Epiphanies and the urge to purge

I have been careful to avoid any drastic wardrobe culling, revising that might be due to "pandemic brain" with its roller-coaster psyche effects, and temporary (though a lot longer than we would have hoped for) restrictions and lifestyle changes.

But also by nature I tend to keep things whether I am wearing or not, have to ruminate on whether to pitch something, have to "see" the problem with it first, and am basically stubborn about doing so.

I also tend to buy favorite colors without being picky enough about fit or quality, or not-best colors if the fit and quality are really good. Doesn't that sound whack? I do get these aligned a lot of the time, but not as much as I should.

So--on to various aha moments:
Color epiphany:
My color palette has gotten off course and I want to get re-focused. This was likely multiple things--changes in me due to more gray sprinkles in brown hair, having a previous workwear need for certain colors, or that the better items were often black, or got the WRONG not-black colors to have variety.
Not looking at colors someone else would tell me to wear, but what I think looks best when I try things on. Without getting into the color theory too much, I would be some form of "Soft Winter" or "Dark Summer" or something in those ranges. (There is so much variation in the names of palettes and I am not focused on "what's my Season ?!" , but just giving an idea that some of these put-together palettes come closest to the colors I've been seeing in my closet or tried on in stores, that work best .) If I really admit it I have strong preferences for not only certain colors but the depth of color, texture of the fabric for a given color, combinations in the fabric.

Medium very cool brown or dark taupe is very good and often better than charcoal/dark gray, and has been for years, but is really hard to find, hence I gave up trying to do work wardrobe with it. Medium gray-blue works well even though my eyes aren't blue. But, navy and black are so much easier to find, especially in nicer pieces, or toppers.

I have 3 olive jackets because I like the idea of olive but I haven't worn them much. They range from cooler olive with bluish undertone (cotton summer casual Talbot), medium dark olive (James Perse knit military jacket, great fit, soft, warm) , lighter yellower olive with bronzy-gold hardware (

nicely fitting WHBM military style) . None is really a best color but bluish one is best, and the lighter green gold one is just not good. It is hard for me to let it go but I have put it in the toss pile.

I like the Imogen Lamport descriptions of value-based and/or color based "person" and photos of translating that into outfits, and found those examples fit with what I was preferring in my outfits.

Lot more going on with color, but that is an example!

Scarf epiphany:
This is more of a closet/bureau organization thing, but does help me with culling some out as well.
--I have a lot of scarves that are for "decorative" wear +/- warmth and then ones for serious outdoor warmth. I am not going to wear the "deco" ones out of the house during pandemic at all--with a mask, I lose all benefit of style and color combo and also have the cleanliness concerns. So, most of these I am going to store in another room, after editing for color palette changes and obvious unloved ones. I am not going to cull severely just to get to a certain number,though.
--I will edit and keep handy soon as weather changes, the ones useful for outdoor walks in cold weather.
--I MIGHT wear a scarf indoors at home this winter, IF comfy enough, take on-off for cooking, temperature fluctuations. So I will pick out a few to try for that.

Have also had proportions lightbulb ideas, blazer/jacket style epiphanies, tailored/ruffled moments, and others. I hope I can use these to edit further and make good choices going forward.

Thanks for reading, in case this resonates with anyone else.

3 years ago

Helena

Veteran

Unfrumped, this is a great analysis. I found Imogen's colour tips to be extremely helpful, too. It sounds like you have a great sense of what works from you, both from a flattery angle as well as a practical angle, and most importantly, your personal preferences! If you are still open to cool brown, you *may* find a little more of it this season (I recall another thread where we chatted about this), but I agree that black and navy are slam dunks most of the time.

Re: scarves, you are right (sighs heavily) ... masks are kinda going to the wreck the scarf vibe. I may follow your lead and use them as an indoor topper for extra warmth when needed!

unfrumped

Yes, Gretchen found "her" brown, but the brown at WHBM currently is really lovely, but still too warm for me (wearable but not "the one" !). .

I have not worn any of my scarves as indoor, at home wear but then, I was not home as much as I will be now! I don't think I will find them practical for "busy" times, chores, bending and moving about, but for a cold rainy day curled up for a couple of hours with a book....

