I was very inspired by all the recent wardrobe assessments and decided to do one of my own. This is a purchase assessment for spring/summer items bought in Jan - Sept of 2016. I found YLF in April. I tracked purchases all year and tracked daily wears staring June 1. Both were tremendously enlightening and I continue to do them.

I’m going through a pretty big life change (retirement) that requires moving to a much more casual wardrobe, so I had good reason for shopping, and also I needed to refresh my spring/summer wardrobe after a big purge last year. In spite of all that, I bought too much stuff, some of it not so great style or quality. Living in a true four-season climate and spending time outdoors in all seasons means I need a lot of variety in my wardrobe, but I don't want it to be huge and would rather have it better curated. I saw real progress in how I made my choices as the months went by but I'm not quite where I want to be.

Here is how my purchases broke down:

8% outright mistakes; things I bought but did not want to wear or did not fit right and were not returnable. The good news is that these were almost all early in the year and thrifted, so the $$ amount was not very high.

In order of budget %:

22% (30) tops. A few of these turned into mistakes once I wore them a few times, but as the year progressed I got better at making choices. I did not need this many new ones, and am not quite sure why I kept buying more. I get that in the heat of summer I need more to avoid laundry bottlenecks but that’s not the whole story here.

21% (9) shoes. Quite good. I got a nice pair of cognac booties, some beautiful black ankle strap heels, 2 pairs of metallic sandals (all firsts for me), plus some very casual sneakers (another first) and sandals, and one pair of very classic not so modern loafers. I learned a lot about shoe colors and what outfits they work with. I’ve broken out of my black-only shoe mode and am comfortably wearing lighter neutrals and am looking forward to some new fall items, although black footwear will always be a staple for me.

14% (10) jeans/pants. Overall pretty good. Included were the first pair of skinny jeans I’ve owned that I wore not tucked into boots, and 2 pairs of cropped casual pants, another first. Most of what I got was in a slimmer silhouette than in the past which I’m really liking. I haven’t figured out what I like best for the heat of summer. I tried cropped cargos and immediately demoted them to gardening and housecleaning, and am thinking I’ll stick with bermudas next year.

8% on new undies. I got a small selection of new ones at NAS that are nicer than any I’ve ever owned and I’m really liking them. I’m gradually phasing out some of the older stuff as it wears out. I’m also liking the “refresh once a year” idea.

6% (3) Toppers. I got a lovely tweed jacket (a top pic), a cropped light denim jacket, and a white denim jacket that I’ve worn a lot but is not so great quality and I’ll probably replace with a shorter one next year.

4% (5) dresses. This is kind of a toss-up. I’ve never been much of a dress wearer but I would like to wear them more. The reality is that I don’t need many for my lifestyle. I got one print sheath that I’ve worn quite a few times. Also a denim shirt dress with a fussy fit, a striped dress, and a print casual dress, each of which I’ve worn once or twice, and a solid knit I’ve not worn at all. I’ll see how this goes moving forward…a few of them can easily be worn into fall. They were all pretty inexpensive and random finds.

7% (4) Bags. Two of these are very good (including my first-ever clutch) and the other two are ok. I did not find any that I loved enough to consider a wardrobe pet. I’ve got a good sized collection already and I’ve decided to keep using them until I really know what else I want.

7% (9) Accessories, About half of this went to a new gold chain that is adjustable and gives me a second gold chain so I can wear multiple charms from my Grandmother’s very chunky gold charm bracelet as pendants. Also some sunglass and a couple of scarves, something I wear a LOT in cooler months and love.

4% (9) loungewear and workout clothes. I have a tough time spending money on these categories and typically just buy enough to avoid laundry bottlenecks and stick with sales and discount stores. I have been working out more so needed more items. I want to get nicer items in the future but it's less of a priority for me. .

Conclusions
Looking at the overall patterns, it seems the fewer I bought in a given category, the better I did. I "think" I have gotten more comfortable about spending more on individual items to get higher quality, but I need to go re-read Suz's forum thread "Breaking out of the budget mindset" again.

I’m pretty good in most categories except tops. I’m getting good at shoes but it takes SO many orders and returns ...but that's just the nature of the beast.

What is my style? I’d say modern classic is my primary style, and I have a much better idea now of what that is. I also like a little boho and I’d like to play with sporty luxe a bit more. I wanted to move away from menswear but I keep being drawn to it so I guess I like it, just in smaller doses. And, I will always like (in small doses) the moniker I refer to as “LLBean-ish” which is true sporty/outdoorsy/athletic.

Going forward, I do not need to buy as much because my fall/winter wardrobe is in better shape overall. Shoes, some more modern jeans, and a new bag are my priorities but I really don’t “need” anything.

I also realized that when I buy too much in a certain category (like tops) it leads to too large a collection and not feeling like I “deserve” to buy new and fresher items every season. It’s like the pipeline is too full.

Next Step

I’m going to take a 30-day hiatus from shopping and buying, although I may still browse on line and will definitely keep up with YLF finds.

I’ve been working for months to push my style into new directions, but today when I was shopping I decided to take a break from that mindset and just look for things that “called my name”. During my 30 day hiatus I’ll review the items I bough and still have plenty of time to return. It will be interesting to review where I have landed.

I will review some recent shoe purchases including a few that haven’t arrived yet, do part 2 of the closet edit I stared over a month ago, make wardrobe capsule(s), and otherwise shop my closet. Oh yeah, and do some other stuff not related to clothing that I've been neglecting

A longer tem goal is to make every new purchase count, more statement pieces and fewer plain basics unless I specifically want them to fill wardrobe holes.

I'm not sure what to do about the excess buying of tops. Maybe if I start thinking of them as belonging in outfits rather than standing alone that will help. I know we've discussed this one a lot on the forum, as I recall lots of people share this issue.

Thanks for reading, and I appreciate your comments, as always.