Day 45. And I've reached 60 items. Not quite 30/30, but that's okay.

I chose to do this challenge for 60 days, over my "Deep Winter", but divided into two groups - work and casual. So 30 for each.

Deep Winter is when: Its cold. It’s when I wear chunkier, cozier sweaters, when these pieces look right, and not too heavy and out of place (which they may in March April). The roads and sidewalks may be snow covered and messy, so my pants tend to be skinny so they can be tucked into high boots. My goals were not so much about the numbers, but to use the idea of a defined number of items, or a defined season, to determine a number of things.

My mid point post was mainly on my work wardrobe, so I'll focus this on on my casual..

And my observations:

I have had two synchronized swimming competitions so far since Jan, and will hvae one more. Watching requires summer clothes, or at least summer tops and lightweight bottoms. I have included these items in the challenge because they were part of what I wore, and I did repeat the tops to keep my numbers down, but I've realized there is no value in that. I have summer tops, may as well wear what I want rather than worry about numbers (and heaven forbid wear the same thing three competitions in a row!)

Well, for one, Mother Nature was NOT on board with this challenge. We've had no snow. So while I started off the challenge with my normal "deep winter" wardrobe of skinnies tucked into high boots, I've somewhat abandoned that. I've been enjoying wearing my not-so-weatherproof boots, and wider legged pants. This means my numbers have taken a bit of beating, but that's ok. It's also meant I've been able to wear my leather pants/leggings more which is fantastic. They are my favourite pants by a long shot, and it's awesome being able to wear them more... and of course the challenge "forced" me to pick them, which helped.

If it weren't for LisaP, I'd be naked. The MPG top and jacket she posted about a while ago, which I promptly lemminged, have become absolute workhorses. The jacket is perfect for a day spent watching curling... which is what I do when not watching synchro. :). Combine those with some Lulu lined studio pants I got for my birthday, a casual scarf, and various forms of sneakers, and I'm good to go. It's also a perfect thing to wear on a long drive, when you want to shed a winter coat, but need something.

I have a few items that I have worn both casually and to work, which is great. If I'm going to purchase any new items for work, they need to do double duty (One of my goals was to really really slow down on work purchases).

Scarves have become more important in my wardrobe than ever. This is an area I need to do some culling, as I am definitely finding some I prefer over others, so would like to drill down on the features the "winners" have.

I still have a few sweaters that are "deep winter" that I haven't yet worn, and I will. Despite it sending my numbers up and over, they are items I am NOT purging, and still enjoy owning. Like my black cashmere turtleneck. Time to stop letting the challenge limit me. What I can tell you is that there are also a few sweaters that I don't really care if I wear or not... pretty sure they will be purged. I guess the key is to see if they get worn in March/April. And to do a bit of an outfit lab on them.

First photo is my casual outfits so far. Really dark. Not sure if that bothers me or not... it's sure what I gravitate to at this time of year. And what my favourite "deep winter" clothes tend to be. I may pull out some white jeans if this weather continues though! They are usually solidly put away for slushy season.

Second photo is work. More colour.

Not going to get into an item by item analysis... suffice it to say there are several things that have only been worn once. Most of them will come out to play again. If they don't, they'll be evaluated carefully. But I am enjoying the fact that when I add an outfit to my "packing list" in Stylebook, there are now often no new items to "pack"!

As mentioned above, I am at 60 items now, 41 different looks. I have 36 items in my work capsule, and 29 in my casual. So 5 items doing double duty.

OK, that's enough for now! Thanks for anyone that actually read this! Comments, observations etc are welcome.