Findings from the wearing my orphans project

Hi all!

You can find my initial post on this subject here. Since I posted last, I've been mostly lurking. I've traveled to see my mom (no outfit photos - very casual) but otherwise tried to wear my orphans a lot of the time. I'm including outfits where I succeeded in the photos.

As to some of the remaining orphans, now that I'm trying to reach for one per day, I'm starting to figure out why they aren't worn. They may not be orphans per se, but rather high summer orphans. In other words, I'm not wearing them because either the fabric is not breathable, or because, in the case of some tops, the shape is wrong for the types of looser bottoms I wear during high summer.

Thus, I should be treating some of the remaining items as being appropriate for shoulder season or cooler summer days. Many of the tops can be layered, so it's no problem to wear them right until winter. I've included examples of these as finds.

In the future, I may need to organize my warm weather items even further to divide up high summer from shoulder weather. In the meantime, I will be trying to wear the hot weather orphans I have left, but a few aren't appropriate for work, so that may be difficult. Then the other items can be mixed into my early Fall wardrobe (and later late spring). That's when I'll be able to determine if I really wear them, or not.

1. Orphan skirt. I like it a lot but it may not feel structured enough for work. The jacket helped.

2. Orphan top. This one has the stain that won’t come out, but I’m a very non-noticeable place. It’s possile this could be taken up a little in the shoulders, too. The linen fabric is a winner. I may try again to get the small stain out.

3. Orphan top. Could also maybe be taken up. I do love it, though the lining is slightly tight.

4. Orphan top again. This one is poly but very loose, so it should see some more use as things cool down. I like it a lot with white, and don't have much else in this color palette.

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Nordstrom

Vince Camuto Tiered Ruffled Hem Floral Blouse

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Floral Ruffle Back Shell

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5 years ago

Elizabeth P

Veteran

Funny Christina, as you know, my personal challenge was almost the opposite of yours... to make sure I wore the tops I know I love, and not worry about the orphans. But my conclusions were very much the same - the tops I reached for were the natural fiber ones, not the poly ones, because of the heat we had this year. But it doesn't necessarily mean that the ones I didn't wear should be passed on... shoulder seasons, or a more "normal" summer (I wonder if we'll ever have them again, or have we destroyed our planet too much ) and they easily could be worn. Or as you said, with bottoms that are more suited to cooler temps. But regardless, sounds like we've both narrowed down our "high summer" needs a bit!

Sara L.

I agree that the last outfit with white is great. I like the color of the top in #2 also. Too bad about the stain - at least it's somewhere no one will notice it. I had a dress that I loved that ended up with a stain right in the middle of my boob and it was so obvious that the dress was ruined.

Christina F.

Elizabeth, you make a great point - we have had summers both hotter and cooler than the current one, here in NYC. We've had some really hot days, but they were broken up with less hot ones. So it's good to keep a variety of items around. I have to do the same for winters, because we had two really frigid ones followed by a relatively mild one. I feel better once I know why I'm not wearing something. In some cases, the problem will be a more specific issue such as fit, and I'd like to identify anything like that, if I can. I am content to keep things that may not be right for the current weather.

Sara, that top is GREAT, and the linen is a beautiful, substantial weight (Boden, unsurprisingly). So I hope to try something else with the stain, though the dry cleaner could not fully remove it. No one but me would see it, so I'm trying not to let it bother me. It's too bad about your ruined dress!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I like yours and Elizabeth's reasoning for why items aren't worn. Knowledge is power.

Christina, I like the way you rock midis. #1 is my my fab fave.

Thanks, Angie. I'm reminded of your post today. One reason I've always liked midis on me is that I think my calves look nice with them. That skirt was never in any danger of being passed on, but I need to figure out how many tops can be paired with it, a la Elizabeth's solution of finding 3 ways to wear something.

Thistle

Great way to reason through and figure out why. Best way to make a plan.

And this keeps you from purging something you really will use in the correct season.

Thistle, yes, I don't want to over-purge. That comes with its own problems.

Another problem I discovered - some things really need to be on hangers to avoid wrinkles, and I'm not sure I have the hanging space. (And yes, I do everything I can to maximize my hanging space, velvet hangers, skirt and pants hangers that fit multiples, etc.) I hate ironing and don't have the time or patience to do it. I don't need things to be crease free, but I won't wear something overly wrinkled, either. I may let this go for the rest of this summer, but I'll be mindful of it next summer when I'm unpacking (I have to put clothes in seasonal storage), as I may have to make some tough choices. On the other hand, I may have two more summers at most in this apartment before we upgrade, and I imagine I'll have more closet space.

Jessikams

That skirt in 1 looks so great on you! Jealous, as that style seems useful for hot weather but looks SO BAD on me. You wear it well, it doesn’t look unstructured or sloppy to my eye at all. You’re right that the white jacket makes it look even perkier.

jussie

Each of these outfits look nice to my eye. With the midi skirt for work, you could try it with a more dressy shoe if you felt the skirt was borderline too casual. Looks gorgeous as is though.

Jessikams, my issue was more with the tank top I wore, which was mostly obscured by the jacket. But point taken! Thank you!

Jussie, I agree, but due to my back issues the number of shoes I can comfortably wear is limited right now (and I dislike carrying extra shoes to work). I have to take that into consideration when assessing an outfit, though!

Liz A.

Christina, I'm seeing some bunching around the hips in pic 3. Otherwise looking great!

Liz, you are correct. I may try to determine whether taking it up at the waist would move it off that hips and alleviate that problem. Since the limit layer would be tight either way, I tend to think it won’t. For the moment, it’s probably going in seasonal storage to see how it fits next year. Then I can decide whether tailoring will help and is worth the trouble.

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