Pix-Elated

Since this is my time of year to reflect on many aspects of my life and my wardrobe, I did a more granular (and accurate) count of on the weekend of my wardrobe retirements over a period of years. If the numbers bore you, feel free to ignore or jump to my conclusions at the bottom. Writing this down as information for those who have an interest in this topic. 

Excluding footwear, handbags, gear, basics, PJs, I have retired/ recycled/ donated/ disposed of 120 clothing items between 2019-2024, for an average of 20 a year. The actual number differed quite a lot, year to year. 

47 of those items (or about 40%) were worn out, by which I mean they had irreparable holes/ wear pattern on the fabric, irreparable stains/ marks, or they had lost their shape. These items were mostly denim, tops (especially summer tops), and certain knits -- some of which were simply poorly made to begin with, and some of which had seen such hard wear over a period of years that it was a wonder they were not complete rags. 

Looking at that figure, I'm awed by those who say they never wear out their clothes. I am blessed with quite a large wardrobe. I wash in cold water delicate cycle, air dry almost everything, mend, block knits, etc. In other words, I care for my clothes. But a significant portion do wear out. Not in one year, or two. But over a period ranging from 3-6 years. 

Many of these items were past donation, although I did donate a lot of the denim anyway, because it might be recyclable in some way, or someone might cut off the jeans for shorts. (I do that myself with some but not all of my denim because my need for denim shorts is minimal.) 

17 items left my closet due to fit issues. Most of these were jeans and some trousers that no longer fit after weight changes. But some were items that simply didn't fit as well after laundering or whose fit ended up bothering me in some way. These, I donated. 

I said goodbye to a further 18 moderately to heavily worn items that were not worn out, yet had lost their interest or value for me, personally. The least frequently worn of these would have had around 20 wears over four or five years; the most frequently worn would have had more than 100 wears. But they were still in usable conditions, and I'm pretty sure someone else would enjoy them. This includes mostly coats, blazers, and jackets. 

Finally, there were 20 items that I'd never worn a lot and I knew I wouldn't wear in the future. About a third of these were older occasion wear. The rest were what we'd call "experiments" or "shopping mistakes," depending on our attitude and frame of mind, i.e. they were items I tried, but didn't end up liking, and therefore didn't wear more than a few times. 

I also wore through a lot of footwear during this period. With the walking I do, I actually wear out most of my non-occasion wear footwear and need to replace/ upgrade frequently. This should almost be a healthcare cost for me! 

Conclusions: I feel quite encouraged by this analysis. To begin with, the worn out clothes were mostly older (had been in my closet between 3-10 years and/or were bought second hand to begin with). Fit issues are fit issues -- we can't entirely control for body changes and it's useless to hang on to uncomfortable clothing. The proportion of "fails" is not that high and I am fairly quick to weed those out -- letting them go while they are still current enough to have possible value to another wearer. 

Taking this long view, for me, has been quite informative and has emphasized the value of frequent and thorough closet evaluations and edits. 

I don't care for the word "churn." I think it implies a level of carelessness and thoughtlessness that doesn't apply to people in this community, most of whom try to buy carefully in whatever ways we can and aim to care for our clothes so they last.

So along with my other edits, I'm editing that term out of my fashion vocabulary, at least as far as my own closet management is concerned. I'm also letting go of any guilt about my purchasing or editing habits. I'm doing the best I can, balancing careful husbandry with spontaneity and fun. Which means no fashion resolutions for me this year. I'm joining Helena in the "year of no fashion goals." 

How about you? 

I felt really happy with my closet in 2024. I never stressed out about what to wear, shopping was easy and fun (both in person and online), I didn't feel the lack of too many HEWIs,  and most outfits felt true to my moniker of laid-back luminous garçonne. 

While I did not track wears this year, I have a pretty good handle on what I wear (workhorse collection) and what gets worn less frequently (my less frequently worn items here, with analysis in the notes for those who like to dig deep.) 

My wardrobe is currently sitting at 156 items. That number includes coats, footwear, bags, and all clothing but not gear, PJs, hats, gloves, undies, scarves, or jewellery.  (Scarves function more or less like "soft" jewellery for me, except the outdoor kind.) 

