Wardrobe Architect, Week Ten

The exercise for this week is to look at your palette and select a palette for the upcoming S/S season (which I assume you would then do every season going forward). Again, since I've departed a little from the whole capsule wardrobe strategy of the plan, I'm doing this my own way. For me, choosing just one colour to define a season around has always felt right. I've had a black season, a navy season, a grey season, a coral season, a green season, and I'm currently in the throes of a royal blue season. It's hard to predict what I'll feel like for summer. Orange occurred to me, but I'll just be waiting to see.

Wardrobe Architect, Week Nine

This week's post is about building a capsule wardrobe. This might be more useful for some of you, but I feel I differ from the post here a bit. I've already written a list of a base wardrobe, which I actually posted here before, and I don't really feel the need to buy much outside of it. But I'm very into basics, and not having to buy more clothes unless one of the items needs replacing appeals very much to me. It might not to everybody.

Anyways, I decided rather than doing this week's exercise, I'd review my base wardrobe list in light of what I've unearthed over the last few weeks. And because that's what kind of person I am, I went ahead and prettied it up and attach it here as a pdf in case anyone else is as nerdy as me and wants something like this to print out and carry with them on shopping trips! (It's really pretty. I think I really will print it out and keep it in the enormous purse my husband got me when I had my second child. I can fit practically anything in it; we call it 'the base camp'.)

Wardrobe Architect, Week Eight

This week is about hair, make-up, and beauty. I've done a long blog post on my other blog on why I don't wear make-up except on very special occasions but I do care about aesthetics a great deal-- I just choose to express that through no make-up. Still, it's a topic I have thought through thoroughly and intentionally so I'm excited to go through the questions for this week.

1. What hair style has been most flattering and comfortable for you? How did it make you feel about yourself? Did it invoke any of the words you came up with in our core style exercise? I've had my hair in a shingled '20s bob and I've had long hair, and I've dyed it everything from bright red to bleach blonde to nearly black. These days, though, shoulder-length and natural are what I'm happiest with. Just long enough to wear up on the days when life is too busy for blowdrying and such, but not so long that it takes a lot of work and upkeep (and gives me a headache). It's really low-maintenance; I just got the ends thinned so it's lighter as my hair is thick as thieves (can I say that?) and it's really quick to blowdry now. I basically just roll out of bed and occasionally comb it between washings.
2. How much makeup are you comfortable with? It could be no makeup, or a full face with contouring (and all that jazz I could never figure out). Or it could vary day to day. Again, when I was younger (and more insecure) I wore plenty of make up: eyeliner, startling lipsticks, shadow, etc. These days, I wear a little mascara and tinted lip balm to weddings but more and more I feel like it isn't actually doing anything for me. 
3. How does your makeup and hair reflect your personal style? What do you feel they say about you and your aesthetics? I feel strongly that among the various reasons women wear make-up (confidence, fun, experimenting, to look younger/more powerful/more interesting) a lot of them are driven by feeling not good enough. Not always, but often it's in the mix somewhere. Having reached a point where I do feel like my face is beautiful as it is, I feel like it's a bit of a duty to me to do my bit to normalise going make-up free. I think I'm getting my first wrinkle around my mouth, and I was thinking about the word 'patina'. I love the patina on leather, on wood, on a well-worn-in pair of jeans-- why not on my face, too?
4. How much product do you want to own? Do you like collecting products, or would you rather just have a few essentials? How much bathroom clutter are you ok with? You might guess I keep things pretty simple: all-natural locally made shampoo bar and conditioner (made in Aurora!) and body soap, vitamin E oil and baking soda for skin care, and all-natural lip balm are the only products I really need. I also own natural mascara and sun-protection tinted lip balm but rarely use them. I'm inspired by my husband's routine: I use more tools than products, so, for example, we have a full manicure kit-- buffer, file, cuticle trimmer, cuticle cream, clippers-- but I don't own any nail polish. I'm more into meticulously maintaining what's already there than covering up or reforming it.
5. What requirements do you have for the products you buy? Do you stick with all natural products? Are there ingredients you avoid? See above. All about natural products, and honestly, my skin is flawless because of it, and hairdressers consistently remark how strong and healthy my hair is.
6. What colors feel best near your face? How do they relate to the color palette you created? I use a coral tinted lip-balm. I've always had a soft spot for a bright red lip but it doesn't fit with my list; like we discussed in the very first post, seeing and liking something doesn't make it right for you.
7. What colors never look right near your face? What colors have you tried and given up on before? Not really an issue since I don't use colours on my face...
8. How much time do you realistically want to spend getting ready in the morning? O minutes! I'm nearly there, if I could only figure out a way to get my clothes on while multitasking something else. I have a toddler who will wake up the baby if I waste time choosing socks and stuff.
9. What types of scents do you gravitate towards? Do you wear perfume? Other scented products? What do you feel the scents you like communicate about your personality? I have this scent I absolutely love, called Gathering Apples from CB I Hate Perfume. It smells exactly like a fresh, cold apple you picked on an crisp autumn day. Exactly like that, none of this artificial apple scented nonsense. This is the real deal. It is the best thing ever, and if it doesn't sum up my words (heritage, intelligence, essential, depth, rooted), I don't know what does.

