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The advantages to shopping your closet

ironkurtin

Veteran

Well, I bet it's been said a thousand times, but like everything else that is true, sometimes you have to *do it yourself* to realize how true it is!

I am an indulgent shopper. I know what I like, plus I like novelty and I like to experiment. Which means I have a lovely, lovely closet WHICH HAS TOO MANY THINGS IN IT.

So, shopping my closet - and it's only been a week!!! - has taught me these three important things.

- You can't identify wardrobe holes - functional ones - unless you are forced to use what you have. This sounds counterintuitive but if you are looking for the next cute thing, as opposed to the next useful thing, you can get lost in the whirl.

- You don't know what you own until you are forced to use it. I can't tell you how many times I looked at something and was like Oh, I forgot I owned this!

- You don't know what you *don't* wear until you are forced to use it. Or realize you really don't want to use it!

I am not loving shopping my closet, but I think it will be good for me. It may even force me to - gasp - buy fewer better things! And to get rid of stuff, because frankly, anything I forgot I owned will be better off out of my closet.

Shopping

20 replies

Latest reply was from Janet

Kari

Veteran

Very, very wise points. One other thing that shopping my closet has taught me - why certain items languish unworn (fit issues? The color or shape is too hard to jibe with my existing pieces?) so that I can avoid making similar shopping missteps in the future.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Hear hear! I also notice some things I look at hanging there and think I have a hole covered by that item . . . until I actually put it on to find either a) it doesn't fit like I thought or b) doesn't go with what I imagined it with or c) it's condition is a lot worse than I remembered it to be! It's easy to trick your mind that you have a large wardrobe of great things but, not until you actually put those things on your body to make an outfit do you truly see their use value!
Glad to hear you are having some positive fallout from your SYC! It's not easy, but it can be quite rewarding!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

*VERY* astute epiphanies, Dana. Thanks for sharing.

Can I clone you?

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

I'm finding exactly the same thing IK! Just think how much more knowledgeable we'll be in a month!

Kari

Veteran

Another thought - in a way, shopping your closet is kind of like going through one of those capsule challenges where you have a limited number of items but can re-wear them an infinite number of times. It's just that in this case, your "bucket" of capsule items encompasses everything in your current wardrobe. It was funny to me how a limited capsule challenge seemed exciting and really piqued my creativity, but when I was shopping my closet I sometimes felt limited and frustrated even though I actually had a much larger selection of items to choose from.

Deborah

Veteran

IK can't say I am "enjoying" SYC either, but I agree with the points you made. I think this month is going to be very productive and of great benefit in the long term.

christieanne

Veteran

True! Always looking for the new, best thing is very distracting.

Meredith1953

Veteran

I am still in the process of identifying what does and doesn't work in my closet and it is very slow going. I am taking pictures of items and outfits when I like them. I am also trying to identify where I don't own a particular item I actually need and then keeping a shopping list to refer. My goal is to eventually have a goto outfit for any occasion in my life. I don't even care about having a lot in my closet. I just want to like and wear it all. Maybe I'll even start keeping notebook. It takes a lot of thought to try to improve my wardrobe.

Jjsloane

Veteran

I can whole-heartedly agree. I spend so much time finding new things I forget what I have and don't wear things I love as much as I should. I was about to buy some metallic gladiator sandals this morning and realized I have some already. The new ones would be gold the existing bronze. I still like the ones I have and while I'd love new ones (TOO) I really do not NEED them so I'm going to be strong. While I'm not strictly SYC I am making a concerted effort to make do with what I have before I rush off to buy something that I perceive as a hole when in fact it's a want.

Echo

Veteran

I had not evern heard of SYC until I came here, and after just a short time on this board, I am starting a SYC as well. You are so right that I haven't a clue what I really own at this point, nor have I been forced to see what works with what. I know there are so many things I don't wear, and hopefully this will force me to identify which pieces are in that category and whether it is worth working with them or letting them go.

At the end of my SYC (I haven't yet decided how long I will go), I hope to do a closet purge and be left with a functional wardrobe. After that point, I hope to work on capsules so I always have something to wear for a certain occasion.

Amy

(website)

Veteran

Very smart!

ironkurtin

Veteran

@Angie - many have tried and all have failed... will YOU be the one to succeed?!

velvetychocolate

Veteran

This is extremely useful IK - thank you for sharing with us!

