How far ahead do you plan? - YouLookFab Forum

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Dressing

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Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

How far ahead do you plan?

Ginger

Veteran

Outfits, that is!

Many style blogs recommend planning out outfits for the upcoming week. Often they include trying everything on to make sure it works, unless it's a repeat recent enough to know that there aren't new fit/wear issues.

I've heard several YLF-ers say they do plan out for a week, so I know this isn't just Overachiever Advice. It makes sense, because it avoids the early-morning blahs and mind fog that can waste time and result in strange choices. Most of us have had had a "What was I thinking?!" moment during the first restroom run of the day.

But personally, I find it very difficult to plan more than a few days in advance. When I've tried, I usually find myself very resistant to what I had already decided days before. I feel like a bratty kid arguing with myself! If I go ahead and wear it anyway, I feel really cranky all day. Instead, I've imposed a discipline of planning the night before. It's about the latest possible point, but it has worked pretty well.

Sometimes I wonder why I'm this way. I consider myself pretty organized, not impulsive, liking routine, etc. It's true that I'm very responsive to weather conditions, and it's hard to tell during certain seasons what the temperature and feel will actually be on a given day. But that doesn't hold true in the summer or winter, and I'm just as bratty about what I want to wear in those seasons.

Perhaps the biggest factor is my reaction to what I wore the day before. If for some reason I found my flats irksome that day, I'm going to want to wear heels the next day. Or maybe I loved the feel of my leggings today. Wear a similar formula tomorrow! And so forth. Maybe this makes me an emotional dresser? It does mean I've been extremely hesitant to try any challenges at all. Because the advance planning required makes it very likely I'll end up with outfits that I just don't want to wear.

I'm really curious now if I'm the lone bratty non-planner, or if there are others who know that planning doesn't work for them. If you do plan, how do you go about it?

Dressing

43 replies

Latest reply was from Windchime

Anonymous

For everyday wear, I dress according to mood and weather, so not much planning here. About the most I do to be prepared outfit-wise is to keep up with my pile of ironing! That way I can maximize my choices.

If it's for a special event, I pretty much lose my mind, obsess over every detail for weeks, and drive myself up the walls.

Anonymous

Bratty non-planner reporting for duty! Heck, I don't decide whether I'm having a square of chocolate or a cookie with my morning tea until I'm pouring the tea in the mug! Occasionally I'm a reach-for-whatever-outfit-was-thrown-off-the-night-before person too

I will watch this thread for planning advice...

plonkee

Not much planning here, except for practical reasons. Never thought of planning out my outfits for a week - but I'm a 'flexible organiser'.

abc

Veteran

I usually think a tad bit about it the night before, that's it. I make sure I stay up on laundry though - I am one of those people that hates being in a situation where I decide I wanna wear something and heaven forbid it's in the dirty laundry.

Alassë

Veteran

I think you have to go with your personality. Will you be horrified if I say I sometimes plan months at a time? Loosely, of course. I try on all the clothes for a season (light fall, cool fall, etc.), list the outfits, divide the outfits into sections for days (pockets needed when out & about, nicer for church, etc.), then leave the entire list for that season. Labeled, of course. When the weather's getting close to a turnover, I start picking the 1st week's worth of outfits. (I do reorganize those choices every so often, too.)

Sara L.

Veteran

I usually plan my outfits the night before to streamline my morning routine. I have time at night to stand in front of my closet but not in the morning. I will occasionally plan for a day later in the week, but not always. And that usually has to do with an event or weather. As in, I need to wear flats on Thursday for X reason so I won't wear those flats today (I hate to wear the same pair of shoes two days in row) or it's going to rain on Wed so I'll wear boots on that day. I don't fully plan outfits until the night before even if I have some idea earlier in the week for that day.

unfrumped

Veteran

I have been a non-planner and likely am still that way but am trying to do more pre-planning. Nights run late and most mornings are not good.

I was most interested in feeling better as I rushed off to work, that I was "comfortable" in all senses of the word, and next, how or whether planning and setting aside "outfits" would help with my wardrobe review and edit, because I wasn't wearing all my things, or not often enough.

I've been trying doing about a week's worth though it's more like 5-6 outfits and then I might do something erratic one day. It's kind of stop & go, not a perfect habit at this point yet. So if I can see that I have 6 possible good outfits for the week it kind of makes me stop and think before adding something else to my wardrobe. And it makes me wear things and make decisions about them.

I also have some of the rebellious feelings, or mood or weather issues, but also I'm trying to see, if I set up this outfit because thought it was great, and I wasn't just dying to jump into it, why is that and what did I choose instead? I'm finding a combination of brattiness, and then sometimes oops, look where that gets you in the morning rush--back to meh outfit--or it's because the outfit isn't as good as I thought and some other fallback outfit is more comfortable in some way, and so I'm learning from that.

Diana

Veteran

Usually, I don't plan at all, unless I have a Very Important Thing to dress for. I throw things together the morning of for the most part. Some times this works out better than other times. But that's why we have FFBOs.

