I have been on YLF for over 2 years now. During that time, I've tried different looks, as I was attracted to and influenced by the styles of various posters. I have been a lemming at times, both with overall looks and individual pieces. Some of those experiments have worked well, others not so much. I made plenty of purchasing mistakes but I have definitely improved in that area.

Interestingly, as I've refined my style and focused more on what is "me", I seem to have circled back to what was me all along. But hopefully it's an improved me with more thoughtful choices and updated/upgraded items in my wardrobe now. A year or so ago, I created a list of likes/dislikes and most of those are still the same today.

In some ways, I wish I was more creative in putting together looks. Just as I wish I was more creative in other areas, like drawing or singing or preparing a delicious dish without a recipe. I wish I had a true flair for fashion but I don't have that knack. If I show a new sweater on here, someone might say, "I can't wait to see how you style it." And I think, "yikes! Style it? I'm going to wear it with jeans, black pants, or white jeans and cool (probably black!) shoes and that's it!" But I've come to be ok with that. While I have an interest in clothes and fashion, I don't want getting dressed to be stressful or too much work. I want it to be fun because I'm just wearing things that I love! Since so much of my wardrobe has been purchased in the last year or two, I guess that feels to me like my things are "in style" enough. And I am comfortable saying no to trends that just aren't me.

I've come to realize that I mostly dress just to please myself. Today, for instance, I am wearing a midi tube skirt (super comfortable), a cropped sweatshirt (casual) and my black and white heeled oxfords. My daughter once described the shoes worn with a skirt as 'hot for teacher' and DH this morning said I look like a school girl. Neither of those are what I intended! But I am quite happy in this outfit so it's all good. We've talked about the "happiness factor" and Caro stresses the importance of how she feels in an outfit and I think that's where I am. Maybe that's why I haven't been posting WIW photos...because they are more about how an outfit looks rather than how it feels???

Overall, I don't think that I've ever been happier with my wardrobe. I love a lot of my clothes and I seem to have something appropriate to wear for most any occasion. I am still planning 2-4 weeks worth of work outfits at a time and that makes getting dressed in the morning so much faster and easier than it used to be.

I have bought A LOT over the past 2 years and it's time to stop shopping and just enjoy what I have. I will try to not buy anything else for fall. I've got some nice new pieces and it's been fun to work them in slowly the last couple of weeks, even though it's still pretty warm here. And I am very excited to soon be able to wear all of my booties and sweaters!

I will continue to track my purchases and what I wear, just because I'm nerdy that way! The number of items that I have still seems too high but I'm not going to cull just to reduce the number. I've got enough room in my closet for everything and I seem to wear the majority of what I have, so the size is ok for now.

Wow, sorry so long! If you've read all of this, bless you! I've had these thoughts swirling around for a bit and it's helpful to type them all out. So thank you for indulging me