My style journey - a pondering

So I've been undergoing a midlife crisis - employment, aging, relationships, coming to grips with my body, blah blah blah. And of course this ends up in my closet, right? If *I'm* confused, my closet is certainly going to be!

Well, I have yet to chuck my husband but I *have* been storming my closet. I've purged loads and there's more to go! In doing this, a few things came clear to me that may have already been clear to the rest of you, but humor me.

* I don't plan outfits. I like to reach in and know that everything will pretty much play nice with everything else. The idea of planning an outfit actually makes me feel trapped and unhappy. I like to have options, then select from them, instead.

* I don't typically enjoy myself in patterns or color. I prefer textures. That means I have a lot of black and white, gray, navy - deeper shades - and whites. But they are all texturally interesting. (Where do I like color? In accessories and shoes.)

* I gravitate toward two styles of items:
- fitted, classic cuts (typically pants and jackets)
- avant-garde, archetectural, deconstructed, or slightly unexpected iterms (typically tops) that have looser fits, or visual or hand texture, or can be layered to add visual interest

- I LOVE wearing these two styles together!

Well, maybe this was all dawn breaking over marblehead, but it seems like a big epiphany to *me!* (Bear with me, ladies! I'll get there eventually.)

Upshot? I'm off to pull anything that isn't simple and clean, or unexpected and rough, out of my closet and into a holding bin. And then we'll see what happens!

13 years ago

Meredith1953

Veteran

It sounds like you really have pinpointed what you love and reach for. I am still trying to do that and I applaud your determination to keep only what you love in your closet! Way to go!
I don't plan my stuff either and I would like to make everything play nicely together. I also like simple clean lines. Where I struggle is with finding tops that are interesting. Right now I have latched onto stripes with a vengeance since for me it is a way to bring more interest to my very sedate outfits.

(website)

I like your point about not planning outfits but wanting everything to play well together so you can grab and go. I do the same, but never verbalized it like you just did.
I never thought of your closet as not being in line with your style goals, but perhaps we only see the slice you are wearing and much of what you aren't, isn't in line with them and so that's why it's not getting worn.
Sounds like you've got an excellent grasp on where you are going, and why. Bravo.

Suz

Dana, you are such a wonderful writer.

Because you think so well.

I like your thought here about just wanting everything to play together, not wanting to plan. I realize it is what I imagine for my closet, too, but i am nowhere, and I mean Nowhere as close to this as I perceive you are.

I think what we've seen in your WIW pretty much conforms with what you say here, so the revelations of what you like and what you typically reach for don't come as a surprise, but that is probably a good thing.

You seem to have a very consistent look, to me.

Jaime

The important part is for you to see it, or feel it, for yourself. Sure thinking back to your outfits we can see how your insights apply, but that doesn't help you get dressed in the morning and feel good. These insights will.

Transcona Shannon

This is good "mental" work!

Abie

I envy the clarity and decisiveness you have about your style and behaviors. Good work indeed. I'm still very much in the experimental phase. You give me hope that I will get there =)

christieanne

My observation is that your description fits the things I see you wearing. I can't imagine what possible rejects you have in your closet though. Purge away!

Anonymous

I envy your closet clarity! I can just imagine your clothes playing together sneakily after you leave for the day, lol!

Spot on analysis, IK! You are well on your way to wardrobe nirvana!

mrseccentric

first- oh how i hear you! mid-life hit me hard in the closet, too

but at the end of it i can, believe it or not, reach in my closet, grab what 'makes sense' that day and find i've ended up in a great outfit. i got there in *precisely* the way you've outlined. i am a completely anal hard@ss about what i let into my closet in the first place. Like you, lots of neutrals, lots of classics with rugged and 'victoriana' pieces for spice. And of course some Issey Miyake,

but the only way that will work is to figure out what you really love and can truthfully live with for months, years on end - and then acquire only that. Just like you've outlined! i think you're way ahead of most of us in that you have an impeccably honed personal style to begin with. All you need to do is honor that and you're there.

Best of luck and have fun! steph

jayne

I so agree with your analysis. I think you have the closet to a 'minimalist' style I have seen IRL. Minimalist in a wardrobe is tone on tone, material, cut, flow and feel to me. I know it is also a way of living, but I am thinking about the style and not the lifestyle. Your body type lends itself very well to this style! I have tried it too, very drawn to the simple style of it, but my hourglass is hard to drape and not end up a clump. Can I live vicariously through you here?

How many black jackets do you have now? he he

Janet

I admire your focus on a singular style and definitely see this post as being very much in line with what we see in your WIWs. Your style is almost opposite mine in terms of color and pattern, but similar in terms of how we view cuts and shapes (classics mixed with distinctive pieces), so I often find myself fascinated by your choices. My closet is very... eclectic, shall we say, so I'm always in a bit of awe at the ability to hone down a wardrobe to such a defined style.

Angie

Fashion Stylist

LOVE THIS THINKING.

See. Mixing up the classics into a personal style *never fails*. It's what I keep on trying to shout from the rooftops!!!

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