My Wardrobe, Myself

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful holiday season! Before we close the books on the year 2023, I’d like to get in one last post… This will be the first in a series of essays recapping this past year in regards to my wardrobe, shopping, style, and life at large. I’m going to start out with a sort of “state of the wardrobe address,” in which I’ll share some highlights of how I’m feeling about my clothes, my closet, and how I’ve been dressing over the past twelve months.

What I’m Happy with in My Wardrobe

I’d like to begin with the positives, those aspects of my wardrobe that I’m happy about as I sit here at the dawn of a new year. I always like to consider what I’m grateful for – in both my wardrobe and my life, and there really are a lot of blessings to count. This post is only about my wardrobe, but I have a lot to be grateful for in my life at large, too (which is perhaps a topic for another day).

The Good – My Closet Audit

Back in October, I decided to embark upon an extensive closet audit. I began by going through my two holding zone boxes. You may recall that I expanded from one to two holding zone boxes following my weight loss last year. I didn’t want to purge anything too hastily, as I’ve experienced a lot of weight fluctuations over the years, so I held on to all the garments that I could see myself wearing again if they were to fit me.

Although I have regained a portion of the lost weight (more on that later), I decided to let go of all items that are more than a size too large for me at this point. Since it’s been about a year and a half since I dropped the weight and have mostly kept it off, I don’t think I need to hold on to anything larger than one size up from where I am today. This decision led me to pass on at least thirty items. Those too-large pieces that I opted to keep are mostly pants, as those are the most difficult garment for me to shop for. However, I purged any pants that I wouldn’t want to wear again based upon the style, such as pants with too low of a rise or too stiff of a material.

After I finished with the holding zone boxes, I tackled my main closet. In addition to size-related purges, I also let go of anything that wasn’t in good condition, including t-shirts that had stretched out or pilled. I have found that the quality of knit garments has sharply declined in recent years, and some previous go-to brands are not ones that I would purchase any longer. As one example, the Nordstrom in-house brand Caslon no longer produces knitwear that stands the test of time, so I’ve stopped buying anything from that label. I’ve had better luck lately with tees from Athleta, Talbots, and Amazon (the Daily Ritual label being phased out, as well as Amazon Essentials).

Over the course of my closet audit, I tried almost everything on. I tried all the tops and toppers on with a simple pair of black pants, and I tried all the pants on with a basic black t-shirt. In doing the try-ons, I went with my first impression as to how I felt wearing the item in question. In many instances, I felt something was “off” about a garment, such as the color, fit, or feel of the material.

If I wasn’t sure about the “keep or purge” decision or if I liked an item but it was a bit too snug or loose, I placed it into one of my holding zone boxes. While I had hoped to get down to just one such box (task number 18 on this list), I still have two, but they’re not full. One box holds only pants, both for out-and-about and home/workout wears, while the other contains tops, toppers, dresses, and skirts that may or may not remain in my wardrobe over time.

As I mentioned in a previous post (in the “What’s Next?” section), I feel more ready to have a smaller wardrobe, although I doubt that I’ll ever be a true “wardrobe minimalist.” However, I liked the peace and ease of my August/September travel wardrobe so much that it motivated me to want to downsize further, which I did in the following months after I returned home.

I had originally planned to write a full, detailed post about my closet audit, but instead I’ve opted to give an overview as part of my “state of the wardrobe” review essay today. I may opt to share more in the future – or I may just wait to review my cool weather wardrobe and preview my summer clothing sometime in the spring. But for now, here’s a sampling of the types of items that I passed on during my fall closet audit:

The Good – My Athleisure Capsule

It used to be that I was either wearing “nice” out-and-about clothes or the types of athletic garments that I didn’t want to be seen in when I wasn’t exercising (or even at those times). But I’ve really upleveled my athleisure capsule in recent years, particularly beginning in 2020, when I was only wearing those types of clothes (which was true for many of us at the time). As a result, I now feel that I can go for a long walk and then grab a meal or run errands without feeling embarrassed if I were to run into someone I know.

The main source of my athleisure clothing has been Athleta, as they sell a wide variety of quality exercise and casual wear. Although I had better luck with their clothing in the past few years than this year (I don’t love many of the current styles and the tall-sized pants haven’t always been long enough lately), Athleta remains one of my favorite brands and a retailer that I check out regularly. I also have some great athleisure pieces from Old Navy, Gap, Kuhl, and Amazon (I like the Yogipace brand for pants and Amazon Essentials for tees).

My life is very casual and I like to look put-together for all my activities, even if I’m just hanging out at home with my husband and cats. I didn’t used to recognize the importance of my at-home/exercise wardrobe relative to what I wore out and about, but now I do, and I cherish my athleisure favorites. The photo below shows a large portion of these pieces. I’m so glad that I now give more of my attention – and my clothing budget – to this facet of my wardrobe.