Ginger

I love reading about your color epiphany. Sometimes it's so easy to pick a color that should, in theory, work well; but it's hard to objectively realize that individual items just don't work for one reason or another. Color combinations, as well as tone value in the overall outfit, are very important to me as well. My orphans tend to be really great pieces that I just cannot find the right/value/texture piece to go with.

RobinF

Thanks to you I also checked out Imogen Lamport's posts about color and contrast and had a few aha moments. Very helpful as I try to focus my wardrobe a bit, along with changes in my hair color.

nemosmom

OK, this gave me a good giggle:

I also tend to buy favorite colors without being picky enough about fit
or quality, or not-best colors if the fit and quality are really good.

I had a major epiphany when I replaced a bunch of worn-out tees a few months ago. Why do I keep buying multiple colors of the SAME tee, when I only reach for the olive one? And then there is the "Buy all the green" problem that I have... Why did I buy a specific pair of pants JUST because they were emerald? They go with absolutely NOTHING else in my closet...

Darn this pandemic and pandemic brain! Bravo for not being too quick to get rid of everything - AND for re-organizing your scarves based on what you are wearing and when!

I am curious about your blazer/jacket epiphany... care to share??

Suz

(website)

I think the two buying "mistakes" you identify must be among the most common in the world. We get tempted...we want so badly for something to work...we run out of time/ patience...whatever. And then we've got a closet of "almosts."

I fear you're right about scarves/ masks. I will still wear one indoors in winter to keep my neck warm, but I won't be wearing it in the same way...though it will be good for interest in Zoom meetings I guess....

Anonymous

Was wondering about my scarves too. Don't foresee wearing them, as long as we have to wear masks.

Sal

Nice work - these realisations do help us move forward to the next stage.

I do wear a scarf as a mask sometimes - for short quick shop visits,

I used to look at Isobel Lampart but haven’t in ages. I might try again.

Jaime

Interesting epiphanies. I could imagine coordinating my scarf and mask in some way. I do pick my masks to coordinate with my face first and my clothing second (actually I only have three designs and two are blue). Masks are a great test of what color works actually.

rachylou

I was just thinking they need to start making mask and scarf sets. I needed a headscarf the other day... I have a mask with orange in it and a scarf with orange in it, so I wore them together, but it was a terrible look. Despite both having orange, they did not go at all. Which speaks to your point about your olive jackets. There’s olive and there’s olive. That’s a thing about colour analyses: I can say I think I look good in orange, but IRL, there are a lot of different orange dyes out there, a lot of different fabrics that will take the same dye differently.

Barbara Diane

Sounds like you are doing the right kind of purging. Well thought out.

Janet

“ I also tend to buy favorite colors without being picky enough about fit or quality, or not-best colors if the fit and quality are really good. ”

Guilty as charged. My best colors have been in short supply in recent seasons, and I have a history of getting colors that are close but not really totally what I want (I’m remembering a jacket that was more muddy and brown of a burgundy than I really wanted, for example).

Olives can be tricky too. There are sagey-toned cooler olives that look great on me. Warmer yellowish or brownish ones are not so great. But it’s harder to find the cooler tones ones. So I get you with the problems with olive too.

The good thing about my extremely limited shopping during this pandemic is that my pickiness is only increasing. If something isn’t perfect, it had better serve a really good practical purpose and be dirt cheap!

Re scarves. I have a large collection and have no intention of getting rid of the ones I love, even if this coming season they don’t get much wear. The beautiful thing about scarves is that they always fit, and unless they are a super trendy style, they are timeless.

Janet, good points! I agree about scarves. I think I still have too many, but can edit some for color and comfort. Mainly I will store many of them away for a bit, but can still go “ shopping “ in the spare closet if needed.
The thing about scarf collections is— I have been an impulse- buyer of them, but pretty strongly based on favorite colors and combinations I love, so that over time they’ve mostly worked out and often a new top or jacket works perfectly with a scarf I may have had for years.

Unfrumped, I have had the exact same experience with scarves! Sometimes a new outfit or acquisition ends up being just the thing an unworn scarf needed. As long as it’s comfortable (nothing itchy), non-fussy (nothing too slippery that slides around), I like the pattern, and the colors work for me in some fashion, it’s usually a good bet to keep them.

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