Taking my stuff for a "test" drive

[MamaM]

Over the past 2 weeks, I have been taking as many of my clothes, shoes, accessories for a "test" drive, forcing myself to use everything in my closets and drawers. This has helped me eliminate the following already:
1. 2 button down shirts- sleeves not long enough and I was going to make shorter sleeves but they look silly short.
2. Watch- bought one of those rubber type band watches at a sale at the hospital, in white. It was cute but not comfortable at all after about an hour.
3. One cuff- bought at said sale. Felt like a handcuff on me. Gold in color with emerald green stone.
4. Elephant head necklace, gold underlay and chaing with vibrant colors- was trying to be exotic and felt stupid in it. :laff:
5. 2 pairs of pants- 1 was too short, even in flats and the other road my behind too much...hence the funny dancing to correct it casually. :moon:
6. 3 pairs of hi-heels- 1 was a little to granny-ish, the second pinched my righ big toe, even though I tried to stretch it out and the 3rd was just too high to actually walk in for my normal life. They are 4 inch leapord print peep toes- for my fantasy me. ;)
7. One busy print shirt- too chaotic for me.
8. One v-neck shirt that road up too much. I even put a tank beneath it but it didn't look right on the bottom.
9. 1 pink bandana- Willie Nelson I am not. : )
10. Black lace pencil skirt. It has a Christmas green underlay. I just haven't figured out how to wear it and with what. Pretty but would like a more neutral background with navy lace.
11. 2 stretched out v-neck t shirts. I need something with a little more structure to it. Not enough spandex and they just stretched out.
12. Fancy undergarments that constrict me too much and instead of making me slimmer, made me like I couldn't breathe. :doh:

13. 3 long skirts- too modest or something not right for me. I just feel frumpy and they cut me all wrong.
14. 2 thick belts- I call them ***BOOBIE*** rests.:|( Not pretty for this larger chested gal.

This has actually been fun. What I learned?
1. Gold and green do NOT Look good on me in the wrong tones.
2. I like and look best in a trouser cut pant in black, charcoal dark grey, navy.
3. I definitely lean towards more classic cuts and colors
4. Simple jewelry, mostly in silver tones. I do have a rose gold watch and I love it.
5. I prefer a simple dress over skirt/top combo- just makes me look leaner, taller and is so much easier. Less fuss.
6. I don't do tights, nylons, pantyhose or anything restrictive. I just doesn't work for me and I spend all day thinking about that stuff when I have it on and that puts me in a bad mood.
7. 9 inch shorts work best on my legs/body type. Anything shorter or longer cuts me off.
8. Navy blue and deep rich red are my favorite colors now. Light greys and soft pinks are being edited out of my wardrobe- too light for my olive skin tone.
9. Hot pink looks good with the Navy- found a "new" outfit today. Pinstripe navy blue pants with short sleeve hot pink cashmere t-shirt with neutral shoe. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!
10. Yes, I splurged on 2 cashmere t-shirts. SO worth the money. They have lasted me over a year without much show of wear and tear. I buy them in tall, so I have ample bootie coverage.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

WOW! What a enlightening time you have had! Not only did you have to have patience to go through everything and try it, but it looks like you learned a lot about yourself and your clothing preferences and that will certainly come in handy whenever you need/want to make another purchase. I am a dedicated thrift store shopper and have come across some really great buys and nice articles of clothing, but mostly I end up making too many purchases because they cost so little and then there I am with things that maybe don't fit as well as they should, or aren't flattering/comfortable after all. Good for you!

[MamaM]

Thank you. I am very motivated this past month. At some point, I will just take a good long nap after all is said and done but I realized last week that some of the clothes I had have made the cut through several (3-4) moves and yet, I still do not wear them.

What got me started was I remember growing up, I didn't have much. When I hit adulthood and moved out on my own. I still only filled half a double closet (not walk in) closet with all I had. The key was I wore it all and always tried EVERYTHING on in the store and was VERY picky. I remember enjoying clothes back then and loving everything I had. I also wasnt' so focused on clothing, I just wore what I wore and didn't give it much thought, other than being appropriate for the situation-mostly work. Maybe I am just becoming set in my ways as I triumphly march out of the last 1.5 years of my 30's but I am sure enjoying myself.

I also just re-read a post on Ms. Minimalist on your fantasy self vs. your real self. Eye opening I tell ya!!!

[Life_is_Simple]

MamaM - Oh, this is an INTERESTING way of doing it! :+1:

So basically, you force yourself to wear things? And if it doesn't go well, you toss them?

[MamaM]

Yes and most items I could tell within 15 minutes if I was even going to tolerate it. I am off from work but I did include work clothes. I even wore my sheath type work dresses to the store, in heels/shoes, with full jewelry. I had to test drive them. One of them, I made it down the street and realized I kept tugging on it, turned around, came home and put something else on. Yes, I am that crazy. ;)

[treehugger]

I have recently been doing something similar. I went 5 years only buying necessities so I have a lot of clothing that is so worn it looks awful or functions poorly. I have finally been allowing myself to throw stuff out and replace (our budget now has room for this, but extreme frugalness is a hard habit to break, even when it's unnecessary).

For example:
- a pair of black tights that I have had for at least 7 years; they didn't have runs, but they didn't fit any more and wouldn't stay up. I kept them because I like to wear tights with certain skirts and I couldn't afford a new pair. So I wore them but they were trouble all day long. Trash! Easy to replace.
- a black cardigan that I bought cheaply 3 years ago at Ross because I needed a cardigan for work. The sleeves were too short after I washed it and it had become horribly pilled. I kept it and wore it but hated it. Trash! And I will look for a new, quality one. I do now have a grey one that I love, but a black one would come in handy, too.
- Sorrel snow boots I have had for at least 17 years. Only wear them a couple times a year, so they aren't worn, but just this month have decided I am done with them because they give me blisters on my Achilles every single time, and they have since they were new. I hung onto them since they were expensive and not worn out and I didn't need them often. But I am done with them! I don't even need to replace them since my mom has a snow boot fetish (she lives in the mountains) and always has an extra pair for me to borrow when we visit.
- Pants that don't fit, blouses with stains, shoes with glued-too-many-times soles, etc. Trash (or donate, if things just don't fit me)!

I also have lots of things that I don't need to replace necessarily, but I do need to get rid of because they simply aren't flattering or I just don't like them. I accepted anything anyone gave me during those years, grateful for the items. And I held onto (and wore) them all, because I couldn't afford to buy anything for variety. No longer; that stuff is out! I have plenty of storage space, but it sure is nice to get rid of stuff all the same.

Kara

[Florence]

Several years ago I moved all my clothes out of my closet. As I wore items, I put them back in my closet. At the end of a year, everything that had not been moved back into my closet went to the Salvation Army. It is about time to do that again.

I love your idea of test driving your stuff!!

[Maxamillion]

What a great idea! I need to do this with my own wardrobe.

[Zoebird]

Fun, right?

nothing like a capsule wardobe!