My Wardrobe, Myself

Well, here we are on the LAST day of the year! Most of you will probably be reading this in 2025, so I hope the year is off to a good start for you. There’s an old saying that if it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would ever get done. There are so many times I can remember when I’ve done something right “up to the wire,” and today’s post definitely falls into that category! Of course, I could do this recap post in January, but I wanted to publish one final essay before 2024 is in the history books, so here goes…

As I wrote in my last post, which covered my worst purchases of 2024, I want to end the year on a high note, so today I’m going to share the best purchases that I made over the past twelve months. Fortunately, there are many more of these than there were in the last group, and I hope the same thing can be said for all of you about your 2024 wardrobe buys.

In today’s last post of the year, I’ll show you all my best purchases and tell you why they fit into that category. At the end of the essay, I’ll also share what I learned from these items to hopefully help me shop smarter in 2025.

Here’s a bird’s eye view of the 2024 wardrobe-related buys that I’m most happy about:

As with my recap of my worst purchases, I’ll run through the above items individually – or in some cases by small groupings. I’ll show larger photos of the pieces in each section, both for better detail and so you won’t have to keep scrolling back up to the top to see what I’m talking about.

Best Accessory Purchases

Since the first item in the photo above is a bracelet, we’ll start by looking at my favorite accessories that I purchased in 2024:

The black studded bracelet was something I saw while browsing at the mall with a friend back in March and kept thinking about afterwards. It was a little more expensive than the bracelets that I usually buy, but it was such a great fit for both my personal style aesthetic and my small wrist. I ended up going back to buy it a couple of weeks later, and I’m so glad that I did. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, my favorite jewelry items tend to feature both black and silver. They coordinate well with everything I wear and tend to be worn more often than the non-neutral pieces that I own. I’ve worn my new studded bracelet many times, and I know it will remain a favorite for years to come.

The black Clark’s ankle boots became a “wardrobe workhorse” in my closet immediately after I purchased them in the spring. They were comfortable right out of the box, the heel height is perfect for me, and the style is casual yet streamlined. They also pair well with the straight-leg jeans that I usually wear, as the shaft is narrow enough to easily glide over my pant legs. I own other pairs of black ankle boots, but I wear the Clark’s version most often. The boots were bought on sale, but I would have gladly paid full price for them, and I know the cost-per-wear will likely fall to below a dollar in 2025.

My purchase of the silver stretch bracelets was both inspired by and facilitated by a close friend. I had admired similar bracelets that she’s worn when we’ve gotten together, but she bought hers in a boutique while traveling in 2023. Fortunately, she returned to the same place this past summer and offered to pick some bracelets up for me while she was there. She took photos of the bracelets and sent them to me and later put me in touch with a salesperson to do a charge-send. I bought four bracelets for myself, but my friend also brought back a fifth one as a gift for me. What I love about these bracelets is that I can wear just one or all of them, depending upon how bold of a statement I’m aiming to make. I can also layer them with my black and silver bracelets for other fun looks.

Best Cropped Pants Purchases

During the warmer months, I usually wear lightweight cropped pants, although I also wear dresses and skirts on occasion. The pants that I wore most often in 2024 were the three pairs of Athleta Brooklyn Utility Pants shown below:

I’ve long been a fan of the Brooklyn Ankle Pants that Athleta has sold for the past five years or so, but I liked this newer version even better. I purchased the black pair first (of course…), but I soon ordered the olive and purplish version (which they called “shale”), too. This was an instance in which buying “multiples” ended up being a good thing, as the pants fit me well and were super comfortable. They’re made of a stretch woven fabric that offers both “substance” and “give,” which results in them being both flattering and easy to wear all day long.

Sadly, the entire Brooklyn line has been discontinued by Athleta, but hopefully my three pairs of utility pants will last for at least a few summers. While I still reached for some of my other cropped pants during the warm months June through early November, it was the pants above that I wore on repeat. In fact, they were the only cropped pants that I packed for a September trip, and I happily wore them the entire time, as well as when I returned home.

Some of you may be against buying multiples, but when one is both picky and hard to fit, it can be the best approach. But it’s a good idea to purchase just one color or pattern at first to make sure the style is a winner before adding others to the mix. I don’t always follow my own advice in this regard, but my shopping track record tends to be much better when I do.

