September tracking challenge - YouLookFab Forum

Category

General

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

September tracking challenge

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

UPDATE: And we're off! Come join us in Week 1.

https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....in-anytime

----

Would anyone like to join me in a wear-tracking challenge for the month of September? Several of you have mentioned that you’d like to try tracking wears, and I thought it might be more motivating to try it for a finite length of time with a supportive group.

How it works: starting September 1, mark down what you wear each day. This can be as simple as noting your outfit in your calendar, or as complex as creating your own spreadsheet. I’ll start a thread each week, where we can share insights we’ve gained. Feel free to join in at any point in the month. It’s never too late!

General

59 replies

Latest reply was from Laura1975

LaPed

Veteran

I'll join in! I tracked diligently through the school year, but have been disorganized since June and only tracking very haphazardly. It will be fun to be diligent again!

Katerina

Veteran

Interesting, I have never done tracking wears and don’t use any apps or programmes. But I might just try to track manually during September and see what happens. Do you guys track everything you wear? Jewelry, accessories, maybe perfume too?

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

Katerina, I used to track everything, but I ended up with so many iterations of the same outfit that it became less useful for me, so I stopped tracking jewelry last year.

Perfume would be interesting! I’m trying to use up a rather embarrassing stash of perfume oils before moving next year.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Of course I will, since I do anyway. Since I make tally marks on paper I might need a separate section just for September also, to know what the actual outfits were. I am still gaining so much from tracking even after more than 2 years of it.
Katerina, I only track clothes and shoes. Not bags, because I only use the one, unless a special evening occasion requiring a clutch. If I changed up bags that would be different maybe.
I don't wear scarves and I don't track my earrings. The earrings do change each day but the same ones go with each outfit so if I track the outfit I could easily tell you which earrings had been worn, if that makes sense? In my WIWs I try to picture the earrings as well, since they are very important in my mind to finish the outfit off.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Perfume- I only have two at a time. Most years for the past several years I have a bottle of my husband's favourite, which is Calvin Klein's Obsession. I try to put that one on more at weekends or for trips out to dinner with just him or with friends. The other bottle is my own choice, usually a floral, which I vary from one bottle to the next to try things out. Currently trying Dolce floral drops, which I really like. Got them from a loyalty programme's points as well, so kind of free, even better!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

What do trackers do for days when they're dressed like I am this afternoon/evening? I'm wearing pj pants my son has managed to outgrow since I had him try them on at the start of packing and a sweatshirt he picked up at H&M in the wrong size the other day. I had my pink pants on with the sweatshirt to go out for a little while earlier today.

The number of tops I have here is bigger than the number of the days we've been in the country, but I've worn some of them several times and others not at all. For some, the answer is clear--it's taken forever to gather up enough whites to wash my white jeans! but I'm a little mystified at my own decision-making. Maybe tracking would provide some clarity.

SarahD8

Veteran

I’ll join! I have tracked wears from time to time but the truth is I find it hard to stick to it on my own.

My main goal this coming month is to get some insight into transitional dressing — what outfit formulas work at this time of year and what’s comfortable for specific temperature ranges.

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

Fashintern, I don’t track loungewear, but I do track the gear I put on for an hour each morning at the gym. It’s a personal choice, though.

Anonymous

I saw the word "tracking" coupled with "challenge," and I just knew I was in. What a wonderfully helpful way to introduce some people to the idea of tracking. I look forward to reading all the posts.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Calling it "loungewear" makes it sound so FANCY

Anonymous

I could/should do this. I'm in .

Runcarla

Veteran

I'm in!

Janet

(website)

Veteran

This may shock you (since I rarely do any kind of tracking or challenges), but I’m in.

It’s going to be hot for a while yet, so I’m prepared to be bored with recycling my summer stuff that I’m already sick of looking at.

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

Janet, I thought September would be good for just that reason. There's usually a bit of transitional weather here and there, but we'll also get to see which summer items are still managing to come out during the endless tail of the season.

LaPed

Veteran

Jenn, I have an embarrassing stash of perfume oils (mostly sample sized) too! I really need to give my collection a good clean-out and give away the ones I never use... I've never tracked, but really for every five samples I buy, I end up with *maybe* one that I actually reach for.

FashIntern, when I was tracking diligently, I did track my PJs/"loungewear" as well as gear -- they rack up wears really quickly and it's very gratifying, and also eye-opening; why do I ever sweat dropping $15 on a pair of sleep shorts when I wear each pair roughly 100 times per year?

Style Fan

Veteran

I'm in. I follow a blogger Style Bee and she sometimes tracks wears in a notebook. Pen and paper. No wonder I like her! I plan to write down what I wore every day. The number of times I change footwear will be astounding.

carter

Veteran

I'm in. It's been too long since I've paid any attention to my closet. Time for a bit of fun!

