Pix-Elated

I want to take a controversial position and stick up for the short trench as actual rainwear. 

Actual rainwear, you are thinking. Ha! Poor Suz. She's lost her senses.

Ok. But hear me out. 

I think it's agreed -- there's nobody on the forum more sniffish about "seasonal confusion" than me -- and I see it everywhere. EVERYWHERE!! :)

Granted, my views have been moderated by the experience of moving to a new climate, where I have learned that what is seasonal confusion in one part of the world may be plain good sense -- or at least not impractical --  in another. Bare ankles and toques or beanies, for instance. This combo makes no sense for winters in Ontario, where I used to live. Whereas on some winter days here on the wet coast, and for some people, who run warmish, it can work quite well.

Short trench coats were available last year and maybe even the year before. I was immediately drawn to the look. But I scoffed. I mean I literally laughed out loud. Who needs a raincoat that will not keep them dry?

As you know, I have since bought one of these babies myself. And I love it! It's a workhorse! And not just because the proportions work with wide legs, which I like to wear. 

Here's why: My own short trench does keep me dry. Admittedly, mine is a gearish version with a hood. And admittedly, I haven't walked for hours in a downpour while wearing it. 

But here's the thing. While downpours and atmospheric rivers do occur where I live, and require more serious rainwear, most spring days are not like that. 

Most days, the forecast is for intermittent showers, with a mere possibility of more serious rain. And it turns out, the short trench is perfect for such weather. 

 For the more serious rain, an umbrella or longer rainwear or both are required. But those days become less and less common as winter turns into spring. 

In short, if you get the kind of rain that is more common back east, I.e. constant downpour or thunderstorm, then no, these jackets won't work, except for style and possibly wind coverage. But if you live in a climate like mine, this is a surprisingly practical piece of clothing. 

So: who's with me? Short trenches can be practical: Vote YAY. 

Short trenches are a seasonally confused fashion idiocy where I live: Vote NAY! 

Hi, all -- My fall has been exceptionally busy with teaching and a few short trips. Not to mention a big Covid scare....I was one of the few to escape at this super-spreader event. Keep healthy, everyone -- it's still out there! 

On the fashion front, I have bought nothing apart from undies, a replacement packable puffer, and an exact replacement pair of booties. (The oyster Eccos.) I have, however, done a huge edit, letting go of numerous items for reasons of wear and tear or poor fit. I suspect I'll want to do a big shop next fall, and if I see a few suitable knits during sale times, I will jump, since my knitwear collection is diminishing. 

I enjoyed Sal's hair musings thread.  And since I just chopped my hair into a super short pixie, I thought I'd chime in. 

I don't think I've had my hair quite this short since 2022 (though I could be wrong, since I tend to give it a more thorough chop every 18 months or thereabouts.) I was inspired this time by my hairdresser herself and a good friend and I am enjoying the ease. 

While I've worn different cuts over the years, some version of the pixie has been the one I always come back to. I started with it at age 6. ;) 

A few early to mid fall outfits.....nothing really new or special. I wore the red pants in honour of a student whose personal essay was called....you guessed it... "The Red Pants." 

Have you done a big edit or a real shop this fall? Have you made a change to your hair? 

Thanks for looking! 

Just. quick snap of me in my horseshoe jeans from the blog. What I said there: I have a pair in the splotchy blue “cloud” wash (naturally). Note: the fabric content of these is not 100% cotton. (Here’s the breakdown: Cotton 59%, TENCEL™ Viscose 36%, Recycled Cotton 5%). I don’t know if the other washes differ — they may. Also, what Angie says about the rise is accurate. Recall, I have a long rise. But I am relatively short. I almost never buy petite pants because of the rise issue, but because of the baggy nature of these I thought I would give petite a try, for the length. In the end, I a actually sized UP in petites, because for me the rise was a bit short in my regular size — the extra room in the waist helped with the rise length.

I got mine on super sale. I see they are back to full price on the Canadian site -- I am tempted by the pink or the off white but will wait to consider if they go on sale. 

FWIW. 

Not really "styled" here -- just what I threw on for a walk in our neighbourhood. 

I was vowing to buy only Canadian but did break down to buy these. Mea culpa. 

I'm back from my trip to London and Vienna. We had a wonderful time. It did not hurt that the weather was sensational in London. We had one day of cool and cloudy skies but no real rain and the rest of the week the skies were clear and bright and the temperatures warm. 