Best Topper Purchases

Toppers such as cardigans, jackets, and vests are a very important component of my style, as I wear them almost every day and use them to enhance my looks even more than as a means of keeping warm. The four toppers below have become fast favorites in my wardrobe in the months since I bought them:

The black Eileen Fisher long knit vest that I bought back in 2016 served me well but finally needed to be replaced this year. I still appreciate the drama of a long black vest and was pleased to find a great version from Nicole Miller online in September. This type of piece is not an everyday item, but I’ve already worn it several times for occasions when I wanted to dress up a little more.

The black tie-waist cardigan was also a replacement for a similar item that was both worn out and no longer as flattering on my current shape. I now prefer for my cropped cardigans to be a little less cropped, and the one above from J. Jill was offered in tall sizing, which added a bit of needed length. It’s perfect for wearing over a dress or skirt ensemble, and it’s easy to carry on days when I might be entering into an air-conditioned space or will be out into the evening. It’s a comfortable knit item that pairs well with almost all my dresses and skirts.

The cream-colored long jacket with red and black stripes was kind of a “wild card” purchase for me. I don’t usually wear light-colored garments, but the black and red stripes bring this cream-toned piece more into my comfort zone. It’s mid-weight and can be worn most of the year where I live. I’ve layered it over sleeveless, short-sleeved, and long-sleeved tops, and paired it with both cropped and full-length pants. It’s a versatile item that still makes an attractive statement. This jacket has added a lot to my wardrobe since I purchased it back in March.

The final topper among my best purchases is a navy sweater blazer that I bought from J. Jill in January. What I love about this and other sweater blazers is that they tend to be more polished than cardigans but more comfortable than traditional woven blazers. I own a lot of cardigans and even if I vary the color or pattern, I can still end up looking very similar in them all. Sweater blazers offer a bit of variety from my usual “uniform” of a tee, jeans, and cardigan.

Navy is my second favorite neutral (after black), and I’ve gradually added more of this shade to my closet over the past few years. The navy sweater blazer coordinates well with many of my tops, and I’ve enjoyed wearing it over the past year. I’ll probably never love navy as much as black, but I do enjoy wearing it from time to time.

Best Denim Purchases

During the colder months, I almost always wear jeans, but I usually alternate among a very small number of them because I’m so hard to fit (and to please). My favorite styles of jeans are mid-rise, relaxed, and straight-leg, but the recent trends have veered more toward high-rise and wide-leg. Often the jeans that are billed as “relaxed” still tend to be quite snug on my hips and thighs because of the way I’m built, whereas I really prefer to have “ease” in that area.

Fortunately, I found a few pairs of great jeans during 2024, as shown below:

Back in 2023, J. Jill released a style called the Relaxed Boyfriend Jeans, and they were available in tall sizing, as most of their offerings are (as well as petite and plus sizing). I bought one pair that year and wore them countless times, as I was so happy to find a pair of jeans that didn’t fit me like skinny jeans in the hip and thigh area. I was so excited to see the jeans offered again this year in both medium and dark washes, and I picked up one pair of each. I’m happy to have a back-up of my tried-and-true medium wash jeans from last year. I also discovered the Wow Boyfriend Jeans style from Old Navy, which I also love, and you can’t beat the price! The rise of the Old Navy jeans is a bit higher than on the J. Jill jeans, but both are considered mid-rise.

I always wear the jeans shown above full-length rather than rolled, and they work well with the ankle boots that I like to wear. I now own enough jeans to see me through the cooler months. I have somewhat embraced the wider styles, but only if they’re only moderately wide (I did end up narrowing the pair that I wrote about in March, which has led me to enjoy wearing them). I don’t ever see myself wearing the super-wide jeans and trousers that have become more popular as of late, but I guess never say never!  I like to be open to new styles, but I also need to be honest with myself about what I like and will actually wear.

Best Top Purchases

While I didn’t fare as well with tops in 2024 as in other areas of my wardrobe, I did manage to find some great cotton stretch t-shirts to wear at home. I had pretty much given up on the Caslon brand of t-shirts (an in-house Nordstrom brand) after the quality took a nosedive a few years ago.

I wrote about my bad experience with their cotton-modal tees back in 2022 and have been very wary about any knit pieces from Caslon ever since. However, I tried on the Caslon short-sleeved V-neck tees that were part of the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (NAS) last summer and was pleasantly surprised:

The above tees fit me amazingly well and don’t gape under the sleeves like most tees do on me. The fabric is a good weight and includes enough spandex for the garment to keeps its shape. In contrast, the previous tees that I became unhappy with didn’t include any spandex at all and the fabric was very thin. Those tees didn’t wear or wash well even though they felt soft and were comfortable to wear.

