Anyway I really like the idea of just having like 4 pairs of jeans and a stack of plain shirts, I probably wouldn't go with white though, I like black better and it looks better on me. But I like a lot of the clothes I have now. So maybe when I finish loosing weight and need to buy some new stuff anyway I can just start from scratch.
Overall Rating: 2 votes
-
Posted 1 year ago #
-
re the Lucy every pants, can anyone tell that they are not "dress" pants? I LOVE the look of them & they would fulfill my dream of wearing yoga-y pants to work everyday (esp bc yoga pants look better on me than EVERYTHING else). I am a brand new faculty at a hospital, am in my 20s & need to look very professional (without wearing a suit everyday) & have been trying to update my wardrobe keeping the unclutterer principles in mind & trying to stay off "what not to wear." I am hard to fit--size 10.5 shoes, 5'9, 168 lbs, & very long torso. I am having THE WORST TIME EVER trying to find clothing that fits well, looks professional, and is comfortable. kind of at my wits end, but don't have any clothes or shoes so must. keep. shopping. (which I despise). Send help please!!
Posted 1 year ago # -
you know, npersing, if you could get the yoga pants in a corporate color (blue or black) you might get away with it. With a top-quality knit top (you know like a tshirt fabric but heavier weight) if you're talking about the stretch yoga pants, as an office type shirt wouldn't go, but with the heavier linen yoga pants any sort of shirt.
You could wear a light knit waistcoat, the trendy drape type, to co-ordinate.
Alternatively a tunic-style top might work. I think you can get away with more casual clothes if you wear very prim hair, clean makeup with minimalist jewelry and really nice shoes.
I'm sure you could probably get a corporate style salwar kameez .. I tried googling it with no luck
Posted 1 year ago # -
Don't buy salwar kameez from sellers in India -- lousy workmanship and guaranteed shipping grief.
You can probably wear the Lucy pants (which look interesting) with loose linen tops and accessorize with scarves and chunky jewelry.
Being long-waisted is hard; everything in the stores is too short. But if you look for tunics, you may find something readymade that looks nice on you. Don't be afraid to pay for quality.
IMHO, the best solution is the one adopted by Bandicoot: find someone competent to custom-sew something. That's what I do, except that I sew for myself. You probably don't have the time for sew, but you may be making enough money to pay for a dressmaker. You can take him/her a top that you do like, and think flattering, and have him/her copy it. Get the pattern tweaked to perfection and then have it made in different colors.
Posted 1 year ago # -
You know, I've had a personal uniform for years. I live in fear of my co-workers nominating me for one of those makeover shows where they make you break out of your mold and wear something new.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I have 2 friends that wear black pants and a black shirt everyday with different jackets, jewelry, etc. They always look professional and they know what they are wearing everyday!
I have a few more pieces than that but not many.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I really like variety in my clothes - I just want less but higher quality. What do most of you have to wear to work? My job requires "business casual" but I don't have to wear suit jackets or skirts or anything. I hate having "work clothes" - I would love to wear jeans to work with a pretty top!
Posted 1 year ago # -
I have to wear khaki pants and red shirt since I work at Target. Since I am wearing it all the time, almost nothing else I own is red except for a couple thing I had before I started working there. I almost immediately change my clothes as soon as I come home b/c I don't like keeping "work clothes" on after I am done at work. At my last job we were able to wear jeans and whatever as long as they covered out legs and followed the dress code, like no spaghetti straps and nothing inappropriate. I was a material handler in a warehouse type place though. I think more people on here are working more professional type jobs. But It was a lot nicer when I didn't have to worry to much about what I was wearing to work and didn't feel like I had to change as soon as I got home b/c my clothes were regular clothes and work clothes. But part of me likes having "work clothes" b/c I don't messy my regular clothes at work, and I don't ever have to think about what I am wearing to work, whatever khaki pants and red shirt is the easiest and cleanest to grab.
Posted 1 year ago # -
a work uniform is a blessing, it really is.
it saves so much brain power not to have to put together work outfits!
i have a few heinous old t-shirts and yoga pants and aprons for my work and it couldn't be easier.
if i had to go out to work, khaki pants and a red shirt sounds just about perfect to me.
i worked as a chef for many years and that was pretty simple too.....i always knew what i was wearing. and when they came out with black chef's jackets, i thought i'd died and gone to heaven.Posted 1 year ago # -
@HappyDogs - lol :o)
@npersing - If you are at such a loss picking out a work wardrobe, have you considered maybe hiring a personal shopper/style consultant for an afternoon? I think the money spent on that might possibly outweigh the shopping stress you have and it will help you in the future. Sometimes all it takes is an honest outside opinion and someone who shows you clothes that fit you well and suit you, but that you wouldn't have picked off the shelves yourself before. Heck, even a good (honest!) friend whose style you like may be great help. Also, just waiting in the dressing room and have someone bring you clothes is a huge stress reliever.
