Feeling the seasonal change and need for “fall
cleaning” and am having a combination of style shift, umm, body shift, wardrobe
creepand possibly overall whinging
attack . Such a first- world problem! So this is partly one of those long "therapeutic" posts. It probably seems almost word for word what has come up before.

Some of this hinges on tucking vs untucking. For
various reasons I’ve felt I had to go more untucked except with some of my
pleated items (culottes and some pants).

Not-tucking is a challenge because I don't do skinny pants or leggings, so have to be very careful with
proportions, drape, length, boxiness, and if not careful I veer into a more casual
or sloppy look than I want ( re: work—there are a lot more untucked options and
forgiveness for casual).I want to not wear these more casual outfits as a general rule.

And let’s talk shirttail hems! I love them because they are my
friend in terms of balancing things out, but only look work-worthy in certain
iterations. Not button fronts, with exception of some popovers. And some
sweaters look too casual. Or some are too long.

I'm loving this new AT top in the blue mosaic print because it

looks
amazingly good untucked (with cami for the V, of course). I almost did not try it because I knew I’d have to cami-it
and also thought it might be “too blue”. But it goes with everything and looks
more polished.

So, I find I’m down to fewer combinations
toget a polished look.

Then there are the pants. Again, a few of my
older pairs still work, and ha, especially with some of the newer tops. and I’ve put a lot of items in the holding
zone because I’ve not been a mega-purger and usually tell myself not to throw the baby out with the
bathwater, things may look different, different combinations may arise (you
know how you find new bottoms, say and wish you had X top, or vice versa.)

I also have some more recent tops and pants that I just love and could practically wear
with everything, they are that much in my “comfort zone” now and also look more
polished than some other items. And a few items so far from last year that are in the same vein. Have not yet pulled out all the winter sweaters, but have an idea of what I'll be looking for in what works.

So I’m just perplexed about some of the
items, especially tops,that are good colors or good prints and should work if I
could reprise the bottoms or skirts I thought I would wear them with, but I can’t
wear them now to save my soul. These are the types of things I tend to save,and
to do that I have to fill up the spare closet. Pencil skirts are a little
different, because though it’s a fit issue, it’s also that I’m not likely to
just size up, I will either not wear that style if I don’t feel comfortable
again or I will wear ones that can work with longer tops.

But I
wonder if I should be more like those more aggressive wardrobe-editors and say,
for some reason this is what I’m wearing now and I’ve just moved on completely,
or perhaps because of a combination of
reasons that even I can’t fully pinpoint, and the other items are now
irrelevant? And will that actually help clarify things rather than be regretful?

Or will I be tossing out the baby?