As for me, I'm most often shopping my imaginary closet - as in, what I'll buy that will somehow make everything better, while *not* taking care of the Closet That Is. Meaning, not editing, and not acknowledging what's really going on there (I have a dysfunctional closet, to be honest). I have way too much stuff in the closet that simply isn't being worn, while still feeling like I have "nothing" to wear.

I have a horrible feeling that if I were to try and SYC, I'd end up doing a lot more shopping. Sounds counter-intuitive, I know - but it would force me to sort of 'get real' with The Closet That Is.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

@IK, stranger things have happened.

ironkurtin

Veteran

@Angie - let me know the secret, because even I haven't managed it. My daughter is pale, blonde, green-eyed, and farsighted!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Your daughter sounds like a clone of me

Elly

Veteran

Yep-- it also helps you figure out what you don't like and why about those things you never wear -- and why you wear some things so much more.

You an Angie are too amusing-- we will have to get those rocket scientists working on it!

I think I've been on modified SYC (SYC with allowances for interview clothes and a coat that didn't exist, and replacing a few basics and undies) since I've been at YLF. I've tried to learn a lot. I did this kinda backwards, but I think it is high time I move on to the shopping part of the experience! I will report and see if SYC before shopping makes the experience easier (ha!).

That said, I thnk it has done exactly that---- shown me the things I wear all the time, the practical daily holes (for me these are jackets, warm sweaters and tees for baselayers, boots, jeans/pants, and smart casual tops), and the few special occasion holes that come up alot (a somewhat alluring top and going out shoes, something non-buisnessy but dressy to pair with my pencil skirt, pumps, warm weather clothes)-- rather than a fantasy life. It also did a good job of showing me what I don't wear (anything with a fit issue, fussy stuff, ruffles, hippie skirts, high heeled sandals, sweatshirts, short sleeved tops), and hopefully I've figured out why! It also has got me thinking about exactly what type of trends I want to participate in and what more "fantasy" items I could probably practically incorporate into my life (a new bag or two, some scarves, coats in dressier fabrications, belts, pattern, stripes, band tee, hats, day dresses ect).

It has been a great learning experience, and I'm hoping to put it to good use and hope you'll be able to continue to use yours to make happier wardrobe choices in the long run.

ManidipaM

Veteran

IK, some fantastic epiphanies! My favourite point that you've made --- it's not enough to just stop buying (I did that for over a year); it is *crucial* to keep TRYING. I'm been getting to that second remixing, forcing into service and reviewing made-up-in-the-head outfits in action only for the last few months --- and boy, what an eye-opener it's been! Like you said: "You don't know what you *don't* wear until you are forced to use it. Or realize you really don't want to use it! [to which I add: 'and WHY!']"

Love Mo's addendum too: "[I] think I have a hole covered by that item . . . until I actually put it on to find either a) it doesn't fit like I thought or b) doesn't go with what I imagined it with or c) it's condition is a lot worse than I remembered it to be!" That is so true for me.

Anonymous

This is such a great thread Dana! I need to wear all of my new-found button front shirts to see if they really are going to work for me before buying more or buying things to go with them. In a perfect world, my wardrobe would function nicely like a few objects being juggled and I would only toss a new (statement/important) item into the mix every now and then and begin wearing it immediately-- all the time and everywhere-- until it felt like *me*. Then and only then would I buy another piece and repeat the process over again.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Yep, you're so right. I'm not doing an official SYC, but other than some new gear (hiking pants I had to buy before my FL trip because I could pull my old ones off without unbuttoning or unzipping them, and new Tevas because my old ones were pushing 15 years old!), I haven't been shopping in weeks, and in the process, I'm figuring out what is really going on with my closet as I enter the summer season.

I'm making an effort to wear pieces that I'm on the fence about, to see what my hesitation has been. I'm wearing a button-front shirt today that I've been wondering about, and my conclusion is, it's staying. It looks cute with my white jeans, and I have it tied at the waist, with the sleeves rolled up, so it looks cool and casual, and not conservative or frumpy as I feared it might. Any hesitation I might have had disappeared when my husband saw me and told me I looked good.

In some cases, though, I am finding that the item just isn't a style that represents *me* anymore, or it's difficult to pair with other items, etc. Staying out of the stores helps me solve the problem without going immediately to a solution of buying something new, but rather thinning out the problem children.