When do your 'Favorites' become favorites?

deb

Una's post about favorites got me thing about item that are favorites and when they became favorites. For example, the booties in #1 were purchased two years ago. I hardly wore them f/w 2012/2013. I almost purged them then for some reason f/w 2013/2014 they became my main booties. I wore them l of the time. The same is true for the shorts in #2 and #3. I bought them spring 2013, took them to the tailor to have the pockets sewn shut but never wore them. Again, I almost purged them this past winter. Spring/summer 2014, they are the only shorts I have been wearing. Why the change? I have no clue.

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10 years ago

Dressing

9 replies

Latest reply was from deb

milehighstyle (Linda)

Veteran

Hmmmm....for me, I think it happens pretty much right away, assuming I bought the item for the current season.

10 years ago

Lyn D.

Veteran

I think mine become favourites when I wear often and feel great in them when I do.
This can happen well down the track if I see an alternative styling that might work for me, but more often it is right from the first outing.

10 years ago

Laurinda

Veteran

It varies: sometimes right away, as with the Gray Sauconys and silver Birki-like sandals this spring (both comfy and wardrobe 'glue' right out of the box); sometimes it takes a season as a workhorse (a cozy parka or multicolored silk scarf), or the right occasion where it is perfect (a black sparkly top for dancing).

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10 years ago

catgirl

Veteran

After spending the day sorting in my closet, I've realized there are two kinds of favorites.

First are items that I love irrationally, like my Gidigio boots or cashmere tunics. These items are worn often because I find a way to work them into my daily life.

Second are the items I rely on steadily - these are not necessarily loved, but are "favored" in the sense of high use. These would be my ponte skinnies or pewter slipper flats. They don't make my heart pound, but they allow me to wear the items that do.

Then there's everything else, and I've been forced to ponder why it's there.

10 years ago

Aziraphale

Veteran

Here's another possibility. For me, sometimes a little-worn item suddenly gets a whole lot of wear because something else in my wardrobe was missing! For example, I had this grey and white plaid full skirt that I loved in theory, but I never wore it. I couldn't figure out why. The I happened to buy a pair of wedge sandals, and then wore that skirt all summer long. That's when I realized that the very light cotton fabrication of the skirt makes it an exclusively summer garment for me, and I cannot wear closed-toe shoes AT ALL in the summer (unless it's sneakers with socks). And prior to the wedge sandals, the only sandals I owned were flat. This skirt needed a heel, because it was full and slightly below-knee -- with flat sandals, the proportions were off.

Anyway, sometimes I'm too brain dead to realize that all I need for something to become a "favourite" (in the sense of it being worn a lot) is the appropriate item to wear it with.

10 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

What Lyn D. and Aziriphale said.

Usually I can tell right away. I put it on, I feel great, and I can basically don't want to take it off.

But sometimes it comes down to styling. I had a shirt like that this summer. Bought it last summer. I wore it a fair bit then, but never felt truly fab in it. I was almost ready to purge it this summer, and then I figured out that it needed to be semi-tucked, not untucked. It instantly became a wardrobe workhorse. Worn at least once a week all summer.

And sometimes I need something else to make the item sing. I can't always tell that when I buy it. That "do you have 3 outfits you could wear this in" test is pretty helpful, though.

10 years ago

Gaylene

Veteran

Two things come to mind

First,some purchases immediately "get" me--they work into my life and my wardrobe seamlessly. Others need to be tweaked until they feel right. Some just exasperate me because they are too needy; they demand the right shoe, the right occasion, the right attitude--or whatever--to make me feel like I'm in charge; those items have a harder time becoming favorites.

Second, I change--or my life changes. Former favorites become boring, while something that seemed unlike me now seems just right. Closets aren't static.

10 years ago

Staysfit

Veteran

I think I love my favorites right from the start. For me it isn't only style that determines a favorite. It has a lot to do with how the item literally feels when I wear it. It has to do with fit and fabric/texture. If it isn't comfortable, out it will go. I may not even give it a second chance.

I may still consider something a favorite if I don't wear it often, or even if I have nothing to wear with it. I will wait patiently for the right accompaniment to come along.

It seems like something has compelled other people to keep the items that they also maybe loved but didn't wear often. Were those items not favorites? Maybe like me, it was a favorite, but not defined that way because they were not being used or styled in the right way? Why weren't those items purged, or why were they almost purged but kept in the end?

10 years ago

deb

Veteran

Staysfit, you pose a good question. I purchased the boots because they had the right heel height and narrowness and would work for me but they never felt dressy enough for me, or something. The shorts I bought because I had only been wearing cutoffs and wanted something that was more dressy. Maybe my f/w wardrobe was more dressy and my s/s wardrobe was more casual and now my f/w/s/s closet is finally more balanced. Thank you for the question.

10 years ago

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