Marie Kondo.

Every item of clothing in one pile. No, I'm not going to show you the pile! It is embarassingly large..

But I will show you the three items chosen because they definitely spark joy. MK suggests you do this to remind yourself how to judge if something sparks joy or not. See Day 9 Learn How To Joy Check - how useful a skill!

This may look an unlikely candidate but I feel like myself in this and would happily wear it anywhere. Well maybe not to a wedding..but I have worn it over something quite dressy. It's longer at the back than the front which I really like (not uneven as it looks in this photo) and I will never part with it.  I can't remember how many years I have had it.

This one is new and I have not worn it yet. I love it's simplicity and the fabric, and I have some scandinavian silver jewellery I am looking forward to trying with it. Could be dressed up or dressed down. I think it's going to be a favourite. Instant falling in love in the White Company Shop before lockdown.

Another falling in love (in M&S children's department a couple of Christmases ago!)  Ballerina dreams. Love the moon and stars fabric. and have worn it to two parties and a wedding..


Can you find three things that spark joy and hone your joy checking skills?  As Swissrose says wouldn't it be fun if we could peek into each other's wardrobes here....

Can you find three things that spark joy and hone your Joy Checking skills!
As Swissrose says wouldn't it be fun if we could peek into each other's wardrobes...

My browse through my Simply Stylish posts (see sidebar) reminded me how much fun I have had from clothes in the past.

It does take a bit of effort (see Apply Brain) and some of that effort is pretty mundane.

I tried on all my trousers.  My least favourite item to shop for. I don't make a feature of trousers - if I had  long gorgeous legs I might, but they are a kind of neutral, background item for me. Only one pair felt a good fit and just right so I looked up the label (LauRie) online, and found another pair with 60% off!  My size, my colour. Slim Straight leg, no tabs, zips, pockets, rivets, or bulky seams that spoil a smooth outline. Decent fabric, Free delivery. Yay!

Back to the recycle bin with three old pairs! Ptogress.

I want to feel delighted when i look in my wardrobe

Another small step - I also put like with like. How did it get in such a muddle?

Tell us what you want to feel and what you did with your wardrobe today?



NB Marie Kondo is doing a free 8 week tidy challenge. This week is week 2 and the category is clothes! I am asking myself if I am up to the challenge of her way of doing it - it looks like a huge effort, but I did it a few years ago and loved the result. Are any of you up for it?

Upcoming posts - Fantasy wardrobes, shopping online, the challenge of transitioning to 'normal', is it possible to make plans?, the Keto diet and autophagy....

..trying to tell you?

I opened my wardrobe and tried to answer this question.

Try it?

More tomorrow....

After the first few weeks of lockdown when I never got out of my gardeining clothes, I had a little online shop and got nearer to a 'capsule wardrobe' than ever before. It's an idea that has always quite appealed to me.

I bought three pairs of chinos and two new T shirts and teamed them up with two summery scarfs which I love.  I only wore the necklace once but it made me feel good when I did.

I would have liked two new pairs of coloured sandshoes, but buying shoes online is tricky and returning them even trickier, so I wore my old very faded but comfortable purple ones.

Simple.

Nice.

Clothes are still my fun.

Of all the hard things in life throwing away old shoes shouldn't really rank highly. But I find it really really difficult!

The faded purple sandshoes. There's somethin.g very nice about faded sandshoes on a hot summer day in the garden or on the beach. Though I also have a faded grey pair. Maybe I'll keep the spotted laces

The slippers are pretty horrible and I was given money at Christmas for a new pair.

Apart from a pair of tan patent shoes with a silver buckle which I bought when I was about eighteen from Russell and Bromley no less, these lime green Fly shoes are my favoutite shoes ever. One of them has a big hole in the sole. I bought another pair but they are a very slightly duller green - they don't have that zing whch makes my heart sing when I look at them. There is an old fashioned cobbler in Byres Road - the kind of man who is interested in shoes - I might just ask him if anything can be done....

The little boots, ten or more years old, have been so useful. Or they were until they began letting in water. You could put them in the washing machine.

Even books are easier to part with than shoes!

What do you find hardest to let go of?