2019 Shopping Challenge: April and May

My Shopping Challenge for 2019 is to keep to my budget, buy less than 30 items, buy pieces that fit into my wardrobe, my real life and my "uniform".

I will do a longer post on my uniform but this is a brief summary of what it will look like. I have determined that I like to wear T- shirts on top, preferably cream/ivory, olive green or brown, jeans or cotton pants on bottom and a topper. All of these are fairly plain. I then jazz up my outfit with accessories. If I keep to this formula I wear the pieces. When I buy something outside of this it goes unworn.

Footwear is very limited for me. I can wear Birks, Finn Comfort and El Naturalista.

I bought zero pieces in April and May. We were in Montreal for a week and I would have loved to have shopped. But I resisted. I am debating one or two purchases. I would like a new pair of jeans and am considering a pair of Jesse Kamm Cowboy Blue Sailor Pants. I enjoy wearing my Kamm Tobacco pants a lot. Much love.

2019 Purchases To Date 6 items

Boden Conker Cashmere Cardigan (January) - medium love
Two Re/Done Vintage White T-Shirts (March) - extreme love
Chantelle Bra (March) - extreme love
Lucky Brand Straight Leg Jeans (March) - medium love
Finn Comfort Blue Sneakers (March)- medium love

Shopping List

Nude Coloured Soft Footbed Birks
Jeans - Possibly Jesse Kamm Cowboy Blue Sailor Pants

Custom Find

by Style Fan

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Saks Fifth Avenue

Chantelle C Smooth Collection Full Coverage T-Shirt Bra

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Top Pick

Shopbop

RE/DONE x Hanes 1960s Slim Tee

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Top Pick

Shopbop

RE/DONE Classic Tee

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Top Pick

Zappos

Finn Comfort Ikebukuro

$365.00

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Top Pick

Boden

Cashmere Crew Cardigan

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Top Pick

5 years ago

RobinF

Veteran

I think I must have similar style to you, love all these pieces! Do you really have to count the bra in your totals? That’s no fun.

nemosmom

I admire your discipline! You make an interesting point about not wearing items when you veer away from your uniform; I am seeing a similar pattern myself. It sounds like you have your core palette that suits your coloring beautifully - and having all pieces mix and match is icing on the cake!

Anonymous

Wow! Impressive.

I am especially impressed with your knowledge of what you like and wear versus what doesn't work for you! Self awareness at its best!

I also love the fact that you rated your new items. That means that they are being worn. Extreme love is GREAT. Medium love is pretty damn good.

Suz

(website)

Disciplined and focused! Wow.

I'm curious about why you love the tees so much and why the jeans get only medium love.

Jenn

These absolutely look like you. You've found your formula and aren't bored by it, so why deviate?!

Bonnie

My style is similar to yours, too, and I love the color of your sweater. I haven't had a cashmere sweater for years and was wondering why it got medium love. In the photo, it looks perfect.

Cardiff girl

I like your rating scheme and am thinking of implementing it to all sorts of things ,not just clothes in my life!You have iron discipline.lam vvery impressed.

Style Fan

One of my retirement projects was to organize my wardrobe. I wanted a wardrobe that worked really well for my lifestyle. I had shopped emotionally for years without a budget. It is freeing to have a clear vision of what works for me and what doesn't. I can see the appeal of the uniform.
RobinF, bras are a lot more fun to shop for than footwear for me. Footwear shopping is like torture. Can't someone just show up with the right shoes? Please.
Nemosmom, it took me a long time to reach this point. I wasn't always this disciplined. See above. It is a project for me.
Sterling, rating pieces is very helpful. I look back and realize what is working. I also do this with my travel capsules.
Suz, the tees are the perfect colour (tea stained white), soft cotton and have a cool girl look to them. They are about as close to cool girl looking as I will ever get. I saw Dakota Johnston wearing one and that did it for me. The jeans work well for everyday but they stretch out. I wish I had bought a size down.
Exactly, Jenn! Stick with what works. I have learned the hard way.
Bonnie, the sweater is cut in a way that is not perfect. Hard to explain. It doesn't have the same look as my brown cashmere cardigan that I adore. The cashmere is lovely.
Cardiff girl, the rating system is extremely helpful. Recommend.

Wow, I'm the opposite when it comes to bra and shoe shopping! I can see why you love the tees, they do have a kind of cool-girl vibe.

April

SF -- thanks for these impressions! I have two questions for you.

1. Can you say more about your "medium love" rating of the Finn Comforts? What prevents them from achieving "extreme love"?

2. A Shopbop review of the Re/Done tees says the "vintage white" is a beige and nothing like the photo. Can you comment?

RobinF, my poor feet have limited options. I do see lots of footwear that I love but sometimes I wonder why I am looking at such beautiful shoes. I will never be able to wear them again. Bras are a whole different story.
April, the photo of the Re/Done tees is of the white and not the vintage white. I do find Shopbop frustrating that way. I did look on the Re/Done website first for to get more of an idea of what the tees really looked like. I have only worn the Finn Comfort sneakers once and they were not as comfortable as I would have thought they would have been. I have other Finn Comfort footwear (sandals, loafers) that are comfy right from the start. I need to wear them a few more times. I went on a 2 week trip and decided not to take them with me. I will assess further when I get home.

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