I went against my usual rule in terms of multiples because I knew that NAS items tend to sell out fast. However, I only wore one of the tees at first and knew that I could return the others if the first one didn’t hold its shape or easily pilled after being laundered. Fortunately, however, I found that the quality of the tees was good, and I’ve been very happy with them over the past five months. I hope this same style of stretch-cotton tees is offered again in 2025, as I would love to buy more of them. Although I mostly wear the tees at home, they also make great layering pieces in out-and-about ensembles.

What I Learned from My Best Purchases

Now that I’ve covered all my best purchases of 2024, let’s look at what they have in common and what I’ve learned from them.

1. They’re all in tried-and-true colors and styles. While I think it’s good to remain open to new things as a way of evolving our style, there’s something to be said for knowing what we like and mostly sticking to it. All my 2024 best purchases have similarities to other pieces that I’ve loved and worn regularly in the past. There’s nothing out in left field in the mix, and even the “wild card” jacket includes features of past favorites, such as stripes and a long, tailored silhouette.
2. They’re all appropriate for my current lifestyle. Every item among my 2024 best purchases works for the types of activities that I do on a regular basis. Although I’ve mostly worn the long vest for dressier occasions thus far, I can just as easily pair it with a long-sleeved tee and a pair of jeans and wear it for my weekly trivia night, lunch with a friend, or to run errands.
3. I feel attractive and true to my personal style in everything. I feel like all the clothes are flattering on my figure, and the accessories pair well with my outfits and serve to enhance them. I’m not self-conscious in any of my 2024 favorite buys, and I don’t feel like I’m trying to be someone I’m not in them, either. Many of my past bad purchases have been items that I bought because I thought I should wear things like that, or because someone else encouraged me to buy them.
4. All the clothes are both physically and emotionally comfortable to wear. They all include some stretch and aren’t too tight. I also don’t feel overly “exposed” in any of my 2024 best purchases, and I don’t feel like I must wear a long topper with any of the new pants and jeans. Getting a good fit in the rear end of pants can be so difficult for me, but I’m very happy to have added six new pairs of pants this year that meet that criterion well.
5. My 2024 best purchases are all versatile and can be worn often and receive a good cost-per-wear. In fact, many of them have already been worn well into the double digits, especially the pants, accessories, and at-home tees. Not everything we buy needs to be super-versatile, but I think that most of it should be, especially if we’re aiming to cultivate a smaller and more workable wardrobe.
6. None of my best purchases were bought on deep discount or final sale. While a few of them were indeed bought on sale, none of them were final I could have returned any one of my best purchase items, but I didn’t want to. I was happy to receive discounts on the NAS t-shirts, Clark’s boots, and Old Navy jeans, but I would have happily bought these items at full-price, too. Sales are great, but they can also be minefields in that they can lead us to justify bad purchases because we feel we’re getting a “good deal.”
7. It pays off to trust my instincts when I’m shopping and aim for “hell, yesses.” If I find myself questioning whether or not I should buy something or if I’m trying to talk myself into a purchase (or allowing myself to be talked into it by someone else), such a purchase is much more likely to fall into my “worsts” list rather than my “bests.” Almost all my bests were bought when I was alone; in fact, the only piece that I purchased with someone else was the striped jacket. Shopping alone is usually less risky, but if we tune into our inner wisdom in any situation, we’ll generally fare better.

Conclusion, Your Thoughts, and Happy New Year!

I’m sure I could come up with more common elements and lessons from my 2024 best purchases, but I think the seven points above covered it pretty well. If I were to encapsulate all these lessons in a single sentence, I think it might be:

Trust my instincts, buy for my current style and lifestyle, and avoid final sale items!

That’s a good motto heading into 2025 as I vow to continue improving my purchasing success. I’d also like to buy fewer items in the New Year and be more selective about what I buy. I just don’t need a really large wardrobe, and even though I enjoy having variety in what I wear, that can still be achieved without a packed closet.

I’d love to hear about what your best purchases of 2024 were and why you feel that way about them. I’d also love to learn about your wardrobe-related goals for the coming year. I’ll be back soon to give you an update on my 2024 theme and to share my theme for 2025.

So, as I go off to enjoy my final two hours of 2024 and ring in 2025, I’d like to wish all of you a very Happy New Year! I appreciate your readership very much, and I wish you health, happiness, love, friendship, success, and peace all through the year.