by Sheila
It’s that time of year when the weather turns cooler, a sure sign that it’s time to swap out your summer and winter clothes. Since we live in the low desert, we really only have 2 wardrobe seasons; summer (April to October) and winter (November through March). I always look forward to clearing out my closet. I am so ready for a change! Recently I had lunch with friends and we were lamenting about how sick we are of our summer clothes, but how it’s still too hot to wear sweaters. We love the desert, and winter here is really great, but even die-hards like us need a break from 90+ degrees. You’ve heard it’s a dry heat?
I digress. I also like to clear out just to get rid of things. This feels very freeing to me. I don’t have a large closet to start with, and my rule is that all current season clothes have to fit “comfortably” in that space. By that I mean, not stuffed in so close that I can’t slide the hangars, nor jammed so tight on shelves that I can’t pull things out without causing an avalanche. You get the picture. When I am getting rid of things I make several piles;”trash” (the completely worn out sneakers), “donate” (has life left in it, but not amazing), and “swap” (good stuff I am just tired of, never looked right, doesn’t fit…) Heather hosted our first ever swap party where we all brought clothes, accessories, and household cool stuff and had a free for all shopping through all the goodies. Very fun, but more about this later. One of the things I do when I hang out the new season, is turn all of the hangars backwards on the rod. Then, once I wear an item, the hangars get turned the other way, and I know for sure I really wore that item this season. In looking through my closet this morning, I had a number of things I hadn’t worn, and I am ruthless about getting rid of them.
This is also a good time to think about what I want to add to my wardrobe this year. I am making a list (a real, written down in my I-pad list) of things I want. This does help keep me focused when I am shopping. On that list right now are a black cashmere v-neck sweater, a pair of skinny jeans, and a longer tunic type sweater to go with said jeans. That is not to say that I am not open to the occasional splurge on something completely off the charts (my black sweater cape that I got in Vegas last year with my Mom), but it helps keep me from buying really random things that just hang in my closet. I will then shop all levels of stores for what I am looking for; thrift, consignment, department, and boutiques.
This all relates to my goals of getting good value for my money, being attractively and appropriately dressed, and doing it with ease. I travel a lot and like separates that mix well, layer for changes in weather and style, and pack easily. My style could be described as casual classic, but with a twist. I like to know what the trends are (my skinny jeans), but am pretty selective about including them in my closet. I will admit to wearing a self-described “uniform” of jeans and a black tank or sweater. Is this where I should confess how many black tops I have? While this is definitely my standard comfort zone, I do make an effort to branch out with accessories, a few different colors (is grey really just light black?), and sweaters, but don’t try to part me from my jeans!
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