Getting this in just under the wire! I love reading everyone’s end of year postings, I get great tidbits from all of them! If you are wondering if these posts are useful, I say YES! Thanks in advance for reading this one. 

I tracked wears and purchases for 2017 and am analyzing all the numbers, but I’m also looking at it all from a higher level. I decided to go with a more emotional than data-driven summary .

Top Successes of 2017
For the first ¾ of the year I still bought too much, including some poor quality items and other mistakes, all a continuation of the rebuilding I started in 2016. In October I finally settled down into a better pattern of fewer and better purchases. Now I’ve shifted to a mindset of refreshing seasonally and filling in wardrobe holes. Maybe the mindfulness break I took in October was the cause, or maybe it would have happened anyway, either way I’m glad it did.

The two coats I bought at NAS have been fantastic. I posted separately about them. I’m now playing around with ideas for a spring ensemble for this coat. I might be ok wearing a coat in this color for spring if the rest of the outfit is in light colors.

I’ve got a lot of good core pieces (more essentials than statement), jeans, lots of scarves, faux leather jackets in a couple of colors, good collection of bags, and winter sweaters, mostly in silhouettes and styles that I really like. I bought a LOT of shoes, and all have been very successful (with a few being just ok), even the two dressy ones that I don’t wear too often. It takes me a lot of time to find what I want but I’m ok with that.

I’m getting more repeat wears on items, which tells me I’m getting closer to having a wardrobe that’s just the right size.

Top challenges in 2017
I continued to sometimes buy items of poor quality when I shopped at thrift stores, F21, H&M, and sometimes Loft and TJmaxx. I’ve gotten better about fit, but I totally ignored the quality of the fabric, and sometimes pick overly classic items that are boring, so lots of mistakes.

Tops in general continue to be the toughest area for me, and my shoe collection for spring/summer needs an infusion of more modern looks.

I put together a summer travel capsule at the last minute and did not like it. It was too casual and boring.

I still have too many pieces that are ok by themselves, but don’t work work well in outfits or just don’t get worn, and I still do not repeat outfits very often.

My wardrobe feels quite out of balance across seasons. Too many warm wool sweaters, not enough lighter ones for spring, for example. I’ve confirmed this with data.

I’ve still buy and return a LOT. This seems embarrassing, or evidence of poor decision making, or something. However, I know that with online shopping it’s inevitable, and with B&M shopping I seem to make better decisions once I get something home

Top Goals for 2018
Find a better balance of accepting and embracing what I truly
want to wear and what works for me vs wanting to copy someone else’s style because
it looks great….all the same things discussed in Suz’s recent posting https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....vel-gazing . Or to quote uncarla…”myself but better”.

To better balance my wardrobe across seasons, I’ve got a plan, and hopefully it will help with selection of tops too. I’m going to build a “core” polished casual capsule for each of my four seasons, starting with spring. The items need to be suitable for travel, which will force me to choose nicer pieces. (I’ve got “plain boring pieces” covered, thank
you very much) Something like 6 bottoms, 10 tops, 2 toppers, 1 dress, footwear, bags, outerwear as a starting point. They don’t all have to work together but should form a cohesive whole. I already have pieces that will work for this. I will work on getting these “core” capsules in good shape before buying other/more pieces. I’m already doing this to some
extent with my winter wardrobe, and it’s showing real promise.

Continue to be picky. I’ve had a run lately of ordering things that were not quite the color shown on the web site, not quite the size I had imagined despite careful reading of measurements (hello scarves and bags), or didn’t fit, The temptation is HUGE to “make it work and keep it ” but I’m getting very good at just saying no and returning and waiting for the right one.

Be more open to higher price points for clothing, and consider buying some jewelry this year.

Try some new brands that carry petites. Thinking of WHBM, Gap, Boden. I’ve had a few pieces from the first two but have never tried Boden.

As far as my overall style, I’m still feeling like I haven’t found it consistently, but it’s getting there. Structured pieces, modern classic with a smattering of trends or preppy, and always looking for a bit of sophistication. Or outdoorsy/sporty.

Figure out what’s going on with my extremely limited wearing of dresses. Maybe I just don’t like them and need to make peace with that, but
I think I just don’t have the right ones with the right footwear.

And for the copious buying and returning, I’ve decided that I’m
no longer to feel guilty about it, it’s just the way I roll.