I really liked sitting down at the end of each month and thinking about my shopping habits with the shopping challenge last year, and I thought I'd extend that to my mindful shopping and wearing plans for 2020. This all somewhat random, but it's what's going through my head looking at my spreadsheet and thinking about the month.

1. The power of 30 wears. Many of us have been aiming, through wardrobe tracking, to bring our clothing to the #30wears threshold. I was just looking at my spreadsheet from last year, and I let go of 30 items (a bit less than 1/3 of my wardrobe) over the course of the year. 18 of those items were at 30 wears or higher, and of those 18, all but one were retired for wear and tear. The one exception was a heavy parka that I passed on to a coat drive, knowing it would do more good in Colorado than California. Four more items, all above 25 wears, were also passed on for wear. Everything under that threshold went for other reasons, like fit, style, or staining.

I can only conclude that, however arbitrary the thirty wears number might be, it's a pretty good indicator for the minimum number of wears it takes to wear a piece out. (Obviously, some things last way beyond that. The item I retired with the most wears was sitting at 138.)

2. Accidental SYC. I didn't set out to do shop-your-closet in January, but I did end up mostly wearing what I had. I purchased two layering/sleepwear tanks mid-month as direct replacements for ones that had stretched out over years of wear. The old ones were no longer supportive enough to keep me comfortable without a bra during my shingles outbreak, which made me realize I probably should have replaced them months, if not years ago. I'd classify these as basics, but they were still a purchase.

3. Not prepared for nice weather. I'm realizing that my wardrobe is adequately equipped for chilly days and freezing days and blisteringly hot days. Nice days? 72° and sunny? Not so much. We're having one of those days today, and I just don't have a go-to for that yet. I have a long-sleeved linen dress on the way that I'm hoping will work well, but it's slooow, made-to-order fashion, and won't be here until late February or early March. Hopefully, that's right on time for a few more months of warm and breezy.