Closet Edit, SYC what I learned, WIW, what I bought - YouLookFab Forum

Category

What I Wore

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

Closet Edit, SYC what I learned, WIW, what I bought

kkards

Veteran

Long, at least for me, probably boring, and definitely rambling thoughts.....
What I learned

1. I keep things well beyond their wear by date. I’m a very tactile person and having physical things makes me happy. BUT....I can’t keep everything and it felt good to pack up and dispose of so much. Now I just need to figure out how to edit like this more often.
2. I get an idea in my head, shop for it, and often settle for something that’s good but not great...then keep searching for the same idea but “better”...(better fabric, better fit etc). Need to stop settling for good enough and/or develop a way to stop looking once I’ve filled an itch
3. My boss is driving me crazy and I’m letting it impact the way I manage my team. I’m on my 3rd boss in 3 years...and this one is on his 1st merchandising job, so I’m essentially teaching him, which is I guess a complement to my skills, but it means I’ve got less time to train & develop my team, which is what I really like to do. So I’m feeling stressed, not to mention that it’s retail which is under going significant changes now. Some people stress eat I stress shop. need to develop different coping mechanisms

What I wear
Thanksgiving week throw me off and I didn’t get WIW photos for most days. But these pictures round out most the last 2 weeks of November. Sadly I wore a blazer only once the whole month. I own a lot, & love them. Need to make more of an effort even if it’s more against the grain of my office norms.

What I bought
I have a love of patent leather and have been wanting a pair of patent leather booties. Saw this Tory Burch pair on sale BF and jumped. Now I’m 2nd guessing myself because it’s only a 5 inch shaft & the boots I wear with crops are 8.
A basic navy vneck cashmere. Because it seem everyday I was reaching for it and didn’t own it. Still on it’s way to me. Wished Boden had a vneck...
And this camo(ish) sweater and these western booties, but in cognac ...because as I said I’m a stress shopper and last week was a Doozy.

Thoughts, comments, ideas all welcomed.

This post has 7 photos. Photos uploaded by this member are only visible to other logged in members.

If you aren't a member, but would like to participate, please consider signing up. It only takes a minute and we'd love to have you.

View Info

The Cashmere V-Neck

View Info

Top Pick

3

Rag & Bone rag & bone Leopard Spot Sweater | Nordstrom

View Info

Top Pick

4

PAIGE PAIGE Willa Chelsea Bootie (Women) | Nordstrom

View Info

Top Pick

2

21 replies

Latest reply was from karen13

Runcarla

Veteran

Laped's SYC challenge directly after the closet purge was an eye opener for me. Despite modest numbers, I have plenty of happy making clothing items. if I hadn't participated in the SYC, I might have been tempted to shop to fill an imagined void that I now know doesn't exist.

I hear you on stress shopping. Sales are such a lure during vulnerable times, too. The time around Black Friday was tough for me and I did a lot of looking, but didn't buy. Now I can't even remember what tempted me.

Lynn

Veteran

Boy does # 2 resonate with me only sometimes what I settle for is not even good, sometimes it is just "it fits" plus I shop and eat when stressed

Hope your work situation improves. That is a lot of turnover in bosses.

rachylou

Veteran

Love these looks! Yes to 2 and 3, I recognise myself in there.

Cardiff girl

Veteran

I love the plaid jumper.l don’t think that you are alone in stress shopping,sounds like you need to apply for the boss job if you are teaching the bosses what to do.l m guessing that this man was younger and less experienced than you?If that s the casesounds familiar!There are worse ways of coping than buying a new jumper so don’t be too hard on yourself and I hope it gets better soon.

Barbara Diane

Veteran

Sorry about the stress.
If you are happy with what you bought and the expense is not a problem, enjoy!

kellygirl

Veteran

Well, if you aren't my shopping twin. I can relate to every one of your points. I'm getting better at 2 only because I've realized I don't have enough office days to really wear the heck out of what I have. I spend a lot of time in the field in jeans and boots or have to be ready to go so I can't really wear whatever I want anymore. And as for stress shopping, I'm guilty of that for sure! I figure there are worse things I could be doing... You have a great wardrobe--your outfits look cohesive and fab so you're doing something right!

Katerina

Veteran

What a great post Kkards, thank you! I can certainly relate to your point no 2. Need more patience to wait for the perfect item. I also hear you on the stress shopping, you are certainly not alone on this one. You have bought really nice and useful pieces though, so it is not at all bad.
Thinking about the shaft on tha patent boots - have you tried them on already or are they still on the way to you? Maybe they will look great with your longer jeans and trousers too? They are really good looking boots.
And finally, a really nice set of November outfits here. I like no 4 and no 7 especially.

