Shopping Challenge - Feb Update - YouLookFab Forum

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Shopping Challenge - Feb Update

nemosmom

Veteran

For suntiger's January shopping challenge, I committed to 1 item per month, or 12 items for the year, excluding undies and socks.

I had a few coats on order when I wrote my January update, and ended up keeping the olive borg coat from Zara (along with a leopard skirt). My intention was to count the coat for January and the skirt for February. Done.

But, in what felt like our 327th week of winter, I decided to start editing closets in anticipation of spring (a girl can dream, no?)

When the weather cleared for a couple of days, I hit Goodwill looking for stuff for my two boys and ended up finding a few pieces for myself: a rust colored lace front top ($4), a funky band jacket (it was different and green and only $8; how could I say no?!!), and a burgundy wool coat with a mod tweedy graphic in camel, black, and ivory (pattern pic in finds), on clearance $6. I also succumbed to a snake print H&M skirt while killing time at the mall on a snow day. I am usually much more disciplined and I don't know what happened....

I passed on 13 things during my edit, 4 of which I sold:

Mustard turtleneck (BR 2010; pilled)
Grey print pullover w/navy heart (GAP 2015?, showing obvious wear)
Grey pullover (AE 2015?, showing obvious wear)
Red suede ballet flats (Enzo, 2014? hole in toe)
Grey suede lace up booties (Nine West 2017, heel too high)
4 solid button-up shirts (JCrew; no longer wear)
2 pairs of jeans (AG; Paige) blew out the knees
Tweed blazer (Zara 2013; no longer wear)
Plum cardigan (2017; demoted to loungewear)

So, I guess the upside is I reduced my overall number of items, and the sales of my 4 items helped to offset the cost of my H&M skirt and thrifted finds, but I still bought more pieces than I intended to. Six pieces in two months leaves me with only six more allowed for the year, per my own rules. I gotta stay out of the mall until May.... WHERE IS SPRING?!?!?

Hooded Faux Fur Coat

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Animal Print Skirt

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Shopping

17 replies

Latest reply was from Windchime

LaPed

Veteran

Hmm. I guess my question is, if you just purged 13 items, will you be left with wardrobe holes? Is12 items all year enough to sustain a functional wardrobe if you've already purged 13 things? Do you anticipate retiring other things as the year goes on? Maybe change the rules to one-in-one-out, unless your goal is to shrink your overall wardrobe size?

Side note: I love the rust top! That is a good score. I keep hearing about how the Kon-Mari phenomenon has led to all kinds of good stuff at the thrift stores, but I'm not seeing it yet near me. No must-haves in my size, and my son's size (kids 4/5/6) is as hard-to-find as ever. That always seems to be the most picked-over section, for whatever reason.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Why are you cutting back on shopping? If you have so much clothing that you can't keep track of it, then I agree you're halfway done for the year. If it's to reduce your consumption or to save money, then I think thrifting is permitted. But no more killing time at the mall.

nemosmom

Veteran

LaPed - good question! My goal is to tighten and reduce the size of my wardrobe this year and don't anticipate any wardrobe holes with this edit. Most of it was from my holding zone and it was time to let it go. Our move to a winter climate and my job change has meant a bit of a shift: less office wear; more MOTG with smart casual options. I've had a bit of a style shift as a result of lifestyle change, too, preferring longer, looser skirts to knee-length pencil ones, and heavier pullovers to button-up shirts, for example. Needing heattech under everything is cramping my old style

Re: the rust top - thank you! We have two decent thrift shops nearby, There's been a surge of stuff at one but not much at the other. One has all their winter stuff on a clearance rack for half price. Boys' stuff in 4/5/6 is always hard to find, or it's already really worn. I can always get great gear for them though. $4 for snow boots is hard to pass up!

Katerina

Veteran

I haven’t got any wise words to add, just wanted to say that I like your thrifted coat very much - what a great find. All of them are very nice.
Not much help here, I know

nemosmom

Veteran

FashIntern - great question. My answer is it's a little of both - to reduce consumption and spend, as well as feeling like I have too much.

At the end of last year I had a bit of a shopping hangover. We moved (San Fran to Chicago) and lost two wardrobe boxes (damaged in storage), and I changed jobs. I bought a LOT without really having any direction. My goal this year was to SLOW DOWN until I could formulate a plan or strategy to accommodate climate+lifestyle and sort through what I have.

To date, I have 159 "out in the world" pieces, which includes tops, bottoms, outerwear, dresses, and shoes. Excludes accessories, loungewear, underwear, and gear. I don't think it's a HUGE wardrobe, but I still feel overwhelmed and lack the confidence to dress myself.

Anonymous

Spring is coming!

I think your overarching goal of slowing down until you can formulate a plan or strategy to accommodate climate+lifestyle is admirable. I found I got into the most trouble when I shopped without a plan or strategy in place. When I took a moment to catch my breath and take stock of where I was and where I wanted to go, I was a much more successful shopper. My only concern is that you potentially narrowed your goals to such an extreme that it might backfire on you.

I adore that green jacket you found. Great purchase.

Anonymous

Wrt having the confidence to dress ourselves .... that is the exact reason I sought out and found YLF. You are in the right place. It just takes a little bit of time.

