Clothes for Warmer Days
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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!