I consider that figure on the large side (for me). My sweet spot seems to be between 125 and 150 or so -- fewer and I lack for options in specific roles/ seasons and miss the "play" element of dressing; more and I feel overwhelmed.

I do have the room to store what I own, and, as you can tell from my collections, I do wear everything apart from a few special occasion pieces. And even those get worn a few times per year. 

54 items (or about 1/3) are 5 years old or more. 
72 items are between 1-5 years old.  
30  items (or about 1/5) are new this year (and I retired/ passed along 34). 

Is this, or is this not, too much churn?  Or too large a closet? I know there is no answer that applies to everyone. How many of those purchases are from sustainable sources? How many were second hand? Where are the donated clothes going? What else is one doing to reduce one's carbon footprint? These are some of the questions we might ask ourselves. 

I am mulling about the French 5 piece or even (gasp!) 5 pieces only next year...but I am quite sure I'm not ready for the latter. I am not as happy with my thrift/ consignment options here as I was in Vancouver -- i've been out investigating the stores, and while there are quite a lot of them, I haven't been wowed by the quality or options. At least not so far. I know that you need to make a habit of dropping in. 

Anyway. While the ethical issues remain unresolved in my mind, what is clear is that I had a lot of fun with fashion and I loved being able to dress for whatever presented itself!

Here were some of my favourite outfits this year. Thanks for looking! And for any thoughts you might have. 

So as not to derail Suntiger's thread, I'm starting a new one here. On that thread, JenniNZ  and Star already explained their systems; other tracking systems can be found (or rigged up) via various apps or in spreadsheet format, and different forum members have done that. Here's a thread from Staysfit about her experience tracking.

I've done the simple Notes feature on my computer (analogous to paper and pencil), and I've also tracked via the FINDS feature on this site. Most of my wardrobe is in Finds, and the last time I tracked I just put a little mark in tne notes area of Finds each time I wore an item. It took a little longer but it was really interesting to see the visuals along with the check marks! I kept it up for a winter season. I've done longer tracking periods -- one year, half a year -- in the past. It's always instructive somehow or other! And it usually prompts me to create new outfits from my own closet. 

Like Bonnie, I quickly learned that I can spend more on footwear and trousers because I wear them a lot. However, unlike her, I find they wear out faster for me than tops do, on the whole. Keep in mind, I do not live in a very hot climate, which I'm sure would affect this. Also, I have relatively more tops than bottoms so rotate through them more slowly. 

I was really surprised last time I tracked with how many wears a pair of indoor shoes got! It was shocking! I had hesitated over buying them because I thought, oh well, what does it matter, really -- but I found I preferred wearing the indoor shoe to my clogs (which function for me like slippers) and I quickly got up to 90 wears in one season! 

Hi, all! (Please ignore if colour talk is not of interest -- I blather on a bit here!) 

As many of you know, before I joined YLF, I had my colours analyzed according to the seasonal method. The verdict was true or cool summer, with some head scratching by the analyst, who switched out certain colours for some of bright spring's, and took away some of summer's softer hues. 

I wasn’t too worried about that. I’d gone into it without many expectations. I saw it as a staring point. A basis for some general guidelines as I rebuilt my wardrobe. Because I already knew, essentially, what worked for me and what didn’t.

I’d always looked my best in anything in the blue and fuchsia family, up to and including a true red. The analysis confirmed it. Fab!

Still, it was a puzzle.

Back then, my hair was (highlighted) dark blonde with some ashy or charcoal undertones. Eventually, my hair turned grey, and I was even lighter toned, all over. Sometimes I wondered if I might be a “light summer” who’d been mis-typed.

But I look like dishwater in most washed out pastels.

In fact, with silver hair, I look better in brighter versions of “my” colours. Also in pure white. And — a first — neon yellow. YES!! I’ve decided I actually look surprisingly good in the silly high-vis safety vest I wear to bike in!!

What to make of all this?

After Sal’s recent analysis, and during my recent illness, I started down the internet rabbit hole with this question, and quite by chance I came upon a colour analysis system that does not depend on seasons, is much simpler than many, and makes better intuitive sense to me.