Wardrobe Architect, Week Seven

This week's exercise is to think about prints. What percentage of your wardrobe do you want to be prints? What types of prints do you like? For me, this is a bit of stretch because I've got basics shopping down pat, but am always wanting to incorporate prints and not being sure how. I have lots of solids in an interesting range of colours, but the only garments in my closet with much in the way of prints are a few dresses, none of which fit me since giving birth to son number two.

I had a trawl through my Pinterest fashion boards and came up with a little list of prints I know I like; now I just have to bite the bullet and incorporate some of them into my wardrobe.
-small dots on dark backgrounds
-realistic or watercolour florals on dark backgrounds
-ikat, especially in blue tones
-ombre/dip-dye
-gingham in neutrals
-stripes, in neutrals
-ink-wash or watercolour look prints
-digital prints, especially of sky or water
-colour blocking
-African prints (in small pops)
-heather (this is a total print cop-out, but heather grey especially is a nice way to add a very subtle texture)
-plaids in nearly-neutrals (nothing too whimsical/colourful. If a lumberjack would turn up his nose at it, so would I.)
-lace (also not sure this counts as a print...)

Now I just need to add some prints to my Wardrobe Architect pinboard and, you know, actually buy some.

Wardrobe Architect, Week Six

This week's exercise is to organise last week's colour palette into neutrals (buy lots), nearly neutrals (supplementary colours), and statement colours (a few pops). I'm tempted to paint-chip them all as Sarai suggests to make my own wallet colour palette.

Neutrals: Camel, black, white, heather grey, and natural or mid-brown leather, dark-wash denim

Nearly Neutrals: Navy, wine, tomato red, shell pink, deep pine green, navy and chambray blue

Statement Colours: Coral, goldenrod yellow, rich orange, emerald, royal and dark teal blue, summer-sky blue

Metallics: Yellow gold, silver/white gold, and brass

Wardrobe Architect, Week Five

"Undoubtedly, there are colors that you feel naturally drawn to. Some colors just make you happy, some feel exciting, others make you feel calm and peaceful. What we’re going to do today is start collecting those colors. Don’t worry about how to incorporate them into your wardrobe yet. We’re going to get to that next week. For now, just think about what you love and what you wear... Review the words you came up with, along with your style moodboard or inspiration. Begin pulling out the colors you associate with these words and images. To do this, you can list the color in text form (“ballet pink,” “scarlet red,” etc.) or use a color picking tool like the palette in Photoshop. Or, see the resources section below for more color tools you can try."

I'd already done this and it really helps keep my wardrobe cohesive. I know I'm an Autumn if we're talking seasons, so I lean to warm versions of any cool colours, but I don't do the brown/cream thing; I much prefer black and true white. Here are my colours:

• Coral, wine or tomato red (i.e warm, not cool-based red).
• Shell pink
• Goldenrod yellow and rich orange
• Deep pine green and emerald
• Rich blues: navy, royal, and that blue that's almost dark teal but is still definitely blue
• Classic mid-blues: chambray blue, dark wash denim, warm summer-sky blue
• Camel
• Black
• White

Wardrobe Architect, Week Four

"Start with the shapes you rated last week and pick out the ones you rated highly. You can feel free to add to this list if there are other types of shapes you love and wear often... Now start brainstorming how you would combine these favorite shapes with other items to create balanced silhouettes.

