No more mediocre clothes. That is my new mantra, which came to me after a New York shopping expedition with my friend for her clothing boutique (which I wrote about here). I aspire to have and wear only clothes that I really like and enjoy wearing.

Shopping with this new mantra in mind will be a challenge. Not that I can't tell what I really like, but I often don't discover uncomfortable or unworkable aspects of wardrobe items until after I've spent some time with them.

An even more daunting challenge was the thought of a closet edit. It had been a couple of years since I really went through things rigorously. I would cull a little here, a little there. But I had the sense there was lots of mediocre skulking in my closet. Plenty of items just didn't fit, while others were projects-in-waiting ("I could do something creative with this piece, I just know it!") that I really had no urge to start on. And there were the items I initially hung onto when I left an office job, just in case, you know, I ever wanted to return to an office job where outdated clothing would project just the professional image I wanted. Right--some of them were still hanging around.

Enter a YLF buddy whose energy and enthusiasm for the project propelled me forward. Perhaps she should remain nameless, lest all the YLFers in the area flood her with SOS calls. But Aida was an amazingly kind, patient, tireless, and wise partner in pruning the excess from my wardrobe. I feel lighter. I am excited to go into my closet and choose something to wear, knowing that whatever hanger I pull is a viable starting point for an outfit that I would actually wear. I'm not a numbers person (at all), so I can't say how much was culled or what size wardrobe I'm down to now. But it's much more functional and appealing than it was just a few days ago.

Thanks for reading. I just had to share this success and my gratefulness to Aida for her generous help.