serendipity while thrifting

The season is turning toward Summer. Memorial day is behind us and I have purchased new corduroy trousers. In time for Autumn .... which is 4 months away.

It's weird but that is how thrifting goes. When you find something you have been looking for, regardless of the season, you purchase it. Especially when it is less than $3. 

Then you tuck it away for the next 4 months [or 6].

It is possible to shop like this and maintain a minimal wardrobe but it takes some preparation.

You have to know what you are looking for...in this case I have had "corduroys in a warm favorite color" on my list since September 2014. I looked for them in the nine months since with no luck. I even tried retail. I reached for patience as I was not finding what I wanted.

Last Friday I was scanning a rack [for skirts] and a bronze-y olive color leaped out at me. I looked more closely and saw corduroys, in my size with no wear. They fit well and didn't need hemming [a small miracle]. They had been marked down three times and were priced at $2.75 because what sort of crazy person buys cords at the beginning of June?

I am that person. I am also the person who had thought about the holes in her wardrobe and what I wanted. The result; I can buy off season without worry that it will go to waste.  I save resources and cash and I also have clothing that I love. Which is the whole point of thrifting for me.

I am guessing this will not work if you have a closet so crammed full you cannot see everything or if you don't know your preferred colours. Perhaps though it is helpful to see some of the results of bringing mindfulness to something that you deal most days - what you wear.

I wish warm breezes and sunshine for you if it is turning toward summer where you are as well. xo

Thrifting in Color

When I did my full wardrobe inventory last month I thought a lot about why and how thrifting [=thrift store shopping] works for me and what I love about it.

My first realization is that my color palette facilitates thrifting for me. Knowing what colors you will and won’t buy streamlines everything. Afterwards you will be able to mix and match your wardrobe pieces with little effort. Note there will still be some effort for most due to proportion balancing and climate variables. I love things that save me time and effort.

Several things led me to the colors I buy currently.

Some years ago I thought about the color black, which I had a lot of because it is so easy to buy. Did it made me look tired I wondered? [Maybe] Is my skin is becoming more olive as I get older [I think so] and do I like how I look in black? [Hmm, kinda] The result: I stopped shopping for black.

Then I thought about what colors I liked and which ones would go together nicely. I realized I loved deep warmer autumn colors and felt good in them So my new neutrals became browns [espresso to chestnut], olive and burgundy. When I can find them I will use aubergine and rust.  This is my base.

In smaller amounts I might buy charcoal, lime, corals, plums, slate, dark teal, cream or prints with combinations of the above. My goal is to have options along with coherence because you never know what you will find second-hand. The colors I do not buy: black, pastels, cool whites, blues, pinks, cold bright greens, neons, most greys. I avoid colors with a cool undertone.
 
It is amazing how quickly I can go through the racks at a thrift store, there is so much I can ignore. Sometimes the ‘right’ colors practically leap out at me since that is where my attention is focused.

Then I have to question the style, cut and fabric, but those are other posts.

Of course this works when shopping retail but for some reason it went hand in hand with thrifting for me. I think there are more colors second-hand than during one season retail.

Happy Thrifting!

Wardrobe totals and other numbers

Last year on January 24, I said that someday I would total my entire wardrobe, all seasons.  Living in a 4 season climate means I never 'see' the whole thing. since I only use a part of it at any given time.

 I didn't realize it yesterday but it was a year later [exactly] and I did that very thing. Here are some numbers/totals sliced up a few different ways.

Clothing and footwear - 91
  
This number does not include winter coats or accessories or handbags . It does not include lingerie, tights, socks or sleepwear. It does not include my ballgown capsule which includes my wedding gown. What happens if I include it all?  

Entire Wardrobe -- 207

Wardrobe is a funny word which actually means' a collection of clothing' [items worn to cover the body] so I probably shouldn't have my handbags in there. Gloves count but belts don't?  Footwear is clothing?  I wasn't finding the semantics helpful so I stopped.

I did count up my jewelry -- 85 pieces with and additional 12+ pieces that need mending or are sentimental inheritances I ignore. It's easy for me to not pay too much attention to it as long as it all fits in its container.

