Oddly enough – ever since my recent purchase of a winter weight, casual lifestyle segment, upper layer – I have noticed in my wardrobe ruminations a feeling more rare than it ought to be: contentment. While I am still without the *perfect* pair of jeans, I am content to wear what I have. And every day I have a clean cashmere sweater to put on!
Wardrobe development concepts contributing to contentment:
- The development of a uniform template. Underlying the success of this concept is the necessity to actually own at least one of each piece. These will often be staples.
- Knowing how many of each piece I really need.
In pulling links for this post (on an absolutely gorgeous, sunny, late winter day here in the mountains of the Great Northwest!) I was reminded that spring is typically my most challenging season. I’d love ideas from readers! Spring’s coming. What will you be wearing?
Contentment — how wonderful!
I’ll be skipping much of the wardrobe angst associated with the wild temperature variations of spring this year … spending April in Perth means an autumn of 12°C – 27°C (53 – 80°F).
Nice! I was thinking about you and your travels when I wrote this.
It does seem autumn is easier to dress for. Spring always seems too rainy for anything but black slacks … and then the sun comes out and the black slacks look dull and dusty! 😉
I once read in a newspaper a brief remark from an older couple that they didn’t own spring coats anymore because there wasn’t any spring anymore (Philadelphia region). This seems on the mark to me. Often spring is very cold – some of the worst snowstorms in March – or it gets hot. I try to do both fall (my favorite season) and spring by color.
I’m thinking my spring wardrobe is centered around my new this year plaid coat (jacket length to me), vanilla background with black plaid plus threads of raspberry, copen blue, yellowish olive.
For me, most people see me in outerwear so that figures in a major way in my thinking. The indoor stuff is mostly for me and family and close friends. Probably heavy use of grey, vanilla. I bought 2 identical long sweaters this year, both hooded, slight knit belt through channels, one elephant gray, one vanilla. I bought a number of sweaterdresses and maybe will be still wearing those: 2 black, 1 bitter chocolate, one sand, one raspberry orchid (good with plaid coat), one vanilla, one two bright a red 🙂 (online purchase but too comfortable to send back!) that I’ll wear with a vanilla satin shirt under and long black thin sweater over. But it also looks good with pale workshirt blue and with a greyed teal. Isn’t it interesting when something that misses provokes a spate of creativity?
postscript: just bought, at a thrift store, an olive leather jacket I’d been trying to talk myself out of.
Love this. Though olive isn’t much of a spring color it is a big neutral for me. I’m thinking of pairing this with the sand and the chocolate sweaterdresses with maybe a raspberry scarf. And I have really nice little mauve/plum mottled patent flats – makes them look like they have a little depth.
The thought that gets me through spring in the NW is that “its not winter!” True, its windy and chilly, but usually not as snowy as winter. Spring outfits mean that I can wear a blazer as my outer layer AND not have to wear an overcoat over it! 🙂
A tent? haha, just kidding! I am seriously so jealous drooling over all of the great Spring stuff coming out and here I am with my maternity clothes. Actually, it’s not even my maternity clothes that I’m distraught over, but rather the bulkiness of the size I will be, and then the post-pregnancy body. If only I had some self-control with the chocolate. *sigh*
About the contentment thing though, I have been very happy with my maternity wardrobe this time around. I had to almost start from scratch seeing as how I have been been pregnant during these particular seasons. I found 2 great pairs of jeans (like you, don’t love em, but I’m happy enough) and I have about 8-10 tops that I love. I’ve truly found contentment in this amount of clothes because each piece is something I picked out specifically knowing I had to love it because I wasn’t going to buy tons of stuff. So I have less clothes than with the boys, but for once am truly content with what I do have because I practiced purposeful buying.
I have an arsenal of little cardigans and jackets for spring wear. The light knit and (mostly) cropped shape of the cardigans eliminates winter use, so I’ve just been drooling over them in my closet for the past few months!
For true outerwear, I have two bracelet-length sleeve coats that I loathe to take off once indoors. Again, too light for winter, but perfect for spring.
I have a fondness for my maternity wardrobe, which is in a box in case its ever needed again. I absolutely love that my entire wardrobe for those months fits in one box! There is something really wonderful about loving each item and having just enough, instead of my regular wardrobe of not loving many items and having way too many. It would be nice if I could duplicate that for my regular wardrobe. Funny thing is that I think maternity clothes are very cute and even when I’m not pregnant I’ll see a maternity item and wish it was available in regular!
Vildy – I love the idea of olive and raspberry!
And then the whole concept of maternity clothes. Why couldn’t we build a wardrobe with the simplicity of a maternity wardrobe just for our regular everyday stuff? I think mainly because we hold on to so much stuff that just doesn’t work. ???
A great wardrobe takes discipline.
BTW, I’m trying to work on a post about maternity.
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I’m actually happy with my maternity clothes this time around, too. Seems like with my last two babies there was nothing out there but black, white, blue, and pink–all colors I avoid. My sister went shopping for me (I was too sick) and found some good jeans, a really cute jean skirt, and several different tops: brown, tan, rust, orange, green. They layer together well, too. Must be the right year for me to be pregnant!
maternity – heh, I did that as The Big Lebowski. Three maternity tops, all Hawaiian shirts!
I have loved my maternity clothes too. But I (hopefully) won’t be wearing them in a few weeks. I liked most of my clothes last spring/summer, but I’m not sure how much of them will work this year with nursing and what not. I know I want to wear lots of skirts this time around, for some reason. I tend toward black/khaki/green/brown. I like adding color here and there. Really, I choose clothes based on what shoes I will wear a lot of the time. I’m a shoe person, I can’t help it. 🙂