I did not set a particular limit for the “item budget challenge” but instead stated that I want to be more mindful of both what comes in and what leaves my wardrobe this year. I may set specific number-related goals later in the year once I have more data. For now I see this as an opportunity to shine a light on my shopping (and culling) habits to better understand my strengths and weaknesses in this area.

In January my wardrobe experienced more “churn” than I expect to be typical. Organizing our new wardrobes and the basics review/edit earlier this month spurred me to pass quite a few things on. Meanwhile, building back up after that basics review meant that I added more than average. I’ve also observed in the past that January tends to be a heavy shopping month for me. I’m not sure exactly why this is the case.

Thanks for reading!

Out:

• A bunch of worn-out basics (camisoles, long-john shirts) plus a pair of ill-fitting silk long-john pants. All from around 2014-2015.
• Some items from my holding zone. Primarily several pairs of pants from ~2015 that are currently too small but I decided I don’t like enough to save in case of weight loss.

Lesson: My holding zone is primarily a place where I stash items that I’m having trouble detaching from. As long as my holding zone doesn’t expand too much (it’s one small plastic bin that lives on the top shelf of my wardrobe), I’m not going to beat myself up about it.

• Medium-wash and gray skinny jeans (J. Crew, fall 2017), dark-wash straight jeans (Old Navy, fall 2017)

Lesson: I am more likely to “settle” when buying things at retail than when purchasing secondhand. This might seem surprising (the usual assumption would be that the lower price point secondhand would make me less critical/picky). I think two things are going on here. First, when making a retail purchase I’m often trying on multiple sizes and even multiple styles/brands of an item, so the temptation is to think “which one is best?” rather than “are any of these close enough to perfect to merit adding to my wardrobe?” Second, although I’m a huge fan of secondhand shopping I think I still have some prejudice that says retail is “better.” So I figure, on some half-conscious level: well, this is as good as I’m going to do, so might as well accept it and move on. I wonder if that prejudice floating in the background even makes me less critical/picky when evaluating retail purchases?

• 4 tops from Loft: Breton tee (thrifted, 2015?), chambray popover (thrifted, 2017), black long-sleeve tee (retail, Jan 2018), blush plaid popover (retail, Dec 2018)

Lesson: I need to be really careful about shopping at Loft. That Breton tee got a lot of wear (it’s legit worn out, though I’d probably be keeping it if it weren’t also a little snug). Overall, though, I’m finding that I get sucked into shopping there because I like the aesthetic and the price point, but items just don’t have staying power in my wardrobe — the cuts aren’t quite right for me, and the quality isn’t there in the items that I’m buying. That plaid popover shrank and the dye bled on first wash — maddening!

• Blue tennies (retail, 2015) — replaced with exact item, see below.

In (see photo):

• Navy wool-silk scarf with sequins (Anthropologie, Ebay). - A dressy item that could be worn as an outerwear scarf in cold seasons or as a wrap in warm weather.
• pink 3/4 sleeve cardi (J. Crew, Ebay) - Joins my collection of lightweight, 3/4-sleeve cardis that I rely on in the summer months. It will be interesting to see how I wear this given my penchant for pink summer shoes — will I enjoy being matchy-matchy or will I deliberately avoid matching with my footwear?
• ivory/red scarf with gull print (Bindya, Poshmark) - total impulse purchase. I love gulls! This is lightweight and will be a spring/summer scarf — it fits with the “nautical” vibe of much of my warm-weather wardrobe, contrasts nicely with navy/white, and forms a complement with a cardi and a pair of clog sandals that I already own.

Lesson: At a price point below about $20, I have a hard time passing up good quality items that I think will have staying power in my wardrobe, even if they aren’t the highest priority. That’s true of all 3 items above. But, those small purchases add up — both in terms of money spent and in my sense of the volume I’m bringing in. So I need to make sure such purchases don’t displace more urgent needs.

• 4 camis, 4 longsleeve thermal tops (Uniqlo, retail) - Replace worn-out basics that were discarded.
• Blue canvas tennies (Victoria, Amazon) Exact replacement for shoes bought in 2015 and worn heavily. I would have liked to have replaced these last year but the color wasn’t available by the time I went looking for it, so I hopped on it earlier this year.
• Vintage Asian-style cardi (Ebay) - From the pictures online I expected this to be more sea-green. But it is actually TURQUOISE, haha, for once I am ahead of the trends! I anticipate wearing this as a dressy summer topper. However, I need to make sure I have the support acts to make it work.
• Charcoal sweater tunic (Nieman Marcus, Ebay) - for my “skinnies + sweater tunic” super-simple at-home outfit formula. I’m super psyched about the tweedy effect — I’ve been wanting to add tweedy knitwear to my wardrobe. Note to self: if I expand this sweater-tunic capsule any further, I should add a NON-neutral.
• 3 pr black crew socks (Gap, retail) - Inspired by my wardrobe basics review, to eliminate laundry bottlenecks.

Bought and returned:

• 3 pr Jogger pants (Gap, retail) - Wanted to improve my loungewear capsule after basics review. These didn’t fit — rise too high.
• Black skinny jeans, Medium-wash bootcut jeans (Old Navy, retail) — In the spirit of absolutely no retail stone unturned, I wondered if girls’ jeans would be cut with lower rises than women’s. Narrator voice: they are not. Back they went!