First of all, I can't believe how long I've been doing these posts. That's a lot of my clothes shopping that I have documented. (It's 8 years...they are all linked at the bottom.) Styles have changed quite a bit in the last 8 years and yet...I still have MANY things from 8 years ago, when I really worked on updating my wardrobe and apparently am still stuck. Not completely but I looked at this post and I still definitely have 7 of those items from my "extra" list in my closet/dresser. And I WISH I still had those sunglasses, they are my favorite that I've had in the last 10 years but they broke in New York and I've gone through 3 pairs since! (Two of which I lost for good in water.)
Second, so jeans are still interesting! I tried on some flares last fall. I was finally going to do it. I put them on and oh. my. goodness. I couldn't deal with having so much extra fabric around my ankles. WHY?!?!? I still appreciate the silhouette of well fitting flares, it's what was "in" when I was in high school and what I wore for at least a decade after that, but at 40, I couldn't handle with all that extra fabric. It was NOT as comfortable as my beloved skinnies. Other than a few "dressier" occasions, I couldn't ever see myself reaching for them in my day to day life. Also, my shoes, sweaters, and general tops all were bought to go with my skinnies. Yes, I'm sure some would work fine with flares but I keep hearing you have to update all tops and shoes with different cuts to balance the fabric and, you all, I am NOT interested in reworking my whole wardrobe. That's time consuming and expensive! And I'm definitely, even as a Mom, not interested in anything that could be described as "mom jeans", even though I don't think we call them that anymore. They are not flattering on anyone I have seen. I was about to buy some "girlfriend" jeans to try which are basically a more relaxed skinny but then the sale ended right after I made up my mind to buy them. So now waiting on a sale again. My current jeans will have to get me through our chilly days for awhile!
I appreciate the twice a year chance to rant about jean trends. I have a lot of thoughts apparently.
Here's how I did on my Fall/Winter 2023 shopping list:
1) Raincoat
My sister passed one on to me for free! It's not exactly what I had in mind but until I find that, this has been working out just fine, been getting it's use at rainy soccer games!
Bought the exact one above from ThredUp and wore it to the wedding. We have 3 more niece weddings on the calendar and I cannot keep buying new dresses for all of these (we have 60 nieces & nephews...a lot of weddings ahead of us). But I still like this one. It will probably make an appearance at another wedding.
3) A thinner black sweater to wear with my Christmas skirt
I bought and wore the exact one I linked to last fall! Wore it on Christmas and that was it but a black sweater is a good staple??
I bought a few grey sweaters, none of them worked for me (why is everything so boxy???). But I did get two new sweaters! A teal glittery one from ThredUp and this one from Kohls in green.
I bought two, another one of these fleece sweatshirts from Kohls (I also bought a back-up of the Blue Crayon color I already had but that'll eventually be a replacement so I'm not counting it) and this White Christmas themed bright green sweatshirt (mine is "Irish Green") off Etsy. I wanted a White Christmas sweatshirt but not one that said "White Christmas" and so got this one but realized it said something about snow. I still wore it nearly every Saturday mid-December - April and a bunch more days around Christmas (including Christmas Day itself). I have 4 crewneck sweatshirts I regularly wear all winter PLUS my beloved from Kohls 2 years ago that I save for camping trips and special occasions. That was the sweatshirt that started this all! (I have also checked ThredUp more than once for a duplicate of it.)
6) SOME jean that isn't skinny
I bought them. I returned them.
Technically I bought zero with my allowance money but Matt did give me a pair for Christmas (Cole Haan's which I can't find online anymore) which I have been wearing more as it warms up but everything is still so muddy that I still reach for my Converse anytime there is even a chance of mud. Then for Valentine's Day we got each other coordinating green Pumas (mine are these) that we both wore out to lunch on our recent wedding anniversary and I cannot tell you how much that delighted me. I made Matt take a picture with me of our shoes.
EXTRAS:
Other than replacing my bras and some socks (I don't count those because those are generally categories, along with underwear, that I am an under buyer on, waiting as long as possible to replace them). I think I just had one extra item all winter, and that was a top from ThredUp that is maybe more appropriate for spring/summer but I've worn it a few times already so I'm putting it here.
Now for the rest of spring/summer 2024...
Looking back over the last few years, I've had more holes in my fall/winter wardrobe and seem to be pretty content with what I wear in the spring summer! And that's still how I feel, no major holes to fill which is nice!
Already bought the one pictured from ThredUp. Again, at some point (probably soon), I have to stop buying a new dress for every wedding. We're going to have so many.
2) 2ish Tank Tops
I wear these a lot when it's hot and it's always nice to add a few more to my rotation, especially as I've had some for ~8 years and they are wearing out. (I already bought a few from Old Navy because I've been happy with their tank tops, but I haven't gotten to trying them on yet.)
3) 2ish Crew Neck t-shirts
Not relaxed fit t-shirts which I wear A LOT in the spring and fall on days I'm not leaving the house for much more than school runs but ones to wear when we are doing things, having people over, going to cookouts, whatever. I like crew neck because I can bend/lean over without worrying about flashing people and also just easier. Some of the ones I've had for many years are ALSO wearing out. This is, honestly, probably where I have the most holes in my wardrobe. I have plenty of casual, just being at home or running errands clothes. And a good amount of nicer dresses in a range of casualness. But I don't have much in the "nice enough for a cookout but also for possibly playing with kids" category. Hum....
4) Jeans
I don't know, will I expand from my skinnies??? Nothing crazy but something I am interested in trying when we start easing into cooler weather in a few months.
5) A sundress
I've bought one a summer for many summers now and it's nice to have some options. I wear them to church most of the time May - September, to work, on dates, and on our anniversary & Mother's Day just because I want to.
I'll report back in a few months and probably continue to rant about jeans! Doing these lists so many years ago really has helped me get more focused in my shopping. I highly recommend the practice!
Spring 2019
Fall 2018
Spring 2018
Fall 2017
Spring 2017
Fall 2016
Spring 2016
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