First post - hello and my wardrobe dilemma

Hi everyone! I'm new here, though I've been lurking for a bit.

I'm 37 and live in NYC, with a job I can dress casually for (not a mom, in case that matters. I have limited wardrobe space, and my love of slightly dressier pieces is fighting with my need for comfort (I tend to bloat and have to dress loosely around my belly sometimes, and I can only really wear flat or low shoes).

I also find my style is an eclectic mix of what I call Kate Spade vs. Rebecca Minkoff. In the past I've been able to balance the two, but lately I've found a new love of boho styles (to a degree - no huge volume or ruffles) is throwing off the balance.

I like: bright colors and jewel tones, statement and conversational prints, and stripes. I love swishy skirts in statement prints, like this one I'm wearing today (botanical garden print), but then I feel like I have too many tops and not enough that actually go with these skirts. So then I just end up wearing a top and jeans because its easier. I also lately like chunky long knit cardigans and peasant tops (especially Lucky Brand). These styles are brand new to me.

I will add that I often cull pieces, but then I over-shop so the wardrobe size doesn't diminish much. I tried a shopping freeze recently to take stock, but then just over-shopped when it was over. I do better if I can feel free to buy a few things as needed or if the fancy strikes me, I guess. I have successfully cut down on buying new sweaters (not enough room to have a ton) and skirts and dresses (don't wear them enough in the winter), at least.

I could just say my style's eclectic and be done with it, but I don't really have the space to have so many pieces - when I'm unsure how many of them go together. I'm trying to keep a wardrobe journal to keep track of what works so I default less to jeans (since I seem unable to stop buying fun skirts, though I've cut down). I am a maximalist with minimalist space, I guess, and the amount of space won't be changing in the foreseeable future. Anyone dealt with a problem like this? I have a lot more details I could provide if anyone wants to ask (I guess I can't upload pics yet, but my space is not set up for me to take good pictures of myself anyway).

Glad to be here!

8 years ago

Tanya

Veteran

Hi Christina, and welcome!
I will come back tonight and comment in much more detail, but the first thing that jumped at me as that it you have all these lovely skirts you adore yet you are not wearing them because you don't have the right tops for them - your tops mainly go with jeans. So the first thing I would do is focus on finding 1-2tops for each of those lovely skirts. There are some posts on the main blog about the right kind of top to wear with the fuller skirt and I will link to them tonight.

Anonymous

Welcome Christina!
Your style sounds really interesting. We need a swishy skirt representative on this forum!
I do deal with a lack of space: I live in a small house with small closets and no opportunity to borrow closets. So my wardrobe is pretty small---but I doubt it is New York small.
Welcome!

Christina F.

Thanks!

About my top issue, I will add that I am VERY short-waisted and have trouble with finding tops going with my skirts unless they are short or aren't tucked in. Tucking doesn't look right to me 90% of the time, but I can occasionally manage it with a pencil skirt and something like a chambray shirt. ! I'm never sure that things look right belted either.

My hips also start to curve out generously right below my waist, which is relatively small (I'm a pear). My husband loves it, but it can make dressing a challenge!

Welcome! I think you will find lots of support and ideas here as you go along. I know Angie and YLF have really helped me define my style much better, but it does take time and patience:)

rachylou

Welcome Christina! Since moving back to uberopolis, from the suburbs, I have been living in tiny bedsits. I've tossed half my wardrobe, and still have too much to store nicely. I spend a lot of time thinking of new rules by which to cull! Lol!

DonnaF

I am short and use hangers that stack to maximize my closet space, even on the side with double rods. : )

Penny

Sounds like a fun wardrobe! I like Tanya's idea of finding a few tops to coordinate with your favorite skirts.

For me, I like having a list of my clothes, sorted by type and occasion (e.g., work dresses, work blazers, special-event dresses), and when I see say, a lovely new special-event dress, I have to be willing to part with one of my existing special-event dresses because I only need a small number. This also helped in the culling process when I had too many similar items for a specific activity, and so I pared down to my favorites.

Looking forward to hearing more from you, and there are lots of great resources here!

aly

Active Member

As a short person with a similar body type and lots of skirts, I definately recommend finding some dedicated tops to work with your skirts. These tops are generally different to the tops that will work easily with pants...although I strongly suspect that culottes/wide-leg cropped pants need very similar tops. So, looking at what Angie and others are wearing with these styles of pants may be relevant. Angie has written some great resources for "orphan" skirts so do check these out.
I find these two types of tops work really well with minimum fuss and thought - (1) cropped boxy tops and/or shortish tops with peplums or welts; and (2) tucked fitted knit tops with a blazer/moto jacket over the top. A cardigan would probably work with (2) too.
Of course, the options are unlimited - these are just two that work for me on days when my tummy is sore FWIW I do have a lot of tops that work well with both skirts and pants but I often tuck or wear them differently.

chewyspaghetti

I would go through your closet and see what you actually have, as far as outfits go- and then take photos or make a list of what works. Any item that you can't pair with at least two other items should either go, or be the focus of your next shopping trip.

anne

Welcome. Hope all the advice so far will help you!

Thanks everyone! I'm going to separate out my skirt tops from non skirt tops, then seeing if I have any gaps. Currently, my tops are divided by sleeve length, but that may not be as useful to me.

chewyspaghetti that's something I'd really like to do but have found I have no time for. The weekend is best, but our weekends tend to fill up. Ah well, it's a good problem to have.

April

Welcome, Christina! With statement skirts, it seems like you may need to stock up on basic tops (solids in colors that go with the skirts). That's not over-shopping, that's shopping for essentials.

Summer

Welcome Christina!

I agree that you could do with more solid colour tops to pair with the statement skirts.

MovingFashionForward

One thing that has helped me even since my drastic wardrobe edit (which I have written about before) is to get Stylebook and actually do the work of cataloguing my entire wardrobe. I created categories that are meaningful to me personally, like "Hot weather self-contained outfit dresses" rather than using the existing generic categories, and I found that once everything was categorised according to the way I personally think about how to dress, this highlighted some major wardrobe holes and also some categories that clearly still need to be reduced.

From the POV of your skirt that you end up not wearing, the "Looks" part of Stylebook might be very helpful, if only because it gets one trying on different stuff to create outfits to add to the Looks section.

You might also be interested in a post (possibly today's?) on The Vivienne Files about how to edit your wardrobe by clusters. Admittedly, in the editing described, the fun skirts ended up being edited out, but the process described might help you come up with ways to wear the skirt you love, or might help you work out what you need to buy to pair with the skirt.

WRT the issue of conflicting styles, I had this very issue myself some years back, and I solved it by analysing what kinds of things I actually want to be wearing in real life in each specific sphere/activity/occasion/part of my actual life. For me the generic way of thinking about it ("home vs social vs work") did not bring this clarity. I had to think about specific things I do in my actual life. Might that help you? (I wrote about this in a long comment on this thread -- https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....es-closets.)

Have fun with your wardrobe!

Sarah

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Another welcome from me, and sounds like you're in good hands.

So I've divided up my tops between pants tops and skirt tops. That's already given me some clarity about what I need to add and don't need.

MovingFashionForward the comment you linked to is helpful. I too don't think I can divide the two styles I favor into work vs. non-work or anything that simple. But I'm starting to see a few formulas that I return to again and again. My style, lifestyle and weight both changed during the past few years, and I'm still coming to terms with both in a very limited space - I suspect the process will go on for a bit longer, but my thinking has advanced as a result of making this post. Thanks, all!

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