September 2008

I cleaned out my closets (all 3 of them) and my chest of drawers last week. Afterwards, I sat facing 5 garbage bags of clothing equaling god knows how much money gone to waste and all of it going to charity. After a few days, I dumped all the bags out one last time to make sure I hadn’t gotten rid of anything in haste. My closets were sparse yet I was completely fine with that. I had experienced a wardrobe epiphany! There was a common theme among the things I plan on donating and this is what I would like to discuss.

I will never be one of those women who wears a skirt to the grocery store. In fact, I rarely ever wear skirts period. As much as I admire Dita Von Teese and secretly wish I could handle a day of shopping in stillettos, a vintage dress and a hat… it’s simply not going to happen. Why then have I purchased skirt after skirt after skirt? Why have I tried to convince myself that I could get used to being completely uncomfortable?

There were also a lot of patterns in my charity bags. I despise patterns, yet I have attempted to force myself into purchasing them in the hopes that they will grow on me. Not so much. Staying current is always important but being true to yourself is even more so. I was told by my (recently fired) therapist to spend an entire week not wearing black. I have never been more miserable in my life. I have been drawn to black since I could dress myself, as well as architectural and textural pieces.

I think as I approach 30, the concept of developing my own signature style has been resonating with me more and more. As the economy has worsened, there have been undertones in recent fashion magazines about making smarter investment purchases and working with the items of clothing you already have. Well, I think that’s something we all should’ve been doing a long time ago. Your 20s are the decade to trend hop and to experiment with your style. It’s also when your closet is overflowing with fleeting trends and you still feel like you have nothing to wear. Now that I’ve purged my closests and have retained only the items I feel the most comfortable in, I feel like my options are endless.

This fall I did break down and purchase the leather-look American Apparel leggings. I think the finish will probably last as long as the trend does, yet they still fit in with my aesthetic and go with most of what I already have.

This zipper necklace is something I am going to have to make in the very near future, which echoes the swirls in Ria Thomas‘ knitwear that I would kill for:

My final indulgence for the fall and winter will most likely be these completely impractical and decadent shoes that I have been coveting for months now.

Sigh. Maybe it’s not as freeing to figure out exactly who you are… you simply narrow in on things all the more fiercely.

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