Of course, I do sometimes get ideas in my head, like "I want to try this top with these boots" or whatever, but I rarely actually plan the entire outfit. And even more rarely do I actually try it on ahead of time. I think Una had a post recently about how doing "X ways to style this new purchase" photos was really a chore, and I kind of feel the same way about trying on complete outfits.

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

I sometimes plan out my outfit the night before, and I only end up wearing what I picked about half the time. I have a pretty laid-back life, though. On the rare days I have to be somewhere early in the morning, I do try to lay out my clothes the night before. As it turns out, if I'm getting dressed pre-coffee, I'll probably stick to the plan. Post-coffee, anything goes.

I also have a hard time repeating outfits from my database with perfect precision. I almost always change some little detail... the shoes, accessories, bag, etc.

Liz A.

Veteran

I make myself think of an outfit for the day after I have checked the weather on my iPad but before I get out of bed! This maximizes the amount of time in bed and minimizes time standing in front of the closet. I have to say, though, that my plan sometimes goes awry if things just don't look as good together as I had anticipated. Then it's time for a fast fallback.

Anonymous

I am quite the planner. My work week varies considerably and I loosely plan out what I am going to wear for the entire work week based on my schedule. I take into account weather as well.

That said, if I wake up the morning of an important meeting and I am just not feeling that day's planned outfit, I will switch it up immediately. I have safe, comfortable fall-back options that always work for me and I very much prefer safe and comfortable over a rigid plan.

Cerinda

Veteran

I'm an improvisor by nature, but I know I need structure around me. It's all I can do to keep pushing myself to take daily WIWs. But what's working is that I use the description field in my photo software to note what needs to be different in the next iteration.

I get out of the shower, open the laptop, check the weather, and head for favorites in the photo app; if nothing rings my chimes, I search the closet for tops hanging backwards (i.e. not worn this month) and then look at the near misses. Yeah, sometimes all method just flies out the window...

approprio

(website)

Veteran

Depends. If I have something very important or a really early start, I will always plan ahead. Other times I just head for the closet and grab whatever takes my fancy.

When I'm in the mood and have a bit of time to spare, I trawl the wardrobe styling things for the fun of it, so I have a lot of combinations already in my head. Most days I have an idea for a weather/activity appropriate outfit I'd like to wear and I go for that. I am also a shameless repeater. If I've put together a really great look, I'm definitely wearing it more than once.

That said, some days I get completely stuck and nothing works. I think it's hormonal.

Ginger

Veteran

Wow! I'm honestly amazed at how many non/minimal planners there are! And we're ALL making our routine work, for the most part.

Xtabay and abc, keeping up with laundry is definitely important. I've got a fairly large wardrobe so that's not usually an issue, unless I get a basic really dirty ten days before I'm due to wash again...

Diane G, that's awesome! There definitely has been some good advice so far.

plonkee, "flexible organizer" is a pretty smart way to handle it. It sounds like you can and do plan ahead to a helpful extent, but you can be responsive to weather, needs, mood, etc. without feeling like a brat.

Alassë, I'm not horrified - I'm in awe! I can scarcely fathom that amount of organization, at least at this point in my style journey. I can see how it would work if I'd have a well-organized set of capsules, though, and a wide array of outfit formulas to fall back on. A couple of years ago I did have to stand in front of the closet every morning, trying to figure out what to do. The night-before routine took some discipline, but it's working now, and very rarely is a thought-of outfit rejected when it's actually put together. So maybe I'll get to the point where you are! Maybe. (I'll probably always be a brat!)

Sara L., that sounds exactly like what I do! I consider the week ahead and sketch out some guidelines as necessary. Like if I've got meetings at a distance - one of the buildings where I work is literally a mile long - footwear is a consideration. Or if rain is forecast, I'll plan something that works with waterproof boots or Saltwater sandals. I also have a real aversion to wearing the same shoes too often!

unfrumped, it's a really good idea to consider why you're feeling rebellious about a planned outfit. When I was planning more, ironically I also had less of an understanding of my clothing and what I liked. So I might be able to plan better now. I know that variety and mood are still really big for me.

Diana, you're even more of a free spirit! I love it! I agree, try-ons really are a lot of work. Even the false starts can be worth it, in place of formal try-ons.

Jenn, I find that time restrictions definitely affect me. I often don't worry about a night-before decision unless I have an early morning. I rarely repeat something exactly, either, unless it's a super-basic summer outfit.

Liz A., that's essentially the same as what I do! I've had a lot fewer morning failures over time, though seasonal changes always get me. It's like I forget how to dress myself.

Sterling, that's actually pretty close to what I do. I don't plan the actual outfits, but I do tend to consider the week as a whole, including activities and weather, and more outline some ideas. Like "deal with the heat and wear summer stuff for 3 days, then break out some boots with the cold front on the 4th day."

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I rarely plan an outfit before getting dressed unless there is something special I'm dressing for or I know I'll be pressed for time in the morning. But this is also a product of being self-employed and having days that vary widely in activities. Sometimes if I'm really excited to wear a new purchase, I'll plan an outfit around it in my head before I go to sleep.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I almost never plan ahead except for travel capsules, or if I need to dress for a special and specific event. Even if I'm doing an appearance I usually wait until the "day of" to decide. Like I'm doing right now (I have to give a reading in a couple of hours and haven't yet decided what I will wear).

