I noticed yesterday that thinking about the "style" corner of the life-health/body shape-career-parenting-family-style-home-"adulting" puzzle is (surprisingly to me) the area where I'm doing my most exciting growth right now, in part because of the tie-ins to those other goals.

I'm sure this post will be edited many times over the next few days, but after reading through some of the past posts and comments linked to in Angie's blog today, here are my first thoughts:

Goal 1: clean out and organize. Whether we eventually move or not, this is essential. Living in a mess isn't healthy, and organized items are easier to pack.
I'm taking a little break from all the trying-on right now. My son hates it, and school starts Aug 10. In the meantime, I will set up physical spaces for capsules, things I'm deciding on, and things on their way out. I have a body goal for Aug 18, when we go on a little trip for my birthday. After that, I should be ready to dive into trying everything on. (Rachylou, set your calendar event!)

2. Outfit making. I'm just started to figure out pattern mixing, as noted in my updates to an old blog post yesterday. I grew up buying and wearing clothes in rigid sets. Jeans could go with lots of tops, but many other things had one partner they were always worn with--the buddy system, preventing closet orphans, lol. It felt like the outfits for Barbie that come packaged on a piece of cardboard just like she's supposed to wear them. I have never had a Barbie personality, and didn't appreciate being expected to dress like her. (And it didn't really prevent orphans, because if something happened to one piece, I was stuck with the others. I remember years back I figured out that the sweater I'd worn with a skirt that didn't feel right any more was great with a skirt I loved, although my sister had taken "its" sweater when she got married). Mixing things up should eventually mean owning fewer things.

3. Style persona. One of these days I'll come up with a name, but for now I'm thinking through all the factors that should go into it. I'm naturally RATE and loud. I want to dress in a way that acknowledges that, but also shows the more thoughtful side of me, and has some polish.

4. Ethics/buying less. This is something I've been aware of for a long time. Sometimes I emphasize it (hello, Patagonia dresses!). The above three goals should each support it in their own ways.

There is no "personal style" button to click for the topic of a post. That's strange for this blog, and I didn't know how to categorize this one.