I was not able to snap photos of people on the streets/ tube etc. but I did keep my eyes open. Of course, for parts of each day we were in very touristy areas, and so clothing is not terribly representative. But I saw a surprising number of skinny jeans on women of all ages. Trainers on almost everybody, with the odd pair of sandals on the warmest days. Lots of black, of course, but also lots of light neutrals and plenty of light denim. Lots of printed, boho-lite or light neutral summery dresses on the weekend. Shop windows were full of handkerchief hems on skirts and dresses (they seem to be enjoying a resurgence), along with many tiny squarish bags in the Bond Street and Regent Street shops. 

In Vienna, the weather was uncharacteristically much cooler and cloudier than in London. We basically got London weather in Austria. However, the shop windows -- and the people -- were generally dressed more colourfully. Lots of beautiful coloured shoes! Mostly flat loafers in the windows but people were also wearing a lot of trainers. Many people wearing blazers in lovely lightweight tweeds and linen on work days. More business dress, less athleisure on the streets and in the tram except on teens and 20-somethings and tourists. 

As for me, I wore the heck out of my clothes and felt comfortable and appropriate in all my outfits. MVPs included my thrifted Paul Smith blazer (so much love for this jacket), my very wide leg lightweight wool BR pants (soooo easy to dress up and down, denim jacket, Theory vest and pants, and my Cole Haan platform oxfords. 

Here's a link to my capsule. Apart from my skirt and two dressy sleeveless tops, I wore everything at least once, including my white jeans, which got two wears. I had planned to wear my skirt and one sleeveless top to the opera  and another dressy sleeveless top to a nicer dinner or to the theatre if it was warm enough but weather did not cooperate, so I was glad to have an alternative prepared. 

We saw three plays (including one musical -- Hamilton -- for our kid, who was over the moon about going), and in Vienna Mr. Suz and I went to the opera (Tosca!) and to a concert -- Vienna Philharmonic and a huge chorus conducted by Riccardo Muti playing Mozart's Jupiter symphony. In both cases we were sitting more or less in the rafters but the sound and the settings were amazing. We saw so many galleries/ museums I swear I have eye strain and will need months to process it all. So now it is time for laundry! 

I apologize for the quality of the photos. 

1 and 2 -- the Paul Smith in action in two different outfits. 

3- 7. -- arcade and shop windows around Piccadilly/ Bond St., Regent St. 

8-11  shop windows in Vienna. 

12  Pastries -- as pretty as the shoes!

13-15  at the opera. 

The buildings are magnificent and a bit overwhelming (the scale is hard to convey in photos) but I may put some pics of these in the off-topic section in the next few days. :) 

Mr. Suz and the adult child and I are heading to London tomorrow. The kid will be with us for 5 days and then they are going off to visit a friend in Ireland and from there to Paris -- their first trip to Europe. Mr. Suz and I will stay on in London a few more days and then go to Vienna to visit his older daughter. 

My travel capsule is very much like last year's, with a few extra items since the trip is a few days longer. I am probably bringing too much, but so be it. :)  We have a washer but no dryer so I probably won't wash bottoms -- since they could take too long to dry.  Hence, I am bringing multiple options. https://youlookfab.com/finds/c.....tion=14938

We will be going to galleries, theatres, opera (in Vienna), eating out, maybe taking in some other concerts, and walking walking walking. Forecast is excellent. Warm, and (so far) no rain predicted! 

The burgundy "dress" in the photo is actually a blouse now -- it works well with the Dries pants for a relaxed but polished dinner outfit or even theatre on a warmer day. 

Last year I brought my Mary Janes but did not end up wearing them -- so I don't think I will bother with them this year. They are cute but not the best for long hours on my feet. 
 
Posting for those who like packing posts. Clearly, this is not going to fit in a carry on. :)

So, I felt like a bit of a change, and I've dyed my hair! 

Not completely, of course. Actually I've just highlighted it with blue and lowlighted with a bit of charcoal, and just in the front. Here is the result. 

I'm also wearing new sunnies. Last week I went through a panic, thinking I'd lost my old ones and went out and bought two new pair, only to find my old beloved pair -- so I returned one option and kept one, because it's always fun to have something different and always important to have a backup! 

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!