On the personal uniform topic, I sometimes think that I only wear about 20% of my wardrobe over and over again, so that would be my personal uniform ;o) And when shopping, I do think about what 3 pieces I already own will be worn with the new item of clothing (thank you, unclutterer.com). I've been giving the uniform concept some thought lately, especially after seeing myself on pictures and thinking I looked blah and boring. So I think even if you have a "uniform", whatever that may be, it needs to be spiced up every once in a while, or updated to current fashion or something, even if it's just cheap accessories. And I do second klutzgrrl on the haircut, make-up and nice shoes: I often feel that if a woman has a good haircut and good shoes, the rest is secondary. (And it works the other way round, too: You can ruin a good outfit with the wrong shoe choice or sloppy hair.)
Also, for me, I noticed that everyt ime I decluttered my closet in the past, getting dressed is easier, and I look better (what I wear then actually involves jewellery and better color combinations) when I pick out clothes the night before -- in the mornings, I'm usually such a zombie that I'm thankful for "last-night-me" to have picked out clothes for me to wear ;o)
Edit: PS. I think what Erin wrote in her book (that she didn't want her clothes to say frumpy about her) and what she wrote recently on the blog about your clothes having to pass the red velvet rope test -- that's part of the uniform consideration. I guess that reading the Unclutterer book plus seeing myself on those pictures and thinking "Booooring" (Homer Simpson voice!) got me thinking about how I define boring, how I do not want to be boring, and now wondering how to un-boring me and my clothes ;o)
Whew! What a wall of text! Can you notice I've been giving this some thought lately? ;o)
Posted 1 year ago # -
@npersing -- I think if someone really looked at your ankles, they could tell that the Lucy Everyday Pants are not dress pants. They have zippered ankles, and one leg has a small but bright orange tag near the hem.
@trillie -- My wardrobe is really boring! I'd love to un-boring myself too, but I can't pull off the fashions I like. I tried some romantic boho tops from Anthropologie once and I just looked silly. The thing with fashion is...you need to present the whole package I think. You have to do your hair and makeup and pop in contacts and wear the right shoes and carry the right bag. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me tired. I don't have the time. Plus I don't own a drop of makeup, I don't own hair styling products, I like wearing my geeky glasses, so on and so forth. So I guess I have to make peace with being sartorially boring.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hee hee hee @wintersmom, "sartorially boring" is the new term! Because the rest of me isn't boring, of course! ;o)
I know what you mean. Being "trendy" and "stylish" and all that involves considerably more time and effort (for shopping, make-up, hair, putting my stuff from the pink purse into the black purse) than I am willing to spend on it. And while I don't want my clothes to say "boring" about me, they do not neet to say "en vogue". Which probably involves a lot of clothes shopping and thus not having an uncluttered wardrobe at all.
I guess my personal sartorial un-boringness will be somewhere around "showing the world that I have good taste and put at least -some- thought into my outfit" and expanding my wardrobe with some items that have an edge to them (like an extraordinary cut or an unusual color). And yes, you have to be realistic -- I try to be, with my own geeky glasses, being a little overweight -sigh-, not wanting to go to the hairdresser's more than once every two months, liking my practical backpack more than purses, and knowing that clean lines, classic cuts and summer colors suit me best, no matter how much I long for frilly flowery girly clothes in bright orange ;o)
Posted 1 year ago # -
@trillie -- Perhaps people will look at us and think, "Wow, her life is SO busy and interesting...she doesn't even have the time to think about her clothes!"
I can't even imagine having to move stuff from purse to purse just to match an outfit. Not that I have a lot of personal stuff to carry anyway. As long as I have my wallet, keys, phone, and camera, I'm good to go.
Posted 1 year ago # -
@npersing, I think you could get away with the Lucy pants in a hospital setting, especially if you wear a tunic-length top or a jacket. Or even a short dress worn as a tunic - that's a very happening look right now. If you find things of that nature with a high waistline, it can make your legs look longer.
