January through April are ‘cold’ months with temps ranging from -15 to 15degC. This year winter was milder than usual, but spring has been colder with maybe half a dozen days in the double digits. The outliers that affected WIW were a two week vacation in a warm place, and the past 6+ weeks of Covid related restrictions.

Some numbers: I own 8 pairs of pants and wore 7 of them. A pair of MAC jeans (skinny/straights) 37 times! The CK white jeans saw 22 wears, the Olive chinos 16, and the CK dark wash jeans 10 wears, Amber crops-9, Black OTF-8, plaid full leg trouser-4. The only pants unworn are a pair of RL white cropped jeans. They are super nice, and there is no real reason not to have them in rotation. My excuse - I wanted to ‘save’ one pair of ‘nice’ white jeans for summer wear! I also wore 2 pair of shorts (olive and navy blue) 5 times each while on vacation. (Note: it’s frequent washing that is hard on clothes, not necessarily # of wears!)

I currently own 26 tops - 2 are new (January). One of the new tops, a yellow and white striped long sleeved t-shirt had the most wears at 15!! A pale blue V-neck sweater was another top that saw double digits at 10 wears. I challenged myself to get ALL tops into rotation. I’ve worn 23 of them - all 2 times or more. (Unworn are 2 ‘occasion wear’ tops, and one sleeveless top.)

The weather and my activities have been the determining factors in my choices. My preference is for the warmer tops (flannels and sweaters) and bottoms, natch! 3 of 4 winter coats got equal rotation. I’m ‘babying’ the 4th since it is showing wear and is my only ‘dress’ coat. Combat boots and sneakers saw duty. Tall boots, short boots, and flat dressy shoes languished in the closet. Toppers, with the exception of an ultralight puffer did not get worn. They will see wear, along with light weight coats, in the coming months.

Honourable mention goes to the rash guard I purchased in January, and wore 9 times. The mix and match components of my bikini collection each got 4-5 wears, and I actually wore dresses on 6 occasions.

One striped sweater from 2018 has been retired (stained) and my cognac leather jacket is in a holding zone. It is showing wear - not in a good way - and I’m finding the snug fit dated. When I got it in 2013 it bookended my hair, but now, not so much.

New items for 2020 were all picked up in January - new specs, a rash guard, and 2 t-shirts. I would be shopping for summer/warm weather, but a colder than usual spring and no B&M shopping or thrifting, has put a damper on things. I’ve tinkered with some of my garments - removing, adding, and tailoring - and that has been fun!

Going forward, I‘m hoping for warmer weather, wearing dresses, skirts, shorts, lighter tops, toppers, sneakers, and sandals. I will continue to ‘count wears’ as I shop my closet. I don’t feel quite myself with longer, straighter hair, and would like to return to a shorter curly ‘do once haircuts become available.

#1 a favourite combo
#2 new (and old specs)
#3 new t-shirts
#4/5 hair inspo