I'm a weather-based dresser, since I walk almost everywhere. I also go by mood. So planning too far ahead won't work for me.

Ginger

Veteran

Cerinda, that sounds like a really good solution. It's a nice balance of structure and improvisation. For you, the discipline of taking WIW's is totally worth it because of the resource it gives you for planning.

approprio, I like that approach! Trawling images is also a great way for me to immerse myself in a concept; when I'm "in that zone," so to speak, it's a lot easier to put things together. And yes, I definitely have days where nothing works.

Janet, I know that having set requirements really calls for some discipline. And I always want to wear new purchases as soon as I get them! It's killing me to wait on my new fall stuff!

Ginger

Veteran

Suz, I never would have guessed that! You always seem to put so much thought into your WIW's, they really don't look like last-minute decisions. You're sure doing it right!

Susie

Veteran

I rebel more at the idea of having 1 outfit planned (like planning the night before for the next day) and then feeling like I HAVE to wear that one. And I really don't like the way I used to get dressed in the morning, flitting from one idea to another, trying something and not liking it, and wasting enough time that I ended up throwing something on and feeling crappy all day.

Instead, I pre-plan a number of outfits (anywhere from 5-20) and then choose one of them, based on what I feel like wearing that day, the weather, and considering what's going on that day (ie I dress up a bit more when I am interviewing people, Fridays are more casual, etc). And I only pre-select the clothing...choosing what shoes, bag and accessories to wear when I actually get dressed leaves just enough flexibility/creativity for me.

Oh and all of that is for dressing for the office Monday-Friday. I don't pre-plan casual, weekend outfits.

David Owen

Depends a lot on the wheather my wife says... I agree.

retailgirl

Veteran

I plan about a week ahead, with considerations for the weather. I keep on top of my laundry. If I have an event planned weeks or a month ahead, I think about what I want to wear then. I always have my fast fall back outfits all set. I keep a spreadsheet with outfits that work and I can usually put something together easily.

Aida

Veteran

Weather and mood dresser here. I almost never plan. Will often come up with something the night before, something else in the shower... and change my mind again by the time I'm done brushing teeth. Actually my best outfits come to mind while I'm brushing my teeth -- something to do with the sonicare vibrating my brain maybe?

I will plan ahead for some (but not all) events, or anything that requires special clothing, but always leave the option open to change my mind once the day arrives. So usually in those cases I will come up with more than one option so that I don't have to start from scratch if I'm not feeling up to it. Travel also is usually planned, but in more of a capsule as opposed to hard-and-fast outfits.

All that said, I do jot down interesting outfit ideas as they come to me and visit those on any day where I'm not feeling inspired. A sort of experimental FFBO list, since they're usually "untested" looks. Sometimes they work out and sometimes they don't (had one of those this week, boo). And of course it's nice having photos of past outfits so that if I Really Just Need A Great Outfit Right Now, I can refer to those and wear something I know is fab.

catgirl

Veteran

Er, plan?

I always plan to plan ahead, but even on weeks like this when I have to be at work at 6 a.m. I seem to prefer stumbling around in the dark, only realizing later that my black tights are actually purple.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I'm like Susie, I tend to pull together a bunch of outfits - a couple of weeks worth - and hang them as options, and then I have them there to grab in the morning if one of them interests me. Usually it's trying to wear things I haven't worn in a while or that are new, or that I want to remix in outfits.

I used to plan a week ahead based on what I had going on at work and after, and that was helpful when I had early mornings and didn't get home to change for evening activities.

JAileen

Veteran

If I have something special coming up I may save a favorite garment for it. Most of my events are super casual, so I might be saving a favorite striped tee for lunch with friends.

Anonymous

I plan my outfits the night before--unless it's a special event, in which case I plan more in advance. I keep up with the laundry to make it easier to wear what suits my fancy, but I do try to wear different things so nothing's just hanging in my closet not being used.

Anonymous

I don't think I plan. What I do is tell myself, "I must wear xyz thing once a week this month" in order to make sure I'm making good use of it. So, I guess I'm a very loose planner. And I only started doing this quota thing recently, and I think it's because I'm buying costlier pieces.

Maneera

(website)

Veteran

I am a planner by nature. When I buy something new, I do an elaborate try-on session and see how the piece works with rest of my wardrobe. I try it with different silhouettes and colours and get a better hang of the piece.

But once that is done, I don't plan outfits everyday. I am a mood & weather dresser on a day to day basis. I don't decide what I'll wear until it's time to go shower! But then, I lead a pretty casual life and work from home, so I don't feel the need to stress over it.

Occasionally, I will plan in advance. This happens when I want to consciously incorporate a piece I've neglected for too long into an outfit. Or if I particularly want to wear something I 'like' all day long at home to see if it's even comfortable as day-long wear or better used only when I go out for a few hours.

Carole

Veteran

I sometimes think about what I will wear tomorrow if it's just an ordinary day....but honestly, because of the weather variables, it makes me wait...seems what's predicted a few days ahead changes..and that changes everything. If it's a special event, I'll have a few options to cover the weather variables!

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