A silhouette either covers or emphasizes different parts of your body. It does this either through ease (how tight/loose or full/tailored it is) or through length (how much it covers up)... I think each of us has a comfort zone with how much of our bodies we want to show and which parts we like to emphasize. our silhouettes should reflect these preferences.

Look over your shapes and ratings from last week. Start combining them and list out 5-10 silhouettes that you believe would make good outfit formulas for you. If you live in a place with dramatic seasonal changes, you might want to make a warm weather list and a cold weather list."

Cold Weather
1) Fitted v-neck/boatneck with straight-leg jeans
2) Button shirt with pencil skirt
3) Fitted pullover sweater with skinny jeans
4) Shirtdress or straight tunic with leggings or tights
5) No-waist dress with tights
6) Mid-calf boots, jazz shoes, or simple flats
7) Cardigans

Warm Weather
1) Relaxed tee shirt or simple tank with shorts
2) Simple tunic dress
3) Fitted no-waist dress with straight neckline and straps
4) Relaxed tee shirt with skinny jeans

Wardrobe Architect, Week Three

This week is about exploring shape; that is, identifying what basic types of garments make you feel comfortable and which you should not waste your time with. I loved this week! Just rating different garments shapes to figure out which you are happy in. The worksheet is here and I'd recommend doing this one even if you don't do the longer, more involved ones from the previous weeks.

Basically, here's what I came away with.

-I like tops/blouses/shirts that are somewhat fitted to somewhat loose (more often fitted) and long to hip-length in the body.
-Shirtdresses are my right up favourite. And tunics, I love tunics.
-Garments that cinch at my natural waistline or have no waistline are my favourite, but I do sometimes wear garments with an empire waist.
-I like pants to have a medium, straight fit but will sometimes wear skinnies (flare is not my style) and absolutely hate low-rise pants.
-For jackets and outerwear, I like a fitted shape that hits at mid-thigh or at tunic length.
-I like dresses that are fitted or straight, no longer than knee-length and no shorter than mid-thigh, with straight or pencil bottoms (which are also the only kind of skirts which suit me).
-I like both fitted and drapey cardigans which hit about tunic or hip height.
-For necklines, boatneck, crew neck, and shallow v- and u-necks are my favourite. I will sometimes wear square or cowl neck but not often. Turtlenecks are disastrous.
-For sleeves I adore 3/4, a fitted full-length (no bell sleeves!), and like t-shirts and tanks, but not spaghetti strap. I don't like cap sleeves much, and don't mind above/at the elbow one way or the other.

I sort of knew this already, but the worksheet helped solidify this in my mind and will affect how quickly I shop, I think, (whether window shopping on the Internet or real shopping!)

Wardrobe Architect, Week Two

The goal of week two is to define your "core" style so that you know what is truly you amongst all the things you like to look at, and can form your base wardrobe around that. The exercise is to figure out via the worksheet what words best define your style, and then make a moodboard for it. 

1) When you're wearing your favourite clothes, how do you feel? Self-contained, rooted, head-turning, compact, neat, sure. Sometimes a little austere, sometimes sparkling. Ladylike.

2) When you're wearing something that's not quite right, how do you feel? What are the feelings you want to avoid about the clothes you wear? Oversized, ill-prepared, out-of-place, exposed. Not because I'm unhappy about my size/weight, just like I'm taking up too much or the wrong kind of space. If that makes any sense.

3) Who do you consider your style icons? What is it about them that appeals to you? I wouldn't really say I have icons, but some people whose style appeals to me are my mum's good friend Milena, Louise Brooks, most women from the 1940's, Francoise Hardy, governesses. I like a little bit of sternness, a classic silhouette, and clothes that are flattering but functional, too.

4) What are some words that describe styles that you like in theory but aren't quite you? Gamine, whimsical, glamorous, minimalist, high fashion.

5) Look over your answers from last week on history, philosophy, culture, community, activity, body, and location. List at least 15 words that you associate with your answers. Think about descriptive words, moods, and feelings you associate with those things. Different, thoughtful, dignity, heritage, communicative, simplicity, quality, craftsmanship, workhorse, woods, strength, beautiful, uniform, responsibility, enjoyment.

6) Are there any other words you would like to add to this list? What other words describe your core style? Warmth, vintage, poise, intelligence, essential, reliable, neatness, depth, sonorous, liveable.

7) Look over the answers to all the questions above. If you had to narrow your list to only 3-5 words to describe you, which ones would you choose? Heritage, intelligence, essential, depth, rooted.

