As we head into spring, I'm feeling pretty ambivalent about my style and wardrobe. I confess, I love winter fashions, and my winter wardrobe is small but curated for my needs. Three sweaters and two skinnies saw me through several months.
With regards to my spring/summer wardrobe, I seem to be stuck with a number of items that I don't love, but do not want to give away because of their cost and lack of wear. As much as I've become better at donating, these items were bought *after* I had implemented (or so I thought) better buying and styling habits.
The offending items:
a) 5 Adea 3/4 tees, which I do not find breathable at all. I sweat a lot in warmer temperatures, and even before a winter's day is over, the tops are in need of laundering. That said, for certain occasions, an Adea + pencil skirt is my default look. I wore the tops more last winter, but hardly touched them this winter, except when traveling once.
b) 6 J. Crew linen tees, which are so breathable, but argh! how they stretch! I sized down, but within a few hours of wear, the shirts stretch out enough to show bra straps, as well as my bra. If I lean forward, you can see the waistband of my jeans! And since I don't wear camis, layering isn't an option here. I wore them over the summer, but had no choice, since they constituted most of the tops that I had packed. Now, I'm not sure what to do them. They're colourful, but the stretched-out cut leaves me feeling far from fab.
c) All Saints high-waisted jeans (2 pairs): Loved wearing them last winter, didn't wear them one this winter. Too self-conscious? Too tight? Too thick of a denim for comfort? Others think they are quite flattering on me, but I've defaulted back to my preference for low- to mid-rise and thin, stretchy denim.
d) GAP BFs: they stretch out too much within one wear, so much so that a belt is absolutely necessary. Moreover, the scrunching of the material under the belt looks sloppy, as if the jeans are too big. I don't mind wearing them from time to time, but if I travel, they will not make it in the bag.
My concerns for summer clothing are coverage, breathability and colours/patterns to brighten one's mood. On the one hand, neutrals are ideal, because they're easy to match, and the sweat stains are less noticeable. I'm a bit of a minimalist dresser, and blacks and blues suit my taste. On the other hand, after 1-2 years of neutrals (with the exception of the linens tees), I'm starting to miss colour. In winter, I uses scarves to add pops of colour, but in summer, the humidity makes wearing scarves rather unappealing, so the pops of colour need to come from the tops. Sweat stains, however, are very apparent on bright colours, and I'm not willing to do what is necessary to make the stains less obvious (super-strength anti-perspirant, arm pads, etc.). I haven't worn the oversized silk blouses in hot weather, and don't know how easily they'll pick up sweat. I also don't know if we'll have air conditioning wherever SO and I end up living, but I do know that the East Coast is extremely humid in the summer.
I would like to incorporate more silk tops, because I find them sufficiently dressy and packable. I'm tired of the tee + slim jeans silhouette, and since I'm happy with the slim jeans component, I need to revamp my top silhouette.
But what to do with what I already own? The Adeas and J.Crew tees are not well-loved, but they big purchases collectively and don't show much signs of wear. I could hold onto them for another season and re-evaluate then, but my impending move in June is making me reconsider the place of every item.
So the questions that I'm mulling over seem to be, what should be given away? Kept? Bought? And if the latter, in what colours?