The person who seems to have devised it is less poetic (and also less rigid) than some of the other colour analysts out there, but she is charmingly authentic, and more inclusive than many. She looks at real women, not celebrities. She analyses women of all races and various skin tones..She looks at women of different ages. And especially if you have grey hair, I think you might find her discussion interesting and possibly helpful.

She works using colour theory alone — looking at 3 key elements — a person’s chroma (bright vs soft), their contrast, and whether or not they are warm or cool. By her system, I type myself as “bright, cool, light” — and this makes SO much sense to me! “Light” here would mean mid-tone (for the most part) as opposed to pastels. “Bright” does not equal “winter’s” extreme brights, again, for the most part — but does include brighter, clearer versions of “summer’s” typical colours. And cool is self-explanatory — undertones should be on the cool to neutral side, not warm.

Is it going to change anything? No. I have already (mostly) been buying and wearing my best colours, though there are some I don't like as well and others I seldom see at retail in items that otherwise fit my style, so I don't tend to wear, which must be true of us all. But this gives me a clearer explanation of why some things work and some don’t. And it’s also encouraged me to continue to experiment with brights that I may not have tried.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about your own colour conundrums and solutions! 

As some of you know,  the beautiful Janet's been on Vancouver Island for a photography trip, and having met her once in Boston a decade ago, I couldn't give up the chance of meeting her again. But it almost didn't happen, because I've been sick with some dread virus since we came home from the UK. Today, her last day in the area, is the first day I felt confident I wouldn't be contagious. So we got together for a lovely breakfast and a fast catch-up! 

Of course, we were both wearing our blues. :)  Please forgive my helmet hair (came on the bike) and shirt in disarray and wonky background. It wasn't the most selfie-friendly spot but it was a great place to sit and talk. 

Janet, thanks for making the time and safe travels home. I can't wait to see your photos! 

This trip I was very much focused on spendiing meaningful time with Mr. Suz, so shopping was not a priority. I didn't buy anything for myself. But I did enjoy window shopping and people-watching! I didn't photograph anybody on the street, but I did take snaps in stores and of shop windows. First, here's my impression of what people were wearing: 

• Sneakers. Sneakers. Sneakers. No surprise there. I did see some sandals on the hot days -- mostly Birkenstock type or other flatforms. I think I only saw a couple of pairs of heels, and those were boots. Even in the financial district, quite a few people wore fashion sneakers with their suits. 

• Raincoats. Again, no surprise. This was London, after all! And it's been an unusually wet year. Mostly I noticed trenches, but anoraks and utility coats were popular as well.

• Light wash wide leg full-length denim. Mostly on younger women. 

• The skirt of the year -- mid-axi or maxi denim skirts with slits. Also mostly on younger women. 

• Slouchy looks in jackets -- some blazers, some bombers. Quite oversized. 

• On the hot days -- maxi dresses in white, off-white, or large-scale florals. Again, on the younger women. Some dresses were off the shoulder.  Some were dragging on the ground and I worried they'd get caught in the escalators at the tube! But I remember doing  many silly things for fashion in my own youth. :) 

In the shops -- most stores were exhibiting high summer wear: lightweight linens and floral dresses. I wasn't really tempted by anything because it is quite easy for me to get this sort of thing in North America.
 
# 1. Window of a shop I would have liked to have gone into. Interesting sculptural shapes to the clothes. Heavy linens. Small boutique I think near Covent Garden. 

# 2-3. In the National Portrait Gallery -- Vivian Westwood. The first photo is a portrait in her garden; the second shows her surrounded by a new generation of artists, designers, and rebels. 

#4 I went into Selfridges to browse. Such a beautiful store. This display of cashmere wowed me with the quality and the prices, which I won't even begin to quote. 

#5. I loved this Erdem suit. But again, look at the price! Even on sale....https://erdem.com/products/sin....._r1j7_muwc

#6 The orange suit and the beautiful floral skirt also caught my eye. https://erdem.com/collections/.....s-trousers

#7 And the gorgeous party dresses! 

#8. Snapped a selfie while in one of the in-store shops. Curve jeans. 

#9. I loved the Alexander McQueen display -- right up my alley. 