The Good – A Much Better Pants Capsule

For years, my pants were the weak link in my wardrobe. The selection of pant options for tall women was sorely lacking, so I made due with a few pairs of jeans and black pants. While those of us who wear alternate sizing (tall, petite, plus) still have only a small percentage of the choices available to those who wear “standard” sizes, the pickings aren’t nearly as slim in 2023. As a result, I now have many more pants styles to wear than for many years of my life. This is especially true of summer pants, as cropped and ankle-length pants are easier to fit and don’t need to be as precise in terms of inseam length.

Not only do I now have more colors, patterns, and styles to choose from when I open my closet, but I also finally found my ever-elusive black jeans last month! It took me literally years to find black jeans that were long enough for me and in a style that worked well for my body type and personal preferences, but my patience finally paid off. I purchased a pair of black wash 90’s Loose jeans from The Gap, as well as a pair of deep black wide-leg jeans from J. Jill, both during the Black Friday sales. As someone who wears a lot of black, I’m very happy to now have black jeans to go along with the rest of my black staple garments.

Here’s a look at some of my favorite pairs of pants for both warm and cool weather:

Some Other High Points in My Wardrobe

In the interest in not having this post become too lengthy, I won’t detail all the “good” and “not-so-good” (a.k.a. areas for growth) facets of my wardrobe. Instead, I’ll review a few from each category and then do a bulleted list of some others. Here are several other areas of my wardrobe that I appreciate:

• My cardigans: Cardigans are my favorite types of toppers, particularly those in the long/duster category. I wear them year-round, so I own cardigans in a variety of weights, colors, and patterns. While I would like to branch out into shorter toppers now that wider pants and jeans are more prominent in my wardrobe, I know that I’ll continue to enjoy wearing my long cardigans in the years to come.
• My loungewear: I mentioned my athleisure capsule above, but I’m also quite happy with the clothing that I wear primarily at home. There’s some crossover between the two groups of garments, but my dedicated loungewear tends to be softer and looser than the pieces I showed above. I like wearing fleece joggers and soft waffle tops (especially these from Tommy John) when I’m hanging out at home. The weak link in this area of my wardrobe relates to my short-sleeved tees, but I’m hoping to remedy this before the warm temperatures set in again.
• My jewelry: I own a lot of unique jewelry pieces, mostly collected during my trips to Lake Tahoe to visit my family (from this amazing store that carries a wide assortment of jewelry from Native American artists). I especially love my silver and black pieces, as well as those that incorporate turquoise and lapis stones. I actually have too much jewelry and need to slow my roll and pare things down a bit, but I’m always happy to open up my jewelry box and make my selections to coordinate with my outfits.

The “Not So Good”:  Challenges and Areas for Growth

Now I want to share some of what’s not going so well in terms of my wardrobe. Like many other people, I’ve experienced some challenges this past year when it comes to getting dressed. I’ve written about some of these things before in previous posts, but I want to encapsulate my biggest challenges here as well. As with the “good” section, I’ll go into detail about a few things and then follow those up with a bulleted list of some other 2023 wardrobe challenges.

Not So Good – Too Many Alterations!

After losing weight and going down about two sizes last year, I was left with a lot of clothes that I still liked that much too large for me to wear attractively. I put many of my favorite pieces away in my “holding zone,” but I gradually pulled some of them out to be altered so I could wear them now. Many of these alterations were successful and allowed me to happily wear previous wardrobe “workhorses” again, but others either didn’t fare as well or simply shouldn’t have been done.

One problem I have is that I’m extremely picky about the fit of my clothes. I like things to be quite fitted, but that doesn’t allow for much weight fluctuation at all. While I haven’t regained much of my lost weight (I’m not sure how much because I don’t weigh myself), the extra weight has resulted in some of my altered or newly-purchased clothing not fitting me in such a way that I want to wear it. So, now some of the pieces in my holding zone box are not too big, but are instead enough too small that they don’t work for me at my current weight.

What I’ve learned from this situation is that I need to be okay with clothes being slightly too big, as that’s a lot better than them being too small. I also fare better when I purchase and wear stretchy clothing. And since I tend to gain weight more in my hips and thighs than on the rest of my body, I need to steer away from ultra-fitted bottoms. Fortunately, many of the newer styles of pants and jeans are roomier in the legs and seat, which is better for my body type (hourglass with pear tendencies).

I hope to be able to drop the extra pounds that I’ve gained, but I’m not going to wear anything that I don’t feel good in. Everything still technically fits me, but some of it just feels too snug and has me feeling less than confident about the way it looks. I don’t want to make the same mistake again, so I’m going to work on being more tolerant of a less-than-perfect fit. The subtle nuances that probably only I notice don’t need to be altered away. Also, I need to remember that small weight fluctuations (or even sometimes larger ones) are normal and should be considered in my wardrobe planning and strategy (which is part of why I maintain a holding zone).

