Day Fifteen: Revisiting a failed outfit.

I wasn't keen on this combination of denim skirt and black shirt when I first wore it on day eight of the challenge. I like it a lot better with brighter accessories but I think that the fact that these are much brighter photos goes a long way towards improving my rating of this outfit. Also, here I am recently showered and I have not spent a couple of hours in the car. With my level of photographic skill and the amount of effort I'm willing to put into photo editing right now (none) it is impossible to show the detail of this shirt. You'll just have to take it on faith that it is more interesting than it appears in these photos. These is a center front seam and some dart manipulations that result in the creation of unusual triangular shaped pieces and a curvy fit.

I really like the skirt but it irks me that, while the vertical striped stitching appears on the front and back of the skirt, the horizontal striped stitching on the band at the hem is only on the front of the skirt. The brand is not an especially cheap one and the skirt is otherwise well constructed so I'm not sure why they cheapened the overall look of the skirt by making this design choice. Since I paid $2.99 for the skirt and, as I said, I really do like it, I can't really complain. And I'm not really complaining, except to say that given the choice I'd prefer to have the stitching go all of the way around. When I bought the skirt I did not think I would be as bothered by this detail as it turns out I am. It's another lesson learned. I recently passed over a jacket that I liked, but noticed had similar cheap detailing- contrasting trim on the front that stopped at the side seams and did not continue on the back of the garment. It's a pet peeve that I never knew I had. 

The little silk kerchief is literally disintegrating but I will keep it until turns to dust probably. I found it at a thrift store when I was in high school and it wasn't in pristine condition even then, but it has watering cans and flower pots and window boxes with hearts on them. Love. I will be sad when I have to retire it.

Day Fourteen: The state of things so far.

A reasonably solid outfit today. Not a raging success. Not a total failure. Functional. Looks like me. Felt pretty okay. It's a 7/10. No complaints. 

At almost the halfway point in my challenge I'm surprised at how well it's going. I was really scared going in that I would have some days when I just couldn't put together something I'd want to wear. That hasn't happened yet and I haven't even had to fall back on the options I left myself for swapping out garments or adding extra garments. So, in some ways this has been easier than I imagined it might be. However, I also imagined that I'd be able to get dressed really quickly having so few options to chose from. Not so- I select my basic garments for the day fairly quickly but then I linger over which shoes, jewelry, scarf, hat, etc. I need to perk up those basic garments. I'm not saving any time at all, and sometimes I go thorough several accessory changes before I either find something I like or give up and go with what I've got on.

I'd also hoped that having fewer clothing items in the current rotation would mean that I'd be more attentive to keeping each item in the best possible condition. Again, not so. My shirt still needs ironing. I still need to let down the hem of the skirt I wore on day two and decided was too short. I've created a running list of  'to do's' to spruce up several of the garments I've been wearing the past two weeks but I've yet to move towards doing any of them. And that running list of things I want to sew? Let's not even get into that!

Day Thirteen: Necessity- Mother of invention or just a mother?

Today's outfit is brought to you by the fact that I don't have any black tights. I didn't make not purchasing anything new during the month a requirement for this challenge when I started but I haven't felt a particular urge to add anything new yet so I'm going to try to make it to the end of the month without shopping. So I'm wearing blue grey tights here. They look pretty dark in the pictures but in real life they are the kind of blue grey color that could lead to lengthy arguments over whether your tights were grey, blue, or bluish grey or greyish blue.

 

My husband and I frequently have this type of argument over teal. For example:

"The lady in the blue sweater over there, see her?"

"Blue sweater?"

"With the jeans, holding the little dog?"

"With the dog? Short hair and glasses?"

"Yeah, in the blue sweater, by the door."

"You think that's a blue sweater? No wonder I couldn't see her. That looks green to me."

"Teal, whatever. You see her though?"

"Teal green. Yeah I see her. What about her?"

"Teal blue. I like her boots."

"Her boots? I didn't notice her boots. Where did she go?"

"Never mind she's gone now."

"I wouldn't have missed her if you'd told me she was wearing a green sweater."

Anyway, my tights are blue (or grey) depending on how you look at it. So I threw on the blue hat to make it look intentional. And added a necklace with a bit of blue in it. And I ended up pretty happy with the outfit, which was good because I wouldn't have had any time to change if I'd wanted to. Which leads me to wonder, why do I still get dressed this way? Why am I driven by necessity to trial and error moments before I'm due to head out the door?