#10 The fab orange suit made me think of Angie -- Stella McCartney.

# 11 Issey Miyake. I saw lots and lots of green in evidence, along with orange, in almost all the shops. 

#12 The jumpsuit also made me think of Angie. It would look terrific on her, no? 

#13  The majestic entrance to the store. 

#14-15. Moving on to John Lewis. Scottie bags for JAileen.  :) 

#16-17.  Colourful hat display. 

#18.  I kind of loved this colour blocked dress. Any of those hats might have worked with it! 

#19.  A book that some of us might enjoy. I know I'm going to hunt down a copy! As an undergrad I wrote an essay about Virginia Woolf's attitudes toward clothes. 

#20-22 Mr. Suz examining the beautiful wares at Japan House in Kensington, and some more of their displays. 

Well, I got fed up with the hair, which I loved but also, hated. The long sideswept bit was becoming much too bossy. It actually wanted to be styled!  So did the side pieces. Altogether it was frustrating me. So I decided to go back to a shorter pixie. This one is a lot like the very first haircut my stylist gave me in 2018. It's very short at the back (hard to get a good pic) and feels like a pelt. A little longer in front and piecey. I enjoy wearing it like this in the summers, especially. 

#1 is the new cut. 
#2 in the salon awaiting the chop. 
#3-4 two more not terribly good shots. 
#5-6 the earlier iteration (s) -- one from September 2018 and one from December, I believe. 

Well, friends, I’m due for a style renewal, and I hope I can get some suggestions from you wise people. But more on that in a looking forward post.

As for looking back — it seems I didn’t even set a goal last year! No wonder I feel the need of some focus on my closet. I was just too depleted and uncertain of what the future might hold to set goals.

My purchases mainly fell into the essentials replacement category. I did buy a few statement items, however, and those were my “happy” pieces.  I bought 30 items (apart from socks.) (Purchases in Finds). I retired about the same number. 

My MVPs from this bunch were the patterned linen shirt from M&S, the taffeta skirt, the hibiscus sneakers and sandals, the V-neck leopard print merino bought on super sale, and the pewter RM backpack, which unfortunately is already looking awfully worn out. Sigh. 

My fails were the pink Gap shirt (seriously, when will I learn that however flattering a pale or mid-pink is, I'll only wear it in a pattern and much prefer a vivid fuchsia?). The cream wrap top from Gap. Too "dirty" for my colouring. The balloon jeans, which look great and are lovely and Mr. Suz loves, but they just didn't cut it for me (and did cut into my waist when I sat...). And the BR jeans, which turned out to be such a pain in length and I don't like the whiskering. That was desperation buying. Never mind. Onwards!! 

My happy fashion season was the autumn when I was teaching outside the home and on campus three days a week. Out came the jackets, the wool trousers, the silk blouses, and varied footwear options. I also got to wear my new taffeta skirt a bunch, and that was fun

Other than that, this was a “treading water” kind of fashion year for me — wearing things that had gone unworn in a while due to the pandemic and not really thinking about my style much at all. 

Time to switch that up!  I think I'm due for a major edit and a style re-think. Onwards! 

Happy holidays to all and stay safe out there! 

I'm awfully late to this discussion, but I've enjoyed reading the responses! It's been fun getting to know how you see yourselves in relation to your clothing, and quite revealing -- I'm sure these conversations will help improve future outfit labs and the like!

Beliefs:

• Clothes can express who we are and who we want to be in the world.

• Style is for everybody. It’s not limited by a person’s age, size, income bracket, race, ethnicity, gender, body type, nationality, etc. Stylish people come in all kinds.

• Style can be learned and developed over time. You don’t have to be born with it.

• Clothing can be a source of aesthetic pleasure, and aesthetic pleasure is a good in the world. It brings us joy.

Values

• Practicality: Clothes have got to work for the wearer. (Or at least this wearer).

• Beauty: fabrics that drape well or hold their shape, well-cut designs, rich colours, interesting textures—these enrich our lives and are worth seeking out.

• Fun: Girls just wanna have it. And for me, fashion’s a place I can play. Learning is also part of that fun, which is one reason YLF is such a great gathering spot--so much to learn from Angie and all of you! 

