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Wardrobe stats and an analysis

Sylvie

Veteran

My wardrobe is starting to feel more and more usable - to the point where although there are holes I could fill, there's no occasion for which I could say "I don't have anything to wear". This made me feel comfortable doing a mini purge and while I was at it, I updated my spreadsheet and added a counting function.

Just for fun, here's what I own in each category. This does not include a trench I need to sell on ebay, loungewear/sleepwear, gear, handknits, Indian clothes, costumes or scarves/jewelry.

Belt 4
Blazer 1
Bootie 1
Boots:Ankle 3
Boots:Tall 4
Cardigan 12
Coat 4
Dress 17
Handbag 4
Jacket 1
Jeans 4
Leggings 5
Pants 3
Sandals 8
Shoes 3
Skirt 2 (forgot to put this in earlier)
T-shirt 10
Tank 7
Top:Layering 3
Top:LongSleeves 5
Top:Sleeveless 11
Tunic 3
Turtleneck 1

I have a surprising number of dresses for someone who doesn't wear them often. Many of them are "special occasion" or "too dressy for work". There are probably a few YLF would force me to toss out but I'm not ready yet.

I ought to toss out more of the sandals. For example, I don't want to throw out the two pairs of gold sandals I wore at my wedding, even if they are no longer really wearable.

I could use a few more belts.

My cardigan capsule is pretty full but I could make room for a yellow or brown v-neck.

I need more shoes/booties, especially since only one pair can be worn for everyday.

Hmm, writing this out is forcing me to admit that there are probably some items I could get rid of because well, if I was moving to a different continent, I wouldn't want to take them. I'll have to find some time to photograph them for YLF input.

Thank you if you made it to the end. I just wanted to have a checkpoint to help keep me honest. Also, I'd be happy to strip the inventory spreadsheet of price information and make it public to YLF.

General

16 replies

Latest reply was from Makrame

taylor

Veteran

You are very organized ... An inventory list ....I love that!
Could you possibly dress down some of your dresses by adding a denim or leather jacket...how about a blazer or cardigan?

rachylou

Veteran

I think it's interesting you have dresses but not skirts! And am impressed by your very disciplined number of shoes ;>

Sylvie

Veteran

Taylor, that's a good idea about using coverups to dress down some of the dresses and I do use denim jackets/cardigans. Here are the dresses that are problematic: 3 silk sheath dresses, which would be lovely at a business formal or business casual event, but I need to get them down to smart casual. 3 dresses with v-neck/empire waists that show cleavage, one of which is bright orange and has a "flouncy" skirt. Great for going out to dinner, on the rare occasions I go someplace nice, but so *not* work appropriate.

Rachylou, thanks for reminding me! I do own two skirts, but I forgot to include them because I almost never wear them. The waistband of a skirt always annoys me when it's really hot and humid.

Lisa

Veteran

It looks like you have a great, streamlined wardrobe. I enjoy looking at wardrobe totals. This helps me figure out what I should own myself. I remember the first time I created one for my wardrobe, I was stunned how heavy I was in some areas, and not in others. And I also have too many dresses. I rarely wear them, but I am having a tough time purging them. Probably because I find them so hard to fit, when I do find one, it feels like a gem.

mamaKate

Veteran

Your wardrobe seems rather lean, I am impressed! I dress down sheaths with casual (denim) jackets and tough/edgy belts.

jayne

Veteran

I am shocked, I say shocked at the total of 3 shoes. How do you do that! I gave away about 20 pairs recently and I am still in double digits....wow! discipline!

Sylvie

Veteran

Lisa, I've been looking at older threads where people posted photos of their wardrobes and comparing to them.

Mamakate, good idea, I should try that with my black sheath dress once it warms up a bit. I'm also going to be adding to my wardrobe this week, so the totals will go up.

Jayne, did you not see the number of boots and sandals? I have more than my fair share in those categories. Shoes = closed toes/below ankle footwear. I need to get some more "shoes" and get rid of some of the sandals.

rae

(website)

Veteran

You're so organized! The thought of counting up my clothes scares me!

If you can't pass on those dresses, it means you really like them. If you can dress them down, even better, because then they multitiask!

For thedresses:
- I've really liked the effect of layering a pullover sweater (crewneck or turtleneck) over my dresses. You could probably also button a cardi all the way up. If your sweaters aren't casual enough, you could do a rugged belt over the top of everything and pair with some boots.

- In addition to denim jackets, some things that help dress down to my eye are funky patterned tights, sweater tights, and some types of leather jackets.