The Cat

Veteran

Hmmm, I wonder WHY you all track wear, what you hope to learn from doing it, and which thoughts and feelings you will get from reading about other people's wear-tracking. (Admiration? Jealousy? Inspiration? ) I must confess that I don't see the point, at least not at present. But I do look forward to see how this evolves, and wish you all the best.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

The Cat, I’m curious to try it just to see in black and white what it is I’m actually getting a lot of wear from, especially at the end of the season when I’m getting tired of my summer attire and starting some transitional dressing.

I’m going to try to log my happiness factor with my outfits to get a better idea of where I want to go with future purchases. I’ve been in a bit of a shopping hiatus since NAS, so this is a way to focus on my wardrobe without being focused on shopping.

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

The Cat, it's my plan to guide the discussion a bit and ask some thoughtful questions in each weekly thread, but I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's personal epiphanies/observations, as well. For me, personally, tracking is a form of mindfulness, which I try to practice in multiple areas of my life.

binkle

Veteran

I'm in.

Cat, I used to diligently track work outfits only - exceptionally helpful especially if I had a daunting "power" meeting and needed to remember my outfit of confidence. And if a certain item/combination was a definite loser - too fussy, fiddly, just plain didn't work. So I could really, clearly, know not just what currently worked or not, but if a potential purchase was just my wishful thinking - I knew I'd never really get use out of it, etc. Also, I'm the kind of person for whom numbers really work - for example, counting work outfits really put, in definitive black and white, where I was efficiently using my shopping $$, and where I was woefully wasting it. The caveat being that I'm just a normal weakling and didn't always learn any lessons at all!!! One of those true Your Mileage May Vary situations.

Also, somebody told me a long time ago (NOT in reference to clothes), that, "the things you count add up." It was about past slights taken too personally, but it suits my way of thinking about a lot of things - I just like to play in Excel and keep records.

Roberta

Veteran

I'm very eager to observe. I track my closet inventory and purchasing closely, to remind myself of what I own, but my attempts at tracking outfits ended after my tripod broke a few years ago. I also found the act of observing and recording itself would highly influence what I chose. The Heisenberg principle for fashion. Real scientists can now roll their eyes. Of course that is the point, to become more aware of what you wear and why.

This is the perfect time of year for the effort and discussion - thanks for the idea!

Runcarla

Veteran

The Cat, I don't track wears, but I need to do some sort of cost-per-wear analysis of my closet. My closet is shrinking due to a lifestyle change (retirement), and I want to understand what is core/classic so that I invest well in relevant quality replacements or additions. I have a hunch about what I wear the most, but what I think vs what I really do will be revealed by the numbers.

I do learn from other YLFabbers who have similar lifestyles (retirement, WFH, MOTG) and aspirations - upgrading of basics to quality classics.

So, this challenge opportunity is nicely timed. (Thanks Jenn!)

Windchime

Veteran

I’ll do this! The last Challenge I did was Sterling’s last January, and I learned a lot from it. I’ll plan to track tops, bottoms, toppers, and footwear. I won’t worry about tracking jewelry.

September is a transitional month here, with a wide range of temperatures. I’m usually still wearing my hot weather clothes for the first couple weeks of the month. Then, as temps decrease, I’ll start bringing out my long-sleeved shirts, often with a topper in the cooler morning and evening. So I may actually wear a larger assortment of clothing, but with fewer wears per item, in September than I would in some other months.

Jane

Veteran

Great suggestion, yes please count me in. Following your suggestion on another thread, I have started already, from Tuesday and I am already quite surprised about how many different pieces I have worn in a few days. I think doing it for a month will be revealing. 17 items in 5 days, and I am not yet all the way through day 5.

jussie

Veteran

Yes, count me in :). Pardon the pun. I’m intrigued to see what it brings to light. I’m in sterling’s camp- September is quite up and down here.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Cat, my reason is a couple posts before your question. Also, I tend not to be very self-aware until after the fact (example: when I get an accent in my German, it tells me that I'm upset. I often don't recognize that myself). Analyzing the tracking info will help me understand my own choices, and maybe notice patterns I want to change.

Sal

Veteran

I will join in - I have tracked two months while doing 30x 30 - but this time I won't limit myself. I will change over my closet in October at the end of this challenge. My goal is to see what i actually do wear - is it the same as what I think I wear?

cindysmith

Veteran

I think I'll jump on this train. It might help me honestly asses what can stay and what needs to go, because I have trouble thinning the hard sometimes. Maybe I'll learn something valuable; and if not, then at least I'll have interacted with a bunch of friends instead of isolating myself like I've done all summer.

12