• Sustainability, which for me means maintaining a moderate sized wardrobe that includes a mix of older and newer pieces, buying consignment/ vintage at times and at other times seeking out locally designed or mindfully sourced fabrics, continuing to learn about the impact of the industry on the planet, and donating my gently used items so that they get a second life.

• Coherence: Meaning, significance, making or revealing connections. I'm not sure this will make sense to some, but it's about a felt need to make sense, to make, period, and to communicate. 

Personality:

If you look in my closet, you’ll see a whole lot of blue! Alas, it’s true, I have a melancholic streak…but I like to think I’m also lucid and reflective. Often, I appear calm, but you know what they say — still waters run deep! (Gah…to think this woman calls herself a writer, right? ;)  Okay, okay…)

Also…see those flashes of red and berry and magenta and fuchsia? Yep, I have a fiery side, and I’m warm and energetic, too. I need to move, and I need to spend time outdoors….hence, the importance of practical clothing.

There’s a fair amount of white — for clarity. And grey, because I’m the farthest thing from a black-and-white thinker — in fact, my friends and family tease me that one of my favourite phrases is: “It’s complicated.” Ambiguities intrigue me. 

Look at all those stripes and tartans and patterns —even on the footwear!— and all that silver and pewter—there’s the spunk and fun coming out. I’ll mix them in, mix them up, and happily wear them every which way. In other words, I don't mind standing out a bit, don't mind drawing attention to myself. Sometimes. And unexpected associations delight me. As does the slight friction of juxtaposition. 

In shorthand, I’m an INFJ-(maybe A? if you believe those subtypes..or any of them, frankly), like Staysfit, and maybe Jenn. And probably half a dozen others here. While I need my alone time to process, in person, I’m talkative and social and sometimes quite assertive, especially on behalf of others. I love to connect with people and help them (there’s a reason I teach), I love love love to learn, and I need to make meaning of my experience with words. 

I’m also an Upholder with a questioning side.

And also, a lucky parent, because my kid just cooked me supper! 

Time for my year-end roundup! 

My colour of the year was red, and my word of the year was move.

Ironically, I write this wearing blue, and benched due to an injury! But I did move this year — moved cities and houses, and also moved a whole lot on the trails, on foot and by bike, as well as in a regular kettlebells class.  

My main goal was to wear outfits that are Modern, Classic, Vivid, and Practical with a stronger element of “signature” — a little less on the “playful” side and more towards a bit of drama. That goal isn’t really reflected in my purchases, which still reflect the playful element of my style more than arty drama. 

I need to ponder that. Several times over the years, I've said that I want more arty drama, but I always end up buying preppy playful. Maybe my unconscious is smarter than my conscious mind. That is, maybe the gamine in me knows that playful and dynamic is who I really am. And maybe I should just go with it? Hmmm. 

Then again, this year, I barely shopped and barely wore “outfits” at all!

Instead,  as I said in an earlier post, this was the Year of Gear.  And that does relate to one of my other goals — to identify specific capsules in need of upgrading/ building and work on those. I had pre-identified gardening and biking as new capsules for me, and in fact, my gear purchases took care of my needs in those areas, as well as adding to my hiking capsule, which also needed bumping up.

Another goal was to shop in person especially via thrift or consignment. Well, I couldn’t do that in a pandemic, so I’m not going to beat myself up about ordering online.

Purchases for the year were (surprisingly) about steady with last year’s — but this does not count gear.  All but two of these purchases qualify as "instant workhorse" items. Many have already paid for themselves in wears (and several are almost worn out -- Sorel sneaker boots, I'm looking at you.) The only two that didn't get a huge amount of wear are the BR linen top and the gingham scarf. I'm sure they'll prove valuable next year, so I'm not too worried. Both were sale items. 

I haven't actually checked, but I'm pretty sure my retirements are about the same, so my wardrobe numbers are holding steady (though I have yet to do a new count to see exactly where I'm at), with a larger gear capsule on the side. 

I didn't take many photos this year at all, alas...but a few outfits that feel representative or made me happy....

Will follow up with goals for next year in another post.