I love numbers but I don't find these numbers all that interesting. What did interest me is that I did find stuff that needed to go to a new home. Sometimes that home was the trash can. I found a pair of shoes I forgot I possessed which I moved along.  I got rid of a pair of black pumps that never felt right but I am sure will be perfect for someone else. I am amazed at the slush that can creep in to a tight wardrobe.

Then I crunched some numbers I found very interesting:

57% of clothing, accessories, footwear, outerwear, handbags, sleepwear was bought secondhand.
23% of the same was gifted to me, both secondhand and new stuff in here.
34% of the same was bought new by me
5%  of the same is 'other'. Inherited, so old I can't remember, you know, 'other'.

[math alert] There is overlap between the first two categories.

I am very interested in increasing the percentage of thrift buys going forward but I am not sure how to do this. I also noticed that if I use the undergarment inclusive total the percentage of 'new' climbs to 46%. This represents the one area where I do not thrift shop.

All in all I am glad I finally looked at some 4 season totals. I have found a lot to ponder going forward about what is important to me as regards my purchasing, shopping habits and needs.

Specifics of Winter 2014 - 333

A few people asked me for the specifics of my list and I realized how much I enjoy the lists of others so it seems good to put mine out here.

What is not on this list
Tights, long underwear or undergarments of any kind, snow boots [though you bet I have them], outdoor exercise clothing. Light weight tops for dancing. These are utilitarian items that get me through the winter but I don't count them as my wardrobe. I don't track accessories.

What is on this list
Trousers for single digit [and below] days, trousers and skirts for when it is double digits, dressy evening separates. Footwear I use indoors and not for dancing.

Trousers: [8]
Wool pinstripe lined
Brown wool lined
Olive wool
Cream lined
Spruce cords
Aubergine cords
Brown cords
Brown velvet

Skirts: [2] =10
Green corduroy
Brown velvet

Sweaters: [6] =16
Wine silk scoop neck
Red cashmere cardigan
Black silk V neck
Brown cardigan
Rust merino V neck
Olive V neck

Tops: [7] = 23 [all long or 3/4 sleeves]
Black lace button down
Blue/purple Paisley shirt
Brown/cream striped button down
Olive lace T shirt
Merlot velvet tank
Brown V neck T
Plum V neck T

Jackets/Blazers: [5] =28
Olive boucle
Grey jersey
Wine velvet
Brown/black tweed
Teal/bronze brocade

Boots/Shoes: [5] = 33
Green boots
Brown boots
Chestnut loafers
Black slip-ons
Herringbone shoes

This is the way I do project 333 right now January through March. Your list will be entirely different. We all have such specific needs in our lives it makes sense to me that lists would vary widely. 

If the weather changes a lot by the end of February I will start a new cycle at the beginning of March. For me the seasonal aspect is what regulates everything. When I travel to Palm Springs this winter I may need to go to a different seasonal capsule in order to pack.

One of these days I will count all of my out of season items as well. I would like to know my totals. It may be that I have a skewed vision of my wardrobe since I have such strict seasonal capsules and never view it as a whole. But that's a project for another day.

Winter '14 and project 333

A huge project has been completed and I have the inclination for blogging on an overwhelming number of topics. It hard to choose one so I grabbed the one on top.

I always enjoy doing "project 333" but when the weather is mutable I can find it very difficult. This past autumn was hard as the weather was quite unpredictable. This is not a problem now thanks to the current wintery weather which puts clear limits on what can be worn or not.  Also it practically urges one to wear velvet and I love that urge.

So I have my list of clothing, it's being tweaked a bit but I am at 30 pieces right now. As usual [for me] I am not counting outerwear or boots or exercise clothing or accessories.

Making my 333 list is routine but I did notice something new. Only six pieces [20%] on my list were bought new, the other 25 pieces were purchased at thrift or consignment stores.  I'm a bit stunned by that. I knew my thrifting over the years had been honed but wow - I am good at it. This is inspiring me to learn more new things about my buying habits in 2014.

So I have decided to track my personal purchases this year. I hope to tease out why I buy things, when I buy them and maybe how I make room for them. I'll also be noting if I bought something new or second-hand. We'll see how it goes.