Day Thirty: Hokey Parisian.

This exchange happened today:

Chris: Did you get any compliments on your outfit today?

Me: No

Chris: Oh, I'm sorry. (Notice that that is also not a compliment.)

Me: Well, I think it might be a bit hokey.

Chris: Hokey?

Me: Yeah, like corny.

Chris: Like a small town girl in the sixties who gets dressed up and goes to Paris, but when she gets there she learns that real Parisians don't really dress like that?

Me: (jaw dropping) Yeah, pretty much exactly like that.

The man totally gets me. 

So, it's Day Thirty (here in TFB world at least) and I'm so done wearing these clothes. But, I have to admit that it's mostly due to the weather having changed, and not as much due to the fact that I've grown tired of the clothes themselves. Which I think is actually pretty awesome. However, I'm not sure if it is quite awesome enough to make me want to do it again right away. I'm trying to decide whether I want to pick out another 30 or so items for a spring capsule to wear for the next three months. I can tell that I should do this because although I just got done saying that wearing these clothes for a little over three months was not particularly difficult, I am feeling very resistant to trying out the warm weather version of this challenge. Resistance to my own ideas is one of those sneaky little psychic clues that usually means if I push through all the doubts, discomfort and fear I have surrounding a course of action, I stand to achieve much more than if I take the- much more appealing- easy road. I should do this precisely because it will be hard for me. (And now that I've said that I can hardly show up tomorrow and tell you I've decided to start posting with my full wardrobe at my disposal again, can I?)

Warm weather dressing is kind of a bugaboo of mine. I used to be the kind of kid who'd sulk about a tropical vacation paradise in a black turtleneck and combat boots. I've improved by leaps and bounds since then- both in my general attitude and my ability to find things to wear in the summer that I don't hate and won't cause me to sweat to death- but I'm still much more adept at fall and winter dressing. Summer togs do not leave much leeway for camouflaging and concealing and I find it difficult to balance my desire for a lean looking silhouette with my need for my clothes to touch my skin as little as humanly possible. Summer and I have a difficult relationship.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I finally finished posting 30 outfits in just over three months. I could get all self-judgy and harp on the fact that I sure wasn't planning on taking that long when I started out but the fact is, I wore these clothes for way, way, way longer than I originally planned and I think that made a huge difference in what I got out of this undertaking. And other than adhering to the time frame, and the daily posting, I met pretty much all my expectations: I'm blogging more regularly, I've developed some strategic guidelines that are helping me to zero in on how I want to look most of the time, I've tried some new things (lipstick, belts, such a daredevil aren't I?) And I've learned a lot about not just how I'd like to look, but also about how I want to relate to my wardrobe (ie. what I'd like it to do for me versus what I'm willing to do for it.) I'm planning a 'wrap up' post for this 30 item winter wardrobe so I'll stop philosophising now and return to the outfit at hand.

I liked: 

• If I'm honest I like the slightly cornball, phony French feel of this one. There is no great need for serious attire in my life right now so I'm indulging my whimsical side right now.
• My new red beret. How did I do without a red one for so long?
• The adorable polka-dot scarf that I am wearing like a grown up and totally pulling it off!

I'd change:

• The black skirt plus black top combo. The hat and scarf add some much needed color but I think I can safely say that I just don't like the black on black outfits I've worn nearly as much as the black and white or black and grey combinations and this one is no exception. I'm really trying to avoid making rules for myself that include the words 'always' or 'never' but I'm going to say that as a general rule I should never wear just black apparel. The accessories help but I think if one of these black items was grey or white it would look chicer. 
• I'm on the fence about the lace tights. I don't dislike them, I just don't think they really add anything. Perhaps I'm getting too nit-picky?

The verdict:

• I'm going with 8.5 out of 10. No perfect but pretty solid. A little quirky but good-humored. Like that small town girl on her way to Paris.