Clothes for Cooler Days

Yesterday was a cool, rainy day…perfect for putting away summer clothes and bringing out the layers that work for the range of temperatures during fall days.

Last spring I decided to re-purpose some suitcases that I rarely used to store out-of-season clothes. I started with the unpacking of the heavier pants/jeans and sweaters that were in the suitcase. I packed it up again with skirts, T-shirt dresses and capris. I found 2 old totes (one still had an address tag from over 20 years indicating that it had been stored away for a long time!) for shorts and summer tops.

I did not find many items to give-away.

Most of my warm weather items are things I actually wear even if there are too many of them. It will take me many years to wear out the all the shorts I’ve accumulated!

There could be some things in my closet that are too big now that I have stabilized at a lower weight and am confident I have to willpower to stay there.

I also have jackets from the last years of my career that I like too well to give away…but I don’t wear them very much these days. Some have been in dry cleaner bags for over a year. I’m considering dressing ‘business casual’ rather than ‘casual’ on any day I leave the house to create an opportunity to enjoy the jackets again this winter. I did wear two of them on my vacation to Rhode Island and now I want to wear the others too!

Clothes for Hot Days

The summer temperatures have arrived and I’ve done some slight rearranging of my closet. Most of the jeans and slacks are put away until fall as are all the long sleeved tops. The favorite items in my closet right now are skirts/tops and dresses. I am enjoying the T-shirt dresses I made last summer.

The skirts work even better for me because I can wear them for several days with different tops. And I’ve been very successful finding skirts I like at thrift stores! I like print skirts in filmy fabrics that are just below the knee or almost ankle length. It’s a plus for them to be washable too.

Sure - I still have shorts and capris. But I’m not wearing them as much as I used to since rediscovering that dresses are cooler. I do have a pair of skinny capris that end just below the knee that I wear in celebration of the weight I finally lost last year (they used to be tight….and now they are not…maybe they are even a little loose!).

Previous post: Clothes for Warmer Days

Clothes for Warmer Days

It’s the time of year to put away heavy sweaters and pants. It isn’t quite warm enough for summer clothes yet but the winter clothes are always too warm by the afternoon. So - it is time to go with lighter layers for warmer days: T- shirts, lightweight slacks, long sleeved cottons, lightweight cardigans. I have an extra closet for the out of season clothes and yesterday was my ‘stage 1’ change for warmer days. I’ll have a ‘stage 2’ when the days get really hot (summer) and I put away slacks altogether.

As I move clothes around - the items I haven’t worn at all during the past season are put in a bag to donate. The clothes that are for the upcoming season are evaluated. Since I have become more rigorous during the end of season move, the clothes I am getting out are usually all worth keeping. But is there a hole in the wardrobe that I need to fill via shopping or repurposing? I don’t think so at this point. If anything, I have too many clothes!

About 10 years ago, I decided that black (rather than black or brown or navy blue) would be my ‘neutral’ color. It turned out to be a great strategy. Almost all my pants are black and they go with all my tops.  Most of the tops are pastel or bright colors although I have a few black tops because I like bright jackets too (in every season except summer). I will need to make a trip to the dry cleaners for a few winter jackets as soon as I am sure I will not be wearing them again this year.

My fashion season leans classical which means that I buy clothes that will be part of my wardroom until they wear out completely rather than for a single year.  I do enjoy the occasional splurge toward the trendy even though I wear them long after the season they were ‘in’ - sparkles on a top, lattice at the neckline, palazzo pants.

At one time I decided that I would get rid of my scarves but now I am glad I didn’t. They are a warming addition to a winter outfit (that I enjoyed a lot this past season) and I like them during other seasons as belts, to add color to a straw hat, or tied around an otherwise dull purse.

Over the years - I’ve come to the conclusion that in the spectrum between extreme comfort and extreme fashion, I always be on the comfort end of the spectrum. The only area I am still challenged is shoes. I know that the longer one wears shoes with pointy toes and high heels, the more deformed (and painful) the foot becomes. The problem is to find shoes that are comfortable and look good with certain types of clothes, particularly dresses. I’ll have to deal with the shoe issue more during the summer when dresses are by far the coolest choice for the hot days; stay tuned for my upcoming post on summer clothes!

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - April 2014

Noticing something worth celebration each day is an easy thing for me to do. The habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. This month has been full of ‘little celebrations;’ here are my top 10 for April 2014.

Home again. It’s always sweet to come home after being away no matter how much I enjoyed being away.

“New” clothes. I am tired of winter clothes so I celebrated a warm day in April when I needed to raid the summer clothes for something to wear. I am looking forward to getting out all the summer wardrobe and doing some focused purchases in May.

Outdoor projects. Our April was pretty cool but we did some sprucing up outside our house. We put new mulch around the trees, got the gutters all cleaned out and mowed the lawn for the first time. It felt good to be out and getting things done.

Indoor to Outdoor projects. There were several projects that appealed to me that started indoors and will be moved outdoors in early May.  I am celebrating that all the seedlings I have in small pots are growing very well and will be ready for the garden soon. The bins we buy cat litter in have worked well as pots that I’ll just move to the deck and let the seedlings grow to maturity; reusing rather than recycling is very appealing.

Spring blossoms. The cherry blossoms were the highlight of April….big celebration. Dandelions bring more mixed feelings; the yellow blossoms are cheery but they are way too plentiful!

Outdoor volunteer gigs. There is always a serendipity celebration when I combine being outdoors and doing something good in the community.

Anticipating travel. In April is celebrated the anticipation of traveling to Rhode Island next fall and a vicarious trip to Hawaii through my daughter. I started looking at web sites and reading books (current and very old). I like the before and after of travel as much as the travel itself!

Photography adventures. This month I continued my explorations with the loupe and been very pleased with unfurling leaves and minute flower parts. The other adventure was an initial foray into time lapse photography with the seedlings. I always celebrate the successes….and try to forget the images that didn’t quite work out.

Sunny window. I like sitting in a sunny window on cool (or cold) spring morning….celebrating that I have the time and place to do it!

Spring events. Howard County sponsored a WomenFest in April. I exceeded my expectations!