Day Twenty-one: I belt a cardigan and I am not convinced it is a good idea.

This black cardigan is the dark sister of the grey one I wore on days two and ten. I also have a blue one which is not included in the 30 garments I selected for this challenge. These cardigans are fairly boxy in shape which makes them, perhaps, not the best choice for someone with my figure. I attempted the 'add a belt for waist emphasis' maneuver here to try to counter some of the boxy-ness. I have never been the biggest fan of belts. I think they tend to make me look like I'm crimped in the middle like two sausages. I've picked the very best of the photos here (ie the least sausage-y ones) but I don't know if I like the sweater with the belt anymore than I like it without.

My decision making is not being helped much by the fact that I look absolutely exhausted in these photos. Do I look like a woman who needs a vacation or what? These were taken right before we left. My eyes look like they are trying to exit out the back of my skull. But back to the belt. I tried several of varying widths and contrasts before settling on this one. I didn't hate wearing it, even though it was not the most comfortable outfit I've had on, but I'm not convinced the belt improved the look.

I also turned up the sleeves on the cardigan a little. I'm convinced I look wider when my sleeve hem  hits at the same height as the hem of my top. Since the sleeves of this sweater aren't ribbed they turned up nicely and I think that little bit of height difference helps the overall look.

I like:

• The idea of this outfit- the sweater and skirt combo is usually a very comfortable on for me both physically and psychologically. 
• That I've attempted something new that I might have otherwise rejected out of hand. Yay me! This is kind of the reason for attempting a challenge with self imposed limitations, right? 
• The mixed metals heart necklace. I don't wear much/ own much yellow gold. This silver and rose gold heart was a gift from Chris. It's from the jewelry store in my home town in New Zealand where my dad shops for his girlfriend. She has impeccable taste, in my opinion, and she has instructed my father that anything offered by this store would be an acceptable and highly appreciated gift. Chris decided that high endorsement would likely apply to me too, and he was right. I don't wear the necklace often enough, mostly because of the length- it's too long to wear in an open neckline without a good bit of cleavage on display (not my style at all!) And it needs a very unfussy neckline if it's going to sit on top of a garment.

I'd change: 

• The belt- I'm not sure how, or with what, but this one just didn't do it for me. I'll keep trying. Maybe I need something softer like and obi wrap belt? Or something thinner but not thin-thin?
• I'm contemplating having a couple links removed from the chain of the necklace to allow it to fall at a more wearable length for me. I often hitch up my necklaces in the back in various ways to shorten them but the design of this one makes that impossible. I think I'd wear it a lot more with one or two links removed from either side of the chain.
• I still need to re-hem the lining of this skirt so that it doesn't peek out but more than this I need to commit to pressing it before I wear it. It would improve the appearance of the skirt significantly and very likely improve my own mental assessment how much (or little) I am well put together. As it is I spend a few moments every time I don this skirt berating myself for, yet again, wearing it without pressing it and, seriously, how difficult can it be to run an iron over a straight skirt? It's not like it has tricky pleats or huge amounts of volume. And I have a sneaking suspicion that once I do press it I'm going to discover that I don't actually need to alter the hem of the lining. 

The verdict:

• I guess it's a 7/10. There is room for improvement but there's also lots that I do like about it.
• I need to make a firm commitment to clothing care: pressing things that need to be pressed before returning them to the closet, making sure sweaters aren't full of pills when I want to wear them, polishing my shoes, stuff of that nature. 
• I will keep experimenting with belts.
• I will look into options for shortening the mixed metal heart necklace.