Sure, I think the ultimate result of the missing black tights is an outfit that looks a teeny bit punchier than what I'd have ended up with if I'd had the black tights. I like the combination. I can see that it's a better outfit with the addition of a little color. If I'd had black tights I'd have put them on and called it a day without adding any accessories. It's a good thing that I didn't have any black tights; this is a better outfit without them. But what bugs me is that I did not know that. I don't want to keep endlessly going through this in the moment trial and error process. I want to know what works and have a fully stocked closet to work with. I want to have a supply of black tights on hand but still know that the blue (or grey) will be the better choice. I think I'm learning. 

Day Twelve: Would I change it? Should I change it?

Getting dressed should always be this easy. Item # 6 (black knit shirt dress) has been a fixture in my wardrobe for more than 10 years. It goes on just about every trip I take. It's comfortable, washable, practical. It's the perfect length. It might be the only button up garment I own that doesn't gap in the front. (Most of my button front shirts have been stitched closed to avoid the dreaded gap-osis, or I'll only wear them under another shirt or sweater.) I picked this dress up off of a Banana Republic sale rack back in the early days of this century. I was working for the Gap at the time so, with my employee brand 30% discount, I wouldn't have paid more than about twenty bucks for it. (I don't remember exactly but $20 was about my upper limit in those days because markdowns were so prevalent and I could watch and wait for things to slip below my price cap.) I've worn this dress so much in the past decade that it must be down around two cents cost-per-wear at this point and still going strong.

Given that it is such a basic dress you'd think I would have come up with several ways of accessorizing to create different looks. It seems like an ideal canvas for this type of experimentation but I've always worn it with this belt. No joke, every single time for the last ten years. Sometimes I wear tights with it, and my shoes change, but otherwise it looks exactly like this. I'm not sure why I keep the belt in the drawer with my other belts- I should just hang the dress and the belt together as I never wear one without the other. Back in the early days I rocked the belt in a more hip slung fashion (as it was intended) but raising the belt position is the only change this outfit has seen. 

I feel I should try to shake up this dress. Especially in the spirit of this 30-for-30 challenge but I can't imagine liking it any better than I do in this tried and true combination. And if I had a closet full of choices that I liked this well and found this easy I'd be very satisfied. Where do you guys stand on this? If it ain't broke don't fix it? Or is change always good?

p.s. You may have noticed that I'm missing a few days- not that I imagine that you are policing me or anything sinister like that. There have been two days that I didn't get dressed. Yesterday I ended up spending the day cleaning the house in the gear I wore for my morning walk and by the time I stopped cleaning the opportunity for real clothes was gone, along with the light for taking photos. Last week I spent a day in bed trying (successfully) to head off a cold by taking it easy. So, while I'm a bit behind in my (completely arbitrary) schedule, when I've gotten dressed it has been in the 30 items I originally chose, and I've shared it with the world. If you were wondering.

Day eleven: Proof that this is a science of fractions and increments.

 

We have five cats but Minnie is the only aspiring model. She always has to be in on the action. Everyone else is like "whatever" unless it's time to eat or crowd us out of bed. 

This combination of item #22 (black boiled wool jacket) item #28 (black almost mock turtleneck) and item #30 ('skinny' jeans) prioritized warmth over flattery for the farmers' market. I wore a dress last week and I was very cold. Cold enough to not really enjoy myself. I will say this for jeans: they are warmer than many other options. Not really a ringing endorsement but there you have it.

The black 'almost mock turtleneck' is the proof mentioned in the title of this post. I don't find turtlenecks or mock turtlenecks flattering. I've got a weak chin which, combined with forward head carriage and admittedly poor posture, results in the appearance of multiple chins if I'm not careful to keep my head up constantly. And, let's face it- I'm not careful to keep my head up constantly. So I avoid turtlenecks and their ilk to keep from exacerbating this effect. Yet this sweater, with it's wrapped V-neck, is essentially a mock turtleneck with a half an inch wide notch cut out of it, and I love it. The slight diagonal lines make all the difference in the world as far as neck flattery is concerned. It's a science really, negotiating these these tiny increments that make a huge difference: hem lengths, amount of fullness, the placement of a pocket or seam. And fractions of an inch can make such a difference.

