Friday, August 7, 2009

Build a Wardrobe

My goal with all my shopping is to end up with a nice wardrobe that will fit all my needs. I don't want to only wear brand-new stuff. I don't want to be the girl with a closet full of stuff that I've only worn one time (or worse, we all know it happens, never worn). To do that, I need a plan. Here is one part of my plan:

Part I

Stick to a neutral pallette. My colors are:

grey
navy
black

For interest, I'm adding in:

olive greens
pinks (probably not with the greens though)
ivory
white
possibly a new pair of khaki pants since I shrank my khaki bistros (boo - I loved those pants)
jewelry in gold tones

The grey, navy and black will make up the bulk of my bigger pieces: pants, sweaters, jackets and some tops. I'll add in the accent colors in belts, maybe a bag and tops. Perhaps a scarf but I'm really not good with scarves. Maybe something to tie on my the new grey bag I ordered.

I'm already struggling with this as I found a perfect brown bag at Cole Haan. The Whitney Zip Hobo with the awesome grommets. I love this! But I am resisting. It's not a bad price for a nice bag but I'm not adding brown to my wardrobe at this time.

I did order the J Crew Campo Messenger Bag in Slate - should get it next week sometime. This bag should work with most of my wardrobe. I like that it has gold-toned hardware on a grey bag.

Part II of my plan - identify what I do and what I need to wear to do the things that I do:

Work at Client Site: My current client is business casual. To me, this means pants and shirts. Generally, I have been wearing J Crew Slim Stretch Shirts (untucked) in a variety of colors with either black, grey or ivory pants. And with khaki pants until I shrank them. The grey pants I have are too hot for summer - lined wool. So right now I have black and ivory pants. I don't work at the client site every day, so I don't need a full month's worth of clothing, but I do need some variety. Two pairs of pants (and the black pair is looking kind of shabby) is not enough.

So on order I have one pair of Premium Stretch Bistro pants in dark pewter (yes! the same pants I shrank in khaki - I know I keep going on about this but I loved those pants!). These will be dry-clean only!

One pair of downtown denim trousers for casual Fridays. I hope these work out. I have been wearing my 7 jeans but I think those are a little tight for work. And of course my distressed denim is not work appropriate (even if J Crew does show it rolled with heels and jackets for work - maybe if I worked for J Crew I could wear that)

Community Meetings: this is casual, but I want to look nice. One issue is that we often walk to the meetings (every other month at the Methodist church, every other month at a nearby resturant). I don't want to wear sandals or other type of open shoe since I think my feet will get dirty. High heels are also out - it is maybe 6 or 7 blocks but we have to clamber over rail road tracks and walk in the street sometimes - not a nice stroll down a neighborhood sidewalk.

For shoes, I bought some Skechers that are sneaker-like. They are grey with silver sparkles. The sparkles are kind of old-lady looking to me (not little kid for some reason). I do like the sparkle though - when the meeting is boring I can move my foot to make the sparkles sparkle and entertain myself that way. These shoes go with my grey boyfriend and scout chinos as well as jeans and casual dresses.

I don't want to be sleeveless in the church (it is kind of warm in there but it doesn't seem right to me to be sleeveless in the sanctuary which is where the meetings are - probably no one cares though - may just be an old fashioned notion on my part). The resturant can be cool. We often go to the resturant after the meeting in the church. I have some featherweight cashmere sweaters that work great for this type of thing - light but will keep the chill off. Yes, cashmere can be perfect for Houston summers.

We also have committee meetings that are at people's houses. This is casual as well.

Parties: for the community, we are having a cocktail attire fundraiser in October, a Neighborhood Night Out party also in October and a Christmas party in December. My husband's company also has a Christmas party (although not sure if they will this year). I think I have outfits for the cocktail fundraiser (I have 2 lovely party skirts from J Crew that I have worn to previous Christmas parties - a silk black and ivory striped one and a blue and black silk and cotton taffeta one that I can wear different tops with). And my awesome grey patent Cole Haan high heeled Mary Janes. I love those shoes!!

If my husband's company has a Christmas party, I will probably get a new J Crew skirt. I have a hard time wearing dresses (I am long waisted and dress waists tend to hit too high on me). And skirts can be so versatile. I can't wait to see what they have this year!

Poker: we have a monthly revolving poker game with our friends. Casual.

More later on my wardrobe plan as I work it out.

Oh, yes -I have lost about 15 pounds this year so I have to get new pants (down a size or 2 there). My shirts still fit ok. I will probably lose about 5 more pounds so I don't want to buy a lot of pants at this point. Pants that are too big just don't look nice.