This year was about coasting, after a year of post retirement emotional and wardrobe churn (2018) and a year of rebuilding (2019). Without the focus of travel, the need and enthusiasm for new clothes evaporated, and with pandemic lockdown measures so did the means! Bricks and mortar shopping trips in March/April and October/November (with a little in between) is how I build my wardrobe. That didn’t happen in 2020!
What did happen? Well, after some January purchases (with a February trip in mind) I didn’t buy anything for 3 months. In May I ventured into the world of online shopping, with mixed results. I bought 8 items, but ended up donating 2 before the end of the year. After 4 months of lockdown, shops opened with capacity restrictions and precautions (masks, hand sanitizer, etc.) I shopped local independents and thrift/consignment, and the fun of shopping returned. Lesson learned: I like the experience of shopping, and I really love the hunt and the thrill of the find. Ordering (and returning) boxes of things isn’t my jam. I may be swimming against the stream, but there you are!
A total of 24 items were added in 2020 (17 new and 7 thrifted) - compared to 35 in 2019. 25 items were dispatched in 2020 - compared to 26 in 2019. So, the tally of items that I count as my ‘wardrobe’ (around 85) stayed the same. Of the 5-6% of my ‘income’ allocated to clothing, 28% remains unspent.
My ROTG lifestyle didn’t change much, so neither did my clothing needs, it turns out. As such, the make-up of my wardrobe remained the same. 13 tops in/12 tops out, 4 bottoms in/5 bottoms out, 3 shoes in/3 shoes out, 1 coat in/2 coats out, etc, etc.
As far as goals set at the start of the year: add colours and prints, limit neutrals - I didn’t buy a single black garment! Experiment with new trends. Were there any?!?! Do more Colour, Pattern, Texture, Shine - colour and pattern ‘yes’. Need to work on texture and shine.
Things I thought were settled? Hairstyle. Well, stylist on mat leave, then salon closures + appointment for December 29th cancelled amidst new complete lockdown effective December 26th = 6 inches of grow out and no real style at the moment. Rosecea? Some anxiety early in the year resulted in skin issues that took a couple of months to resolve, but everything is good atm. Weight? The aforementioned anxiety resulted in some weight loss. Though some clothing still fits - just a little looser, some has been dispatched to the ‘holding zone’ for review at a future date.
Goals (as well as colour and word) for 2021 are for another post.
Pics below - my palette and a baker’s dozen favourite outfits of 2020.
Thanks for reading! Your thoughts, comments, suggestions are always read and welcomed!
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