Brooklyn

Veteran

I kind of think thrifted items should be permitted assuming that they are within budget and you have the space. It helps a charity, doesn’t contribute to waste or landfill and allows you to experiment some while you are working out what you want/need. You can always give them right back to the charity store at no loss to them.

I do agree that it’s important to have a framework going forward, but sometimes it takes a while to work that out!

PS I love the colours that you choose. Go team Autumn!

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

I agree with Brooklyn!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

You're not alone in these shifts, changes, and decisions. I'm on a very similar path, although you are clearly ahead of me in knowing your color ways. Your wardrobe sounds about the same size as mine. I have 87 clothing items for winter, and probably nearly the same for summer. I've also moved from a warm climate (Tampa) to 4 seasons (Berlin), though the winters here aren't as harsh as in Chicago. I've bought 12 pieces of oitw clothing, 4 pr shoes, a jacket, and socks & loungewear this fall/winter. So far I've identified a color direction I want to go that is warm & cheery against the cold, and that flatters me. I'm being incredibly picky about buying anything more, even with that plan in place, because I just feel gorged on clothing. I expect I'll be letting go of a lot of things 6 mos to a year from now.

NancyW

Veteran

You set an intention and it may not fit your real life. Pat yourself on the back, listen to the wise words of others and then set some new (perhaps short term) goals. You have experienced so much change and winter is long and dark in the Midwest and northeast! Be kind and patient with yourself

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

*trying to send Spring your way - and my way*

I'm nodding along with Brooklyn. Great stuff too. I want to see the skirts on! Pretty.

You have to feel, road test, soul search and analyse your way to the right number of fully functional wardrobe items for you because it varies across people. If you're aware of it like you are - it will come. You are well on your way, Nemosmom.

Runcarla

Veteran

Collections of clothes varies across YLF from large to small, but the numbers I see the most are in the 140-150 range - so it doesn't seem like your numbers are particularly high for all the activities that you are called to do in your real life. 12 purchases seems restrictive. A modest seasonal refresh of 2 bottoms, 2 tops, a dress, and a topper would eat up half the allocation.

I'm practicing one in/one out and sticking to a budgeted monthly amount. Since I am currently saving up for a bigger S/S shop, I'm distracting myself with short term personal fashion challenges. I call my favourite challenge 'Pay it forward'. It is a 1 week or 5 day challenge. Pick one item from the day 1 outfit to wear day 2, then a different item from the day 2 outfit to wear day 3, and so on.

Another challenge lets you experiment with a modest closet by restricting the number of clothing items you have access to. You will learn fairly quickly if a small collection of items meets your sartorial needs and allows sufficient creativity to keep you happy. The brief: select 30 items to create a mix and match wardrobe and wear those items (and only those items) over a month. You can select 30 items all at once, or start with 10 items and add 5-7 new items each week - stopping when you reach 30. You can delineate what you consider an item, but I would suggest just counting clothes - not shoes or accessories or outerwear - but it is your choice. By the end you will have a pretty good idea if a modest closet is for you!

nemosmom

Veteran

Sterling - thank you for the reassurance! I feel so lucky to have found YLF. I just need to be patient...

Brooklyn - thanks! I think thrifted items could be ok, so long as I don't go overboard. Your themes are certainly inspiring as I try to build my own framework. Thank you for contributing your ideas and visions to the forum!

FashIntern - GORGED - yes! Exactly!

Nancy - thank you

Angie - Thank you for your reassurance! I'll be happy to post the skirts when it isn't so darn cold.

Carla - I LOVE your challenge ideas! Gaming my closet could be a great way to force myself to identify what I need, what looks work, and encourage me to wear what I have. Thank you for sharing !!

Thank you everyone for your kind comments and wisdom. I chuckled when I recalled suntiger's "trainers" story from her initial challenge post. What I really needed/was looking for was one warmer coat. But, then it turned into, "ooh! Cute top! Hey! A skirt!" *sigh* ... I
may have been a bit too ambitious in my item limit at the onset of the
challenge. Perhaps some
form of one in one out could work.... I'll think about that for March
while sitting on my credit card for the rest of February...

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

BLAST, this sodding weather gets in the way of our style

LaPed

Veteran

Okay, I get that. I definitely have -- and wear -- more clothes living in the Northeast than I did in the Southwest. Seasonless dressing makes minimalism a lot easier! I honestly wouldn't sweat the thrift store additions, though. Think of them as experiments, knowing that if they don't work out you can always re-donate.

I've found capsule-dressing challenges like 30x30 and 10x10 to be really helpful in figuring out what I really need and what's extraneous. I like Runcarla's "pay it forward" idea too!

Windchime

Veteran

Your intentions are commendable. I can somewhat relate...I had a no-buy January (was doing the Marie Kondo thing, instead), and thought I’d continue into February. But in the last two weeks, I’ve come across two items for spring which were huge winners, and it didn’t make sense not to get them, to satisfy some arbitrary goal I’d set. They are both in my closet, and I can’t wait until it’s warm enough to wear them!

However, even though I broke my No Buy guideline, I still bought less, and was more intentional about what I chose, than I might have been otherwise. It sounds like you’ve approached your recent closet additions in the same way.