Hi,

I’ve just completed week 16 (4 months) on the challenge! Current wardrobe totals are near the end. I tried to underline some subtopics in case you have a specific one in mind.

To read more about the challenge, including the rules, click here.

For a recap of week 14, click here.

Reflections for Week 16 (4 months!)

Shoe color is very important for outfits

After adding a few ‘new pieces’ to my closet and starting to remix spring/summer items with my current fall/winter clothes I realized how important shoe color is. One of my hardest to wear sweaters is a purple turtleneck. Is also one of my warmest. It would look so much better with grey boots but I do not have them. And my blue leopard jeans, didn’t look ‘right’ with black (too dark) or camel (too light), so I purchased brown booties. With all the snow we have had, a new pair of boots that are also waterproof is a nice refresher to help get through the rest of a tough winter season.

Putting on the brakes for spring/summer

I’ve begun adding pieces to my spring/summer wardrobe. The heavy influx of spring items in the stores combined with our extremely cold and snowy winter season this year, has left me really itching for warmer weather, and lighter weight clothing. I’ve had to keep reminding myself of the core of the DH closet challenge, which is to deliberately not reach for different pieces as long as I can, so that I maintain a smaller sized wardrobe.

To prevent myself from adding in an entire new outfit everyday, I’ve limited myself to adding in only one new piece at a time for the spring wardrobe. A new item can refresh my style just as much as an entire new outfit would, and by adding in smaller doses at a time, it is also more manageable.

I’ve already added 7 spring/summer items, and we are not into our spring season weather yet. I’ve had to put on the brakes and remember that I have plenty of cold weather clothing and I don’t need to create a spring season/cold weather wardrobe
capsule. Seven ‘new’ pieces is plenty to remix into my current fall/winter wardrobe.

Photos/Spring/Summer Additions

#1-Closet-This is the start of my spring/summer wardrobe. I cropped the photo to only show items I’ve already worn. Since space is limited, I’ve had to resort to dividing the closet rod into two sections, all items on the right side are spring pieces already worn and all items on the left side are spring pieces that are technically part of the boutique, just not on bags on the top shelf.

#2-Bottoms-I’m already reaching for more bottoms and was happy to sport a new purchase right away (straight white leg jeans). I’ve also grabbed my cobalt jeans, and my boyfriend jeans to mix up my bottoms. I wear jeans daily, so I am always on the lookout for ways to freshen up wearing jeans everyday.

#3-White blazer-This blazer has been a workhorse in past years, and it’s perfect for cool days because of it’s weight. Army jacket-This jacket was a favorite piece last year and I’m eager to sport it again.

#4- Blue short sleeve poncho-Angie’s post about pastels had me really itching to sport one myself. Then I remembered I already have a pastel, just in a blue color. This poncho is really warm, but the short sleeves always leave me baffled as for what time of year is best for sporting it. A random warm day (50F) seemed like
a good choice. T-shirt-I have a habit of designating clothes for specific tasks and then not having the item deviate from that task. I figured a nice way to
keep my spring/summer wardrobe small would be to layer my favorite t-shirts on
cool days. This t-shirt worked perfectly underneath the poncho on a rare warm day.

Scarf-I still enjoy my scarves, just not as often as in past years. I’ve reached for turtlenecks more often this season. (forgot to photograph)

I don’t wear items as often as I think

Items that were new at the start of the challenge, and became workhorse pieces, I felt I was wearing often. In fact, I would sometimes wear them twice in one week. Yet when I review the numbers, these pieces have only been worn about a dozen times in the past four months. Interesting.

Completing week 16, I had 52 items for fall/winter [and 8 items for spring/summer; spring items already worn in brackets] Next time, I’ll create a separate list for spring/summer items.

6 bottoms (no change for fall/winter; wore 3 jeans [cobalt, boyfriend, white] from spring)

2 hoodies (one was moved to spring/summer but not worn yet)

12 toppers (this includes: pullover sweaters, blazers and cardigans; added one jumper for fall/winter) [wore one blazer, one jacket, and one pullover jumper/poncho from spring]

7 knits (no change)

4 gear items (no change: 2 toppers, 1 layering knit and 1 bottom)

1 shirt (for layering; no change)

3 LS T’s (for layering; no change for fall/winter; wore one spring/summer)

4 tanks (for layering; no change)

6 thermal layers (no change)

5 scarves (5 for fall/winter) [1 scarf worn for spring]

2 workout outfits (top and bottom; no change)

No fall/winter closet photos this week, I’ll try to post outfits soon.

Thanks for reading!