Wear Everything Twice Check In

Hi,

Continuing my wear-everything-twice-and-closet-purge-while-also-shopping-your closet-task, here I am checking in for month #2. The first check in was here.

I'm starting to move into warmer weather, which is not going to help me wear everything twice. A heavy sweater simply cannot be layered less for warmer days.

Which once again tells me I still have far too many clothes. And yet, I want more and more, go figure!

I wanted to continue the good progress from last month and purge more items, that did not go too well. Then I remembered, the hidden holding zone! I put a bunch of items in there at the beginning of the month and that freed up space while reducing my anxiety. I thought about tossing unworn holding zone items at the end of the month, but now with our weather shifting, I may need them for lighter layers so I'm going to wait another month or two.

Here's the numbers, note some numbers shifted up, I started combining items from all seasons into one spreadsheet. I don't think it's realistic to expect to wear all items all year long, after all, my white jeans or white denim jacket or sundress would look odd until weather is a bit warmer (we are ranging 30 to 60F swings daily right now).

Blazers 9 to 15 (no toss or hold items here, just added a suit blazer that's been sitting around along with spring and summer items)

Button Down Shirts 6 to 14 (another increase and 1 shirt was put on hold, why do I have two cream shirts, one plain and one striped?)

Sweaters/Thermals I can Layer 25 to 17 (8 items were put on hold, I had 9 and already pulled one from the bag)

Sweaters (that are toppers, cannot layer something over them) 8 to 7 (one on hold, but if the weather keeps warming up, these are all too warm and won't be worn much anymore)

Cardigans 8 to 12 (1 put on hold, but 4 additions are really for warmer months, ie linen or very sheer and thin in weight)

Jeans 14 to 14 (no change, although I will need to purchase new as some are getting too big)

Skirts 2 to 2 (no change and I haven't worn these in 2 months one is denim may be good for summer but one is corduroy and I wonder if it should be tossed)

Dresses 11 to 11 (one was on hold but I rescued, again a few of these are summer dresses and do not layer for winter well)

Scarves 15 to 15 (no change)

LS T's (also used for layering, when the sweaters above are too big to layer with) 28 to 16 (13 were on hold, only rescued one of them so far)

Belts 10 to 11 (I forgot one last month)

Vests 1 to 1 (no change and never wore, I don't think I'm a fan of vests)

So where does this leave me? Well it's obvious I'm not going to get to finalizing this little project by the end of SYC, which has only 1 month to go. I plan to keep on tracking my items and what I wear and think of new ways to layer for maximum usability. I may not finish in 3 months, but I'm learning a lot about my wardrobe and it's "too large volume yet too small cohesion" for outfit mixing. That has indeed been my biggest realization so far from this project, I have a lot of "outfits" but they are often stand alone outfits and don't mix well with other items. I don't expect every outfit to remix, but having a wardrobe with little mixing abilities isn't very helpful for downsizing it either. Or maybe I just really, really like clothes.

Thanks for reading!

13 years ago

bella

(website)

Veteran

My overall number is close to yours, but the distribution is very different. I have way fewer jeans and pants and way more skirts.
What exactly are LS Tees? Are they just plain cotton layering tees or are you also counting blouses as well?

Elly

Sounds like you are learning alot about yourself and your closet. As far as the outfits that don't remix thing, I will give you something to chew on. While it is great to have pieces that remix so you can have fun when you get bored or create a new vibe for when you are feeling like something "different", I have personally found that sometimes great outfits that don't remix can be better from the small wardrobe perspective. Perhaps it is the nature of who I am, but having great singular outfits really prevents bottlenecks for me when I manage to spill--- I am a pretty messy/dirty/stinky person (I admit) and I can't wear even a piece like a sweater more than once or twice in a week without airing or washing/cleaning. Also, if a skirt dies and it only worked with one outfit-- your not down 6 outfits, just one. I love to experiment, but feeling great each day is my ultimate goal. Something to think about depending on your own personal goals.

Kate

I'm glad the process is helpful and that you're learning a lot!

I agree with passing on the cord skirt, unless you can get yourself to wear it right now. It you can't bring yourself to wear it even once while it's cord season, it doesn't deserve a place in your closet. Same with the vest. When I was wearing everything twice, I would take the items that I hadn't worn yet and tell myself I either had to wear it TODAY or toss it. If I couldn't bring myself to wear something that was seasonably appropriate, it was time to let it go.

As for the jeans, I think you could weed out the ones that are too big and wait a while before buying more to see how many pairs you really need. I have seven pairs of everyday pants and the four pairs of jeans have each been worn 24, 17, 12, and 10 times since December 1st (the others are at 6, 5, and 4). All are holding up fine, despite the frequent wear. Then again, I have a tendency to play favorites with my jeans (and shoes), so I try to keep the selection small and cut out my least favorites.

In terms of mixing, what is it that keeps them from "playing well with others"? I've found that limiting my color palette has helped tremendously. And opting for cardis that aren't too long to look good under a blazer/jacket. And it's easier to layer with neutrals than to try to get too many colors into an outfit.

FoolOfATook

Active Member

Thanks for keeping us updated on your progress! It helps me think about how I am combining the pieces in my own closet and what is getting wear and what is not.

Lisa

Bella-LS T's are a huge stack of long sleeve cotton T's. I like to layer in the winter so I don't have to wash my sweaters after each wear. I think I have so many as leftovers from when I would have to do laundry in laundermats. I would wait until as long as possible and then go. This turned into about once a month. Now I can do the wash weekly so I notice I need far less items.

Elly-That is a very interesting point. I think the key will be enough to remix but not be outfit-less if something can’t be worn twice in a week. I suppose I need enough outfits to go one week without remixing, which makes sense to me, but then I should be remixing more often in subsequent weeks. I know I’m reading way too much into these things but that’s the scientist in me I suppose.

Kate-That’s a good point, if I am not wearing a winter item by now, it’s time to go. I’ve noticed I like a lot of color, but don’t have a lot of plain items or basic colors to balance items out. I think that’s been the problem. If I have a blazer with an unusual color (like a grayish purple cord one) it really goes best with a black or cream top. And when I look I’ll see an orange top, a fuschia top, a red top, and none of them go with the blazer. This has been the remixing issue. It’s been an eye opening realization.

FoolOfATook-Thanks! I'm learning a lot through this process and have learned a lot from reading about others experiences too!

Kappy

Wow, very detailed tracking. I can barely remember to take a pic each day! Sounds like you will have your closet figured out in no time.

Cilleena

Lisa, your closet sounds a lot like mine. I too have noticed that I have a lot of clothes, but they don't mix as much as I would like them too. I'm "trying" to stick to a color palette like Kate recommends for spring and summer items to see if I can up the mixability.

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