- For the sheath dresses, you could also layer them over a l/s tee or button-front. Something about the layering makes them feel more casual to me.

Anonymous

I'm curious Sylvie, do you create outfits from your spread sheet or track by wear and colour?

My closet is stuffed, I need some ideas how to shop my closet

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Super organized, Sylvie! And it sounds as if your wardrobe (apart from maybe dresses and cardis) is ALSO super streamlined! I wasn't sure I could make do with so few skirts/jeans myself. (But envy anyone who can!)

Please do show us some of those dresses. I have a feeling we may be able to help you find ways to make them wearable at least for a more casual date night (if not for work).

qfbrenda

Veteran

Could you put a cami under some of the dresses to make them more modest?

Mander

(website)

Veteran

I just did a sort of quick and dirty inventory myself this evening. First I pulled out everything that I know doesn't really fit me very well and put it aside. Then I took a piece of paper and jotted down everything that was left, grouped by color. There are some things not counted, because they were not physically in the closet at the time I did this, but this is a fairly reasonable snapshot of what I have right now:

Cardigans 5
Dress 7
Jacket 8
Jeans 5
Shirt (button) 5
Skirt 8
Sweater 9
Tank top 3
Tee, 3/4 6
Tee, LS 7
Tee, SS 9
Top 6
Trouser 3
-------------------------
Total Result 81

Seems like a lot, but then I went though it again and noted whether I actually like each item. Of the 81 items in my closet that I currently consider wearable, only 37 of them are "yes, I like it" items. 38 are OK, and 6 are "no, not really". It breaks down like this:

Cardigan 3
Dress 3
Jacket 3
Jeans 4
Skirt 6
Sweater 2
Tank 1
Tee, LS 5
Tee, SS 7
Top 2
Trouser 1
--------------------------
Total Result 37

A large proportion of these are tee's that I really only like to wear under sweaters, and tops that really only go with jeans. Two of the jackets are very business-like, and two of the skirts are really summer items. There are other problems, but you get the idea. Lots of clothes, purchased with no real plans in mind.

I think I'd better renew my plans to SYC until I get my style goals sorted out. No sense in buying new things until I have figured out what they should be.

Sylvie

Veteran

Angela, I'm not advanced enough yet to use the spreadsheet to make outfits. I track the following columns for each item. Every few days, I log in and increment the Times Worn column. Dry cleaning/shoe repair costs are added in as necessary. Every now and then I sort the whole thing by CPW, which helps nudge me to wear some of these. I don't have full data for everything btw.

Type
Color
Material
Style
State
Cost
Times Worn
CPW
Month Bought

Suz, a year ago it was even smaller! There's a reason I've had a lot of K/R posts - the wardrobe really needed an overhaul.

qfbrenda: I have the second base camis which I sometimes wear underneath. Even those are still too low sometimes because I'm apparently short from chin to chest too.

I think I may do a "Weekly Orphan" series, where I'll post a wardrobe orphan, styled in as many ways as I can think of and ask for feedback on how to rescue it.

Sylvie

Veteran

Mander, how great that you posted your list too! I obviously think this kind of analysis is so, so valuable.

I don't think you need to force yourself to go on SYC - I found it hard to purge some of my clothing until I had new and better replacements. Figure out what it is that you like about the clothing that works well for you and use it as your guideline when buying new things. Also now that you can see where your wardrobe holes are, you can shop with them in mind.

For the things that are "just ok" or "no, not really", try playing around with them yourself or post outfits on the forum to see if you can make them work. If not, toss them and don't look back.

Travelgal Nicole

Veteran

Wow ladies you are so organised! Do you want to come and do inventory on my wardrobe?

I do need to give away several items in my wardrobe as I no longer wear them. I think this is a great exercise in learning to shop you closet and also see where you have any gaps.

Makrame

Veteran

With regard to using a spreadsheet to plan or track outfits, I keep a separate page on my CPW spreadsheet where I have been writing down what I plan to wear every workday. I fill it out on the weekend when I have time to take pictures. I might leave a day or two empty if I don't have time to plan in advance and decide to "wing it" on those days. I edit the 5 day plan after the week is over to keep track of what was actually worn vs. planned.

After two weeks of this I realized that I already have enough good combinations to pretty much last the whole winter season (maybe throw another week in, and I can do a "no-brainer outfit rotation" without repeating more than once every three weeks. The one thing I am trying to do now is pull out some orphans and try to style those.

The whole planning and writing down exercise is a pretty good incentive to either SYC or do very targeted shopping for "missing links".