Wardrobe Challenge – Proportions

One of my biggest wardrobe challenges relates to outfit proportions, particularly when it’s too hot to wear a “third piece.” I think I’ve always had these types of challenges, but I’ve become more aware of them this year. Many of my tops are too long, as I’m both short-waisted and struggle with body image issues that lead me to want to hide parts of my body. When I wear a topper over my base outfit, I’m able to create pleasing proportions, but that falls apart on hot summer days.

Another proportion issue I’ve encountered is that my recently-purchased wider-legged jeans look better with shorter tops and toppers. Most of my toppers are longer, and most of my tops also hit me below my upper hipbones. So, now I find myself feeling the need to purchase a few tops and toppers that work well with my new jeans, which hasn’t been easy to do. I love the look of shorter jackets on other women, but because I’m tall, they usually don’t hit me at the right spot.

One of my goals for 2024 will be to create better proportions with my outfits when it’s either too warm for a third piece or when I’m wearing wider-legged pants. Because I also want to have a smaller wardrobe, I’m not going to go nuts and buy a bunch of clothes to accomplish this goal. I’m going to start with just a few new things and build from there as necessary. I remember years ago wearing wider pants with shorter tops and toppers, but after the skinny/slim pant era arrived, I purchased a lot of long tops and toppers so that I could wear such pants without feeling super self-conscious.

My favorite types of pants are still straight-leg, rather than skinnies or flares. I like a slim bootcut or a moderate wide-leg, too, but I don’t see myself ever wanting to wear something too extreme when it comes to bottoms. I’m a slow adopter of new trends and styles anyway, so it can take me a while to figure out how to wear things that are different from my “tried-and-true” styles. That said, I think I might be happier with some of the newer-style pants once I figure out how to best wear them. I feel less self-conscious about my bottom half in the less-fitted pants and jeans, and they also allow for small weight fluctuations more readily (on me, anyway) than the skinnier styles.

Other Challenges and Areas for Growth

Fit and proportion issues have been my biggest wardrobe challenges in recent months, but there are other “areas for growth” that are worth mentioning:

• Short-sleeved tops: This is the weakest area of my wardrobe by far, and I wear short-sleeved tops the most often, too. Both at-home and out-and-about short-sleeved tops are tricky to get right in terms of fit and quality, so this is something I’ll continue to work on in 2024. At this point, I’m doing much better with my short-sleeved tops for exercise, but the out-and-about category is in worse shape. Hopefully by the time the hot temperatures arrive come late June or July, I’ll have acquired at least a few better options that I can wear on summer days.
• Dresses: Not only did I not wear dresses all that often this past summer, but I also pared down my dress capsule quite a bit. I still enjoy wearing dresses on occasion, but some of the styles I used to love no longer hold my favor. I still have a few that I enjoy wearing that are all a similar style (midi-length with some sort of interesting twist or gather detail). I’d like to pick up another dress or two in the coming summer, particularly in a color other than black, as most of my current dresses are black.
• Cold weather shoes – For the past couple of years, I’ve worn the same few pairs of boots all winter long. During the spring and fall, I also wore my peep-toe sandals and booties, but I could use another two pairs of closed-toe shoes or boots to wear on cold I need to replace a pair of black booties that I wore at least fifty times this year, and I’d also love to find a pair of blue or deep red booties.
• Buying too much – I experienced peaks and valleys with my shopping this year. I bought a lot of new items during July and August and then mostly abstained from shopping during September and October. The Black Friday and end-of-year sales lured me back in over the past month or so, and I purchased more than I should have. While I was happy with most of those purchases (especially the jeans and sweaters), if I really want to cultivate a smaller wardrobe, I must be vigilant about not buying too much. This is an ongoing challenge for me, so I plan to be more disciplined about reviewing and updating my shopping priorities list and sticking to buying only what’s on the list, no matter how great a sale might be.

Conclusion – and Happy New Year!

I could say more, but this is a pretty good summary of the state of my wardrobe as we cruise into 2024 (can you believe it’s already here?!). Of course, there’s also my wardrobe and style “bucket list,” which I created in February (part two HERE) and have been working through over the course of 2023. I have completed more than half of the items on that list, and it’s made a big difference in terms of my sartorial satisfaction. I plan to continue with the list and hopefully complete the remainder of the tasks throughout 2024.

Our wardrobes and style will always be a work in progress and will ideally be enjoyable pursuits for us. Getting dressed should be fun rather than difficult or a burden, but maintaining a workable wardrobe does take some ongoing effort. The posts that I wrote this year (you can see them all HERE) have helped me to gain increased clarity (my 2023 word!) about what does and doesn’t work for me, the ways in which my style continues to evolve, and how I would like to dress moving forward. I hope following along with my introspection has been helpful to you as you walk your own wardrobe and style path.

Thank you for the gift of your time in reading my posts this year. I’ll be back soon with more 2023 recaps, including my best and worst purchases of the year.

Happy New Year to all of you! I wish you joy, happiness, love, health, growth, and peace in 2024 (as well as great style!).