Visual Exercise: Collect 15-20 images that represent these 3-5 words for you. Here's mine. Apparently my core style is best defined by putting my hands in my pockets. Yours?

Wardrobe Architect, Week One

There's a great series going on on Colette Patterns' blog right now called Wardrobe Architect, about how to build a thoughtful, meaningful wardrobe. I'll be posting through their weekly exercises; if you're interested follow along and if you're interested to blog along, post your blog links in the comment.

The first week's exercise is to think about how your story-- your history, philosophy, culture, community, activities, location, and body-- inform the way you dress.

"...it can help buffer you against the onslaught of trends that we talked about above. Knowing who you are and what works for you lets you filter out a lot of those consumerist messages pretty easily. It feels good to be able to appreciate something without needing to own it... it gives you a stronger and more meaningful connection to the things you choose to have in your life."

The blog post provides a worksheet to help you think through those seven areas and how they affect your clothing choices. Here are my answers-- I'd love to read yours.

1) How has your personal history informed the way you dress? When did your tastes crystallize? Have they changed over the years, and why? As a teenager, I grew disillusioned with mainstream fashion because I felt I could not emulate it, and I turned to a dark, more rebellious style (black clothing, combat boots, DIY fashion) that reflected my inner turmoil at the time. As my emotional life grew more steady, my clothing choices grew more lighthearted, but still taking an angle of not wanting to dress like other people. I thought often and hard about clothing, which eventually led to my current preference for timeless, well-crafted clothing with a long shelf-life.

2) How does your philosophy, spirituality, or religion affect your aesthetics and buying habits? Or, what aspects of those things would you like to see reflected? Most notably, my Christianity compels me to value other people, so dressing respectfully (of the occasion, of my own dignity, and of other people's values) and modestly (in both the sense of "chaste" and of "not flauntingly"). The Christian principle of stewardship of the earth also informs my preference for ethically, sustainably made clothing. Finally, I believe my clothing should represent the joy that God has in creation, so I value creativity and beauty in clothing.

3) How has your cultural background shaped the way you look? How did the aesthetics and values you grew up with affect your tastes as you got older? Both from a point of view of my heritage (Dutch farming community) and my own family (alt-rock parents with a down-to-earth, off-the-beaten-track sense of fashion), I was raised to value clothing that worked-- clothing you could dance in, run in, garden in: we like practical with our pretty while still valuing creative dress. My mum wore Docs instead of heels. I spent my childhood summers climbing trees and swimming. That sort of thing.

4) How are you influenced by those around you, including friends, family, and other communities you're involved in? Having indie/punk friends influenced my style a lot as a teenager, but these days my biggest style influence is probably my husband. His tastes run strongly to the classic, well-made, vintage-inspired, and impeccably neat, and I find myself a lot more likely to buy clothing in that vein now than when we got married (at that time I dressed quite whimsically).

5) How do your day-to-day activities influence your choices? I like to joke that being a mum is a bit like being a welder-- dressing glamorous for your job just makes you look foolish. I dress very simply for a job that involves lots of grubby toddler hands and baby spit-up: jeans and a tee, every day. I choose good quality-- Levis jeans, Everlane tees-- but it's a workhorse wardrobe. I enjoy Sundays and date nights getting dressed up, but I also enjoy the simplicity of having a uniform with no frills.

6) How does the place you live inform your dress? How does climate factor in? I love Canada, even on miserable, icy-wind-blasting days like today. I like the woodsy stubbornness of a people who'd live in such an inhospitable place, and I think my clothing choices reflect this in colour palette as well as durability, with a bit of a pioneer's flair.

7) In what way does body image affect your choice in clothing? What clothes make you feel good about the body you live in? What clothes make you feel uncomfortable or alienated from your body? In the last three years (again largely influenced by my husband) I've come a journey of thinking badly about my body to being very proud of it and enjoying the way God made me. I think this is reflected in the comfort of my clothing-- I'm happy with the body I get to dress, and so it's easy to make choices about what's right for me and what suits me, instead of striving through clothing to be someone I'm not, whether that's a smaller size, or a different style (I've been guilty of both in the past). When you're hoping to be waifish, you dress differently than when you're happy with your size 12 hips (courtesy two sweet babies), and when you feel inadequate, you dress more defensively than if you feel confident.