Jessikams

(website)

Veteran

I’m actually going to argue with your self-criticism #2, re: settling/buying placeholders.

I used to be a total perfectionist and would drive myself crazy searching for the ideal version of something. Then when I finally bought it, I would later see an even better version, and I would get so frustrated and sometimes try to return the first to buy the second, etc etc. OR, I would find my perfect item and then one week later stain it or rip it or something.

Now I have a little more $$ and a lot less time and I just don’t have the patience to do that “seeking perfection” thing anymore. Now I just kinda buy what’s good enough- and use it- and if I discover a better version and it’s not too pricey, sometimes I buy it too. And often I end up using the heck out of both! If I clearly felt a need for this particular style or filling a wardrobe hole, having a few iterations is not terrible.

Yes, this does lead to a fuller closet. But I kinda think that’s ok. I survived for a few years on an extreme capsule wardrobe and frankly it was very stifling to the creativity.

All that to say: don’t beat yourself up too much! (And good luck at work)

jussie

Veteran

I like all your outfits but my faves are 4 and 7, probably because I have a candy eye for slightly oversized tops.... I think they look nice on you.

kkards

Veteran

sorry to have posted and the not gotten back to the responses...yesterday just got away from me...

thank you --it's nice to know that i;m not the only stress shopper....or the only one who pulls the tigger to soon....

Cardiff Girl-here's the thing, i dont want his job. been there, done that, and it took me a long time to figure out that i'm very good at my job, but not good at the politics that come with the next level up. i like having an insultating layer...but i do like having a boss who understands the fundamentals of my job....

Katrina...i've tried the booties with "regular" lenght pants and they work great, just want to make sure i'm not settling....so i 2nd quess myself instead...

kkards

Veteran

Jessikams...i agree with what you say....but, i've reached the point where i wear the 2nd best item, but keep looking....that's the part i'm trying to change. i either need to stop looking after buying the 1st, or not buy the 1st....as i type this, i realize its totally related to #3...its part of the stress thing! hmmmm.....

cindysmith

Veteran

I love these introspective posts. I'm so glad I jumped into these challenges, but I still haven't figure out exactly what I've learned about myself and my clothes LOL

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I say it every time I see you -- you were made to wear jeans/ pants! I love the new boots and sweaters, too. I can't wait to see the R&B one once it arrives.

Also, you did edit out quite a few booties, right? So these are replacements...

I stress shop sometimes, too. Retail therapy. It's dangerous but sometimes not such an awful thing. I mean, providing you don't exceed your budget. You could try the one-in/one-out trick if you are concerned about the closet expanding too far. It does make it more important to think each purchase through. I don't always use the strategy myself, and even when I use it, I won't necessarily trade a bootie for a bootie (it might be a new dress for an old cast-off bootie). But it does help to limit things a bit.

Joy

Veteran

This site has taught me to be picky enough not to settle if I will keep looking for the ideal blazer or whatever. I have become more willing to spend more on fewer items. The exception is trendy items that I am just trying out. I do not spend much on them. If I really love a trend and adopted it early, I am willing to update with a better, usually more expensive version.

Anonymous

Great boots, but im sorry youre having a difficult week. When im having work stress and bring it home i try to remind myself im not getting paid for thinking about work on my time off!
I do #2 often too-or conversely-hunt and hunt for just the right replacements for poor condition workhorses. Angies strategy of duplicating could help!

kkards

Veteran

suntiger....since i never seem to get through an entire weekend with out spending at least part of Sunday either catching up or getting pre work done for the coming week, i feel like i can't get away from thinking about work....

RE: settling....i should note that i have gotten much better about not buying things just because they are on sale....its the trending more "fashion foward" stuff, or something i percieve as a hole, that i buy and then keeping looking for....i need to be better at delayed gratification,

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

VERY valuable lessons, and HUGS. Life can be unpleasant at times. Hang in there.

(I’ll throw in regular editing challenges just for you).

All outfits super cute, and #6 is my fave. Those white jeans are KILLER.

kkards

Veteran

Angie...yes a little push every now and then would be great!

#6 was my fav as well, followed closely by #3.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Consider it done, and #3 is festive.

Thistle

Veteran

Figuring out what's happening and why is a great step in figuring out how to fix it.

I don't stress shop for clothes, but I do stress shop. My busiest, craziest time of year is right now. It's not a coincidence that every year I tell myself I need to go less overboard on Christmas.

karen13

Veteran

Boots and jeans work so well for you. I have a navy cashmere neck that I love and am so excited to pull out and wear after months of warm weather. and I love the sleek patent boot.

I hope the stress levels let up soon. I have had highly stressful jobs in the past and didn't even realize how bad they were until I left them. It is good you recognize what is happening - make sure you do some self-care while this is going on. Shopping isn't the worse kind in the world.