I'm sitting in a cube all day, so pretty much nobody notices what I have on from the waist down. And I deliberately draw attention to my top half! I think the fact that the Everyday pants are *shaped* like trousers, not like leggings, makes them work-appropriate.
@Wintersmom, I'm glad you like them! Comfy, right??
Most of us do have to preen our feathers from time to time. I like to shop from cheap catalogs like Venus, Body Central, and Newport News. Forever 21 also has some fun inexpensive stuff if you have the patience to go through all ten thousand racks.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Working as a chemist (before I got laid off) my 'personal uniform' was whatever didn't have too many acid holes in it yet! I plan on starting grad school in the fall, and haven't quite figured out how I want to dress for that...I'm going to be one of the older students, so I don't want to look like a kid, but I don't want to look older than I am, either...
Posted 1 year ago # -
Wintersmom-
Maybe to help you along...
Think back to a happy memory when you were in that outfit, take a moment to smile, and then put it in the plastic bag for recycling.As for minimalist wardrobe/personal wardrobe success.
First thing that comes to mind is Michael Kors- the clothing designer. Ever watch him on Project Runway (OH! Tonight). He wears the SAME outfit EVERY time (black teeshirt and blazer and jeans). Very odd since I have this picture of clothing designers being involved and changing in the fashion. He spoke of this on a reunion episode. "I've tried it all" and does not want to look back and think... what the hell he was thinking. "It works". His closet is full of those three items. WOW. I am sure he has different style or cuts or dyes (at least on the jean).
I am still a work in progress (mid way though this post I was like oh yeah I wanted to get rid of x shirt and the red sweater with that annoying small hole I will never fix... and I got up and put them and more in the weekly give away pile. Now I have 6 less things. LOL).
Posted 1 year ago # -
I vote for hiring a personal shopper, make sure you check their references. I've used two in the past and both were wonderful, helping me select clothing I would never have bought on my own. The most recent one I used not only cleared out my wardrobe with me, but then put together outfits and took photos of me so I could get up, look at a photo, and then pull out the pieces to wear! She taught me to separate all my clothing so I did not keep suits together and now I mix and match more easily.
Posted 1 year ago # -
@chacha1 -- SO comfy, and I love that it gives me some protection from the dreaded plumber's crack. I spend a good part of the day sitting on the floor, hunched over toys and books.
@Mid America Mom -- Hey, you're the first person who replied to question 1 in my post. Thanks! I realized that I'm reluctant to part with certain items because my mom bought them for me, and I'm worried that she'll come over and say, "Where's the gigantic pile of clothing I bought for you?" My mom can't say no to a "deal" so she always buys way too much stuff at yard sales.
@nellieb -- Was it expensive to hire a personal shopper?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Wintersmom: It's hard to feel guilted into keeping stuff you don't like - surely your mum wanted to make you happy with the gifts, not unhappy?
Maybe try uncluttering with a different focus. Pull all the clothes out of the wardrobe and put them on the bed, then put back the clothes you love and always get compliments in - ditch the rest! Then you don't have to think about it. Plus with any luck some of your loved clothes will be ones your mum gave you, and she'll see you wearing them a lot and enjoying them.
But if doing that would mean you'd have nothing to wear, maybe write down what the unloved but must-have clothes are as you put them back, and use that as a shopping list to replace them over time.
The other thing I do is put clothes on 'probation' - I turn the hanger hook the other way or put them in a separate pile, and in a few weeks if I haven't worn them, out they go. It does make it easier!
I have a sort of loose uniform now - dresses and jeans with tops. I only managed to narrow it down, though, after I finally let go of the idea that at some stage I'd wear polished, glamorous clothes day-to-day... Then I could focus on making sure the types of clothes I DID wear were pretty.
Posted 1 year ago # -
@vjb -- Hmm...not sure about the "happy" part. I think my mother was just being practical, in her own way. Here what she said when she gave me all this stuff:
1) The clothes were incredibly cheap, so how could she not buy them?
2) Who cares if I don't like them...I'm a SAHM anyway so it doesn't matter what I wear when I'm at home.
3) If I ever decide I don't want the clothes, I should give them back to her.Now, I'm reluctant to follow through on item 3 because my parents are packrats and I don't want to add to their clutter. I would much rather donate the clothes to the needy.
Posted 1 year ago #
Reply »
You must log in to post. If you do not already have an account, you can register here.
