Deborah, I'm glad you enjoyed it. And yes, I'll try to remember to put it in when the Links post comes up. I'm fascinated by these sorts of mood switches in our culture.

<applause> You are doing so well, Lisa! Knowing yourself is the most important thing (and not just for the style and dressing). It gives you a tremendous sense of power and control over your life, don't you think?

I am also in a process of finding what is my happy closet space - having enough to give me variety I crave but no too much so I feel overwhelmed and my closet overflows.
I think I am also a slow learner (high five Suz!). Only now after being on YLF for over 4 years it slowly dawns on me how valuable the building wardrobe in capsules can be. Sure I read all Angie's wonderful posts on it but it never clicked in place until earlier this year when I discovered that packing for a business trip was a torture - hence I need a "business travel" capsule. How did it not occur to me earlier I don't know.
Now my new dance hobby uncovered a new capsule need too. I am sure there are more but I need to take them one at a time!
Please bring these musings on - they are so inspirational!

Lisa, I am so enjoying your posts and hope you will continue to share your journey. I related especially to your point about seeking perfection, or for me it may be more perfect definition, meaning the "right" answer to what I should wear ( which of course doesn't exist). You are doing amazing and can't wait to read more about your next steps!

peri, dimity, torontogirl - wow, thank you so much for your comments! I had no idea anyone would really read this stuff let alone relate to it. I find that by writing (I'm known among my Facebook friends for carrying on from time to time ) things crystallize for me and I do love to do it.

It's not like I'm a fashion neophyte who has no idea what they like or what looks good, and it's not like I haven't thought about a lot of this stuff over the years, but it has been drilled into me since I was a teenager that thinking about clothes, reading magazines, buying and especially TALKING about clothes is silly, bad, vain, and represents the worst of my behaviour and personality. It's been very difficult to feel ok about musing like this without feeling I'm bringing myself down to the level of Housewives of Canada or some crappy reality show:)

Anyways - I appreciate all of your interest and feedback so much! I'm hoping what this will do is now let me enjoy what other people are wearing without feeling I want to buy it too - perfect example is the plaid KUT jeans everyone bought this fall. . I'm not going to wear them - I know it. I love them , but not for me. Had they been readily available in Canada I bet I would have bought them a couple of months ago when I felt that I was missing something critical. They would have necessitated new booties, new coloured tops, and a new coat that worked overtop. What? For one pair of jeans?

Again, I'm looking to go deep (with quality) for my day to day clothing , not wide now. And I'm looking forward to it!

Btw, I like your new profile pic.

*applause*

You have no idea how thrilled I am that you did this properly, Lisa. No short-cuts this time. It's the only way to do it if you want accurate results. Your epiphanies are wonderful and very meaningful. Something you can effectively build on.

Not sure I agree that jeans are not a priority though - unless you found a few pairs that fit and you're happy with after the closet review.

Thank you , Angie. Not a priority in that I do have a couple of pair I can wear - they aren't perfect, but they'll do for now. My upcoming travel and trade show work in February in Toronto requires being really well dressed and with comfortable shoes ( 8+ hours on my feet at the showroom) . That's where my money will go . I wear jeans less in the dead of winter anyways - switching over to ponte pants and skirts.

Got it. Your priorities make sense.

Lisa - just wanted to comment re perfectionism: I don't remember anyone in particular telling me I wasn't good enough, but I've been worried about it my whole life. Who knows where we get some of our tendencies and fears? But we can learn to recognize our own tendencies and create new behavior patterns. (And as soon as we do, we realize more things we need to work on, and the cycle continues...)

As far as the frivolity of fashion: I don't see many people running around constantly saying fly fishing or drag racing (to pick two hobbies out of thin air) are silly and don't add materially to civilization, although one could make the argument. I think a lot of the anti-fashion stuff, which I also have struggled with in the past, is very gendered and arguably misogynistic.

laura - you're absolutely right. Without getting into too much detail and thus disclosing myself for being even worse/less/whatever than I am revealing now - my obsession with looking and feeling perfect manifested itself through shopping and spending money over the years - a LOT of it. This caused a lot of trouble in my life, and in my relationships with family. I have never tried to hide my failings , and absolutely accept ALL responsibility for not dealing with issues in another less costly way , but that's why it is a bone of contention for those around me. Kind of like an alcoholic saying they can have a drink every now and then. But obviously one has to clothe themselves.....

"...it has been drilled into me since I was a teenager that thinking about clothes, reading magazines, buying and especially TALKING about clothes is silly, bad, vain, and represents the worst of my behaviour and personality..."

I understand about this. We were raised with the belief that more than a cursory glance in the mirror was vain and clothes were simply for modesty and warmth.

I have always questioned this. I love clothes. I love what they say about people and how they speak for the wearer. I'm fascinated by how they reflect what's going on in the wider realm of culture. Things like shoulder pads during WWII because women needed to take over (traditionally) men's work and they needed to portray an air of assurance and strength. Or how in the 1960s the clothes reflected the wider trends in society to question traditional values.

I'm in academia, and it seems terribly frivolous to think about this stuff in some schools. There is a culture of nonchalance and feigned disinterest towards these things.

However, there is now a serious academic study of clothing in fields connected to material culture and art history. So when people say how frivolous clothes are or how we should be focussed on 'higher' things, I like to quote some study that relates how clothes are an important part of our culture. Some good ones include a study on denim by Daniel Miller at the University College London, and his work on culture in Trinidad is also enlightening. Depending on who you're with, they'll think you're a nut job or be quite interested in a theoretical perspective.

Anyway, all this to say that there is academic evidence that shows that an interest in clothes demonstrates a strong connection to culture and community.

First of all Lisa, your insights are fascinating and inspiring. Yesterday I pulled out all the jeans and pants I could find, tried them on, and told myself if I wouldn't be comfortable wearing them tomorrow they are out. Liberating! Thank you!

Secondly, regarding the article linked above, I feel compelled to point out, that, as with very many of these articles, it ends with the promise of a shopping list. Minimalism is apparently the new shopping.

Finally, I agree strongly with Laura above that the general disdain for clothing and dressing as a hobby, creative expression, social bonding and source of fun is messed up and probably has misogynistic roots. Because being a fanatic football fan (for example) looks pretty uninteresting and useless to me, but I don't begrudge anyone their games, at least until they start trampling each other.

Lisa, yup, managing loved ones' awareness of / reaction to your past bad habits can be tricky too. Not only do you have to deal with your own behavior patterns, you also have to worry about how you behave looks to other people. Exhausting!

I didn't even open Suz's thread about food and wardrobe building because I knew it would be triggering for me. I've not had serious issues with overspending but I definitely have had issues with overeating, and like wearing clothes, you've got to eat sometime. It would be a lot more straightforward, if it was like drug abuse and we could just stop eating and getting dressed and stop worrying about it...