Hi fabbers: it's been a while!

I don't think I've posted here since September, which is when we moved into a new house, and that has naturally taken over much of my creative attention and leisure time over the last months. But year-end reflections are one of my favorite things about YLF, and -- despite what a strange year it has been -- it seems like a good time to catch up and reflect.

Last year I wrote about how posting on YLF and tracking purchases here has helped me stay focused and make fewer mistakes: that remains absolutely true! I've tracked all of my clothing, shoes, and accessories purchases month-by-month this year, using the YLF "Collections" feature. Especially as my shopping has moved entirely online, it has become absolutely essential in my process: helping me to get a sense of how any given piece will "fit" in the whole and helping me to identify holes and avoid too much reduplication. Thank you, Angie and Greg, for maintaining this feature!

Color: As a neutral-focused dresser, I've struggled with color in the past, but keeping capsules of my key colors (white, olive, camel, everything else) has helped me to identify patterns: for example, I found mid-year that my color for 2020 was white and I have happily leaned in! As was true last year, only time will tell what my 2021 color will be (perhaps inky blue!?), but these collections will help me to spot it when it appears.

Style notes: At the beginning of 2020, my style notes were "Classic Soft Elegant." At some point in the year (in fact, thanks to the wonder of the YLF archive, I can see that it was the end of May!) I hit upon the phrase "Softly Utilitarian," which has been working for me ever since. It has allowed me to feel a-ok about investing in warm and cold weather activewear, very practical, since I am able to drive out of the city to do a little hiking about two times per week, and in slippers, sleepwear, and loungewear, since -- well -- it's 2020! And it has also guided my proper clothing purchases, too, leading me to feel great about replacing and quadruplicating (!) my favorite jeans and to enrich my capsule of Zoom-ready tops, shirts, and sweaters: all very "useful" when getting dressed for WFH, with an attention to fabrics that are softly structured and easy to launder. It has also made it easy to say goodbye to some pieces that weren't serving me because of unpleasant fabrication, fussy cuts, or wear. Overall, there's been far less churn and a lot more enjoyment, which is a huge win.

Anyway, thanks to those of you who read this far. And again, to Angie and Greg for making this space: thank you, thank you, and happy 2021 to all!