Far from being tedious, I find studying these incremental adjustments incredibly fascinating. And sort of empowering. Not in a grand political way- I just feel a bit more like I've got a handle on things when I feel like I've got this getting dressed thing down. Being able to identify why something works or it doesn't makes me confident that I'm developing a proficiency in personal style. I mean, I have to get myself dressed practically every day so is it wrong for me to want to be pretty good at it? I think not.

I'm linking to Hat Attack over at Style Crone so I'd better include some hat details. From San Francisco Milliner Deanna Gibbons, the style is called Froggy. (I've no idea why) Deanna is one of my favorite milliners. The feather beret I have on in my profile picture is one of hers too. Her hats just capture the perfect combination of everything I want in a hat (in any garment, actually) by managing to be both modern and a bit retro at the same time. They're often whimsical and always striking. The proportions of her hats seem to work well with my small head and features and they're very easy to wear. That last quality is something sort of indefinable. I love hats and I wear lots of them and some take work to wear and some are very easy. It's something that is not obvious in the trying on stage, you only discover it in the wearing. For me Deanna's hats are always easy- I can put them on and forget about them until the compliments start rolling in.

Day Ten: Date Night (but with Mom)

It wasn't exactly a resolution, but Chris and I decided on New Year's Eve that this year we would have a 'date night' once a week, and try go away somewhere together one weekend each month. We decided on Friday as our official date night but since we've been going out quite a bit lately we elected to make dinner at home this week, watch a DVD, and perhaps indulge a cocktail or two. So I was surprised when I heard Chris inviting my mother over for dinner tonight. Turns out that he remembered that we were making dinner and watching a movie, but not that it was a date.

I adore my mother and I was delighted to have her over for dinner. Her presence did not make our first official date of 2014 any less romantic. Chris and I split a bottle of cider (yep. total party animals. not.) and I wore this: Item #25 (grey 3/4 sleeve cardigan) and item #10 (black knit and leather pencil skirt). If you're keeping track, this is the second wear of the cardigan and I think this is a better pairing than the first. The proportions are better here but I wonder if the slightly boxy shape of the sweater might not be the best look for me. I'm drawn to it because of the vaguely 1960's vibe it has, but that retro shaping isn't kind to my middle. It definitely looks better with the tighter skirt but it's just not the most flattering sweater for me.

This combination earns an 8/10. I'm happy with it. And I'll keep trying to find the perfect partner(s) for the sweater. Feel free to weigh in on what you think might work with it.

Day Nine: Small jacket, Big cat.

This is the small jacket. If you're more interested in the big cat scroll down.

Today's outfit brings together item # 20 (grey 'shrunken' blazer) item # 16 (black icebreaker long sleeve) and item # 30 (skinny jeans). I'm almost a third of the way through my challenge and I'm feeling reasonably good about my success so far. The black merino base layer top is my first repeat wear. 

The jacket is too small to button.  Well, actually I can button it, but not without it looking like I'm risking a dangerous Looney Tunes style projectile ricocheting button popping incident. I love the feminine shape and curves of the jacket and I think these 'shrunken' proportions look intentional and flattering. I'm discovering lately that a jacket with a single button or closure works well on me. Also, those with a fairly short length. Vintagey styling and built in curves don't hurt either. I don't have a back view to show but I'll be sure to get one on the next wear- the waist is really nipped in. I added the scarf because the collar is a bit scratchy. However, I'm not convinced this particular scarf or this particular tie was the best choice. I think it's too wide and I look a bit pinheaded. Do you see it? Or is it just me?

I have an ambivalent relationship with jeans. When I wear them I always think I should have tried harder and worn a skirt. Yet, I feel that I need them as an option in my wardrobe. I don't think pants in general do much for me. I've got a flat butt and a tendency to carry weight in my stomach and skirts seem to do a much better job of making everything look appealingly proportioned and pants seem to emphasize everything I don't like. And my calves are one of my best features. But I have jeans and I wear jeans fairly regularly even though I'm not always crazy about the way they look (or feel- their comfort factor is vastly over rated IMO.) I suppose I might feel differently if I broke down and spent a whole whack of money on a premium pair but since I don't love to wear jeans I refuse to spend any money at all on them (thrifted, ten bucks max) its a bit of a catch 22.

Here's the promised big cat. Minnie. Because the internet needs more cat pictures, no? And she kind of coordinates! At least, I like to think so. Every outfit is improved by the addition of a kitty.