May Project 333 review and new purchases

Hi there,

I’m back with a reflection on what I’ve been wearing lately. I feel like I’ve made some progress, passing along some things that I really don’t love any more, and buying some really useful replacement pieces.

My most recent donations were:

7 cardigans or sweaters, 5 dresses, 2 skirts, 4 t-shirts or tanks, 1 pair of exercise capris, and some extra winter things, never-worn colorful tights and such.

Some of these donations were older items that have served their time. A few pieces were just not quite right – poor quality, or poorly fitting. I can do without cheap junk. I have nicer pieces that I can wear more often instead.

My latest purchases were:

a pink cotton tank with a fancy crochet detail, a reversible raspberry/floral printed gathered cotton skirt, and some shorts I have mentioned previously (a pair of slate blue capris, aqua cotton shorts, blue cotton shorts) and a hip length lilac cardigan.  All that for less than $30 total from Goodwill!

I wore the reversible skirt several times last week to see what it would go with. It was a challenge to my initial thought that this skirt might be a mistake to buy (even for $3) because it wouldn’t go with many tops. I easily managed 4 different looks in one week so I’m satisfied that it works. I wish it had pockets, but reversible is also a pretty awesome feature.

And just the other day I found a replacement denim skirt that has pockets and a nice A-line shape. It’s stretch denim and the pockets are functional and the length is a little less matronly than my current denim skirt (which can look a bit frumpy). This new skirt shows off that I have knees (lol) but is still long enough to be comfortable and easy to wear. Oh, and did I mention the price? $2.12 from the St Vincent de Paul thrift shop. I plan to donate my old denim skirt.

I took a close-up of my new pink tank. It’s soft crease-y cotton. Very breezy. The color is a little more purple/raspberry-toned that it appears here, as is the reversible skirt.

Isn’t that crochet detailing nice? I know these kinds of shirts have been a dime-a-dozen these last few years but I really like this particular detailing. The top is very simple, but it’s not plain. I would definitely wear this on those occasions where I want to dress casually but with a little flair.

I found a cute little purse at Goodwill another day:

Linen, mustard, teal, and polka dots. It seems to be brand new. My phone fits in it with space for a few other small things, and it has a little attachment where it could have a chain or wrist strap attached. btw the backdrop is the plain raspberry side of the reversible skirt – the color is a little more accurate here.

I finally ordered some ballet flats to try on! Three pairs are coming from Nordstrom and Amazon. Maybe if I’m lucky one pair will work. I ordered tan, pink, and black in 3 different brands and styles, so who knows what I’ll end up with? Chances are none of them will work, but at least I’m trying. If these don’t work I’ll try Zappos’ overwhelming array of options. The black pair arrived while I was writing this and they don’t work at all. Too much toe cleavage, as I suspected. Thank goodness for easy free returns.

I always note the “stars” of my wardrobe (4 wears or more) after each month of tracking what I wear. This month’s stars were: my jeans, new capris, new reversible skirt, new lilac cardigan, the ever-faithful long pink cardigan, pink sweatshirt, pink striped tee, black lace top, and several layering tanks which I count as a single item. I wore each of my dresses once or twice but mostly wore separates. The weather was variable, ranging from mild to quite hot, so I wore summery tanks and long sleeved shirts this month. This weather offers a lot of options – if I’m staying at home (where the temperature is fairly constant) I might wear a lightweight long sleeved top, but if I’m going out and moving around I might opt for layering a tank with a cardigan. It’s nice right now – neither too hot nor too cold.

I have a couple of things I’m planning on passing along soon. The old denim skirt, for one. And probably the “fancy” raspberry see through blouse I bought a few months ago. I don’t think it is quite what I need and I’m not sure I will ever wear it. For now it’s in my “dressy” mini-capsule – 4 items that hang in the corner of my closet, just in case.

So all in all I’m feeling good about my summer wardrobe. I’ve put away all of my drab wooly clothes and pulled out almost all of my summer things. I think the only thing still on my shopping list is a pair of ballet flats. I did have a moment of feeling bad the other day when someone asked about stored items on the Dress with Less Course Facebook page. Lots of people said they only have 8 or 9 off-season items. I have a lot more than that! I thought I had quite a lot of cross-over between seasons, but after reading that I kind of felt like I was failing. But I know that isn’t true. Even if I had no crossover items at all I wouldn’t be failing this. I’m not even counting items (but I think I have about 40 clothing pieces in my closet). I just try to keep track of what I have and how it works together to have a small, functional wardrobe. I think as time goes on I might have less, but I’m not worrying too much about it. As long as everything fits into my space and gets worn a reasonable amount I consider this project a success.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jo:)

 

 

 

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