Off-List Goals: How I determined what my wardrobe really needed

Read part one here!

I once helped my younger sister get ready for moving to college by writing up and list (or inventory) of her clothes. A wise friend who was staying at our house for the summer found us and asked us a very interesting question: "Why are you doing that?" At the time there was no good reason. We had no idea what to do with the list once it was done. So since we were about 80% finished we just kept going. But we didn't have the same zeal. It is disheartening to realize that so many lists and organizational techniques don't lead anywhere. However, there is a way that your list of clothes can actually help. But it has to go beyond a simple list. This great e-card is exactly where we're going....

Source. 

In my last post I discussed how to create a working wardrobe and gave you this definition: A working wardrobe is one that contains all the clothes you need to live the life you desire and to look good doing it. I described how to play with your clothes and to start thinking about what you actually like in terms of comfort, colour and style as well as taking a good look at yourself. Today we are going to start turning that play and thought into reality.

Just to give you a heads up the process of changing your wardrobe is basically this: Discover, Assess, make decisions, implement, evaluate. Which means you will never be done, because assess and evaluate are basically the same thing, making it.. a circle! Which is one of the reasons why this is actually sustainable. So, the first post was focused on the discovery part of this process, getting you to discover what you like and how you look right now. Next we will further assess what you actually need.


Start the list 
I suggest you create a spreadsheet on your computer and use the following headings at least: Category, Item, Rating, Wardrobe Item and Upgrade. I also include sleeve-length, purchased at and year. Category will be things like pants, shirts and toppers (this is how I group blazers, cardigans etc.). Item is a simple description of the item. Be sure to include the colour.

Rate Your Clothes
I like to rate my clothes from 1-5. 5 are favourites, fit fantastically, look great, would cry if they got lost or ruined. 4 are pretty good. 3 are work horses, but maybe aren't my favourite styles or colours. 2 are ready to be donated. 1 is a category for sentimental and necessary items. Never to be donated, but not exactly my style.

Determine Your Must-Haves
Wardrobe Item's is the best way you will find gaps. I am including my complete list of wardrobe must-have items just to give you a starting point. As you go through the list think about the following questions.

• Think about your work: Do you wear a uniform? Then get enough uniforms to last 1 week of work. If you wear a uniform such as black pants and a white shirt get 3 pants and 3 shirts, unless it is a very messy line of work or you are particularly clumsy. If you have a job where your clothes actually mean a lot then try to create a "10 for 10" wardrobe, with 10 items that can be worn 10 ways. Ricki's website has some good ideas for this. If you are a stay-at-home mom or work from home also try to do the 10 for 10 idea, but probably a little more casual. You can decide if you want to wear yoga pants for exercise or just as pants. 

• Think about your lifestyle: Do you camp? Do you exercise? Do you boat? Do you swim? Do you play golf or tennis? Do you spend a lot of time going to "functions"? What types of things do you volunteer at? Do you go to regular religious services?  How do you socialize with friends? These types of activities require different clothes, so think about what you would like to wear. For instance if you normally socialize at the gym it is a very different wardrobe than if you normally socialize at a wine bar. Be realistic about your life. 

• Lounge & Pj's: This is an area of life that most people ignore. But think about how you want to look when the postman comes to the door. Also think about comfort. I prefer to wear stretchy exercise pants, t-shirts and zippered hoodies when I am relaxing at home. My husband prefers sweatpants. Some people just prefer cozy pajamas. Maybe you find jeans & a loose blouse comfortable enough and don't like the idea of changing. Many times I can go a week wearing the same stretchy pants when I am lounging. This is because usually lounging doesn't involve sweating and doesn't happen everyday for long periods. Plus no one else sees me. So I feel fine wearing the same pants a collective 14 hours a week. But, since the postman might see you, or you might go down the hall to the laundry or take out the trash, try to keep to your same colours and remember fit. (You will find these items divided between athletic & foundations on the list.)

• Think about your climate: What kind of gear do you need to face the weather you encounter on a regular basis? On the West coast it is all about waterproofing, from shoes to jackets and umbrella's. And since we get a fair amount of wind and don't very often get really hot days I have found that having light waterproof spring jackets & coats to be very important. In the Prairies we almost never get rain, but we do get wind & freezing cold. So it's all about heavy jackets, scarves, hats and mittens. Oh and long johns and thermal shirts. 

• Think about your shoes: This is an area that can get kind of tricky and really depends on your personality. Since I abhor shoe shopping and rarely find pairs I fall in love with, I prefer to buy neutral shoes that work with all my outfits. I focus on different types of shoes, rather than styles or colours. However, if you love shoes, then you might want to spend more money on this area. You need to actually figure this out about yourself. This website has a great post about the necessary shoes for each person. 

Merge Your New Discoveries with your Current Reality
At this point it is helpful to merge your clothes inventory with your online dream wardrobe. Make sure all of your 5's are represented in your dream wardrobe. Include as many of your 4's and 3's as you want. By doing this you may decide to change your ratings of items, this is all part of the process. Also, to save time, don't include foundation pieces. And only include work pieces if creating different outfits is helpful.

When you find an item that fits one of your "must-have" descriptions, but isn't something you want to put into or just doesn't work in your dream wardrobe consider marking it an upgrade. An upgrade is what you wish this item would be. For instance I currently have a cotton black & white blouse that fulfills my "tunic/ silk shirt" spot. However, in my dream wardrobe I have a sheer blue chiffon polka dot blouse. This is my upgrade, which then becomes my shopping list. We will talk more about this in the next post.

This is how you begin to make decisions about the size of your wardrobe, your wardrobe budget and what changes you need to make. Really play around with things. Challenge yourself to be super-creative and really get the best wear out of your items. Remember not to shop yet!

You have finished assessing!!... next up purging & shopping!!

What are your wardrobe "must-haves"? Comment below please!