Paring Down: Case Study #3

In my last post in this series I discussed a few reasons that an item should go, such as:

1. Do not wear
2. Do not like
3. Does not fit (body or wardrobe)
4. Should not wear

To recap, the way I figure these things out is by wearing the item in question.  In the first case, I wore the woodpecker sweater skirt and found out that even though I loved the look of it I felt uncomfortable wearing it. The first three categories applied. In the second case, I concluded that I could not wear the flowy tent-like top the way I was wearing it.  I'm currently holding onto it, but I might sell it on eBay to make room for and enable the buying of a more flattering top. This is the good thing about Anthro items: the resale value on eBay is pretty good.Well, let us move onto a truly embarrassing case:

  

cashmere teal sweater - Moth/Anthro 

black slip - Jockey (remixed)

black skirt - H & M (remixed)

tights - Eloise/Anthro 

earrings - defunct boutique in KC (remixed)

green beads necklace - Target (remixed)

scarf - H & M (remixed)

black wellies - Capelli via Marshalls (remixed)

Why such a dramatic pose?  Am I channeling Raphael's St Catherine of Alexandria (which, to complete your unsolicited iconography lesson of the day, strongly resembles the woman on the cover of a mid-90s Smashing Pumpkins album)? No, I am not in ecstasy.  I am thinking, Why, God, did I do this to myself?

I know I should have gotten rid of this sweater a year ago, but I couldn't.  Look how perfect this particular shade of teal looks on me! Look at it against shades of light green! And it matches every bottom imaginable:  black, brown, jeans, gray! Why do I need to get rid of it?

Did you see it, yet?

There it is.  Public shaming complete.  SFE's #1 rule for paring down: If you think you can't get rid of an item, wear it.  After a day of having to keep my arms clamped by my sides, I am ready to throw it into the rubbish bin (unless any of you have some amazing way to re-knit over the tearing in the armpits, which got even worse yesterday). And the worst thing about this was that I didn't really have time to come home and change, but I had to before SME and I headed to small party. And I didn't have time to change my entire outfit, so I just switched out my sweater, necklace, and boots:

  

cardi - Anthro/Sparrow (remixed)

necklace - Anthro

boots - LOFT (remixed)

Had I not been in a hurry I don't think I would have worn the black, white, and blue tights with the necklace and top.  I probably would've gone with the mauve, white, and red version of them, but I'm glad I varied my look.

 necklace has been doubled

Are any of you secretly holding onto embarrassingly threadbared items because you're too attached to them?

Paring Down: Case Study #2

top - Deletta/Anthro (eBayed)
cami - Banana Republic (remixed)
trousers - Talbots (remixed)
scarf - Gap (remixed)
Fleur de Lys earrings - ? (gifted--thanks Biscuit!)
boots - LOFT (remixed)

Last week I blogged about some recent efforts to pare down. In doing so, I parted with a skirt I loved to look at but didn't fit my body or my wardrobe and because of that I never wore it and when I did I was horribly uncomfortable and felt terrible. I also complained about the top I wore with that skirt and I how I continue to wear only because I do not have a color to replace it. Not true: I cannot think of an ensemble that requires the too-long and wide cowl-necked cream sweater instead of my recently acquired beige gold cable knit sweater. Thus far I've isolated a few cases in which things might have to go:

1. Not worn
2. Don't like
3. Doesn't fit

Well...there might be one more category (bear with me, I'm a structuralist at heart):

4. Shouldn't wear

Let's unpack what I mean by this. Like LHdM, I do not consider myself a fashionista and I reject the term on ideological and political grounds. I also do not think that our sartorial goals should be that we choose clothing only so that it attempts to conform our body to a long and lean standard. And I think its impractical to make that a daily goal for a short and curvy body.

Yet, this top might clash with my self-fashioning goals. I like this top because it reminds me of a dress I wore when I was 3-4 years old (that was also my mother's when she was a girl and remains in the hope chest). I also wear this top at least twice a month. But it is nearly impossible to wear with a skirt, because it looks frumpy to pair with an a-line skirt and proportions me weirdly in a skirt of any other shape. But its not the most flattering top on me with trousers either:

Do you see what I mean?

No?
And, lastly:

And yes, it's an unflattering photo, but I do turn to the side from time to time during the day! When I see this I definitely think that I don't want to look like that. I generally prefer the silhouette I create when wearing skirts or dresses, but pants don't necessarily always yield these tent lines (compare the same pants worn here and here).

So, Dear Readers, should it go? Should I save it for when I'm expecting? And if you suggest that I should keep and continue to wear it in my current nulliparous state, then what, pray tell, should I pair it with?

Paring Down: Case Study #1

Cowl neck sweater - LOFT (remixed)
Long-sleeved tee - LOFT
Sweater Skirt - Moth/Anthro (Ebayed)
Leggings - Phylo (MILed)
Boots - Capelli via Marshalls (remixed)
Scarf - Gap (gifted)

The hardest thing about paring down is getting rid of some pieces I absolutely love. Some of them are because they no longer fit and some of them are because I have either never really worn them, no longer wear them, or wince when I put them on. In an effort to figure out what is salvagable and what is not, I'm going to be wearing hard-to-part with pieces over the next few weeks to see how it goes. This was a test case.

First of all, I hate this sweater. I love the color and the neck, but it's really too long and too wide for me on the part that exaggerates my pearness. Widening me also makes me look shorter and that's already getting to me this time of year as winter boots keep me down. I have kept it because I haven't been able to find a suitable replacement. I also am attached to it as loungewear--it looks great with clogs and yoga pants for running errands on a Saturday when I'm also going to the gym. For now, it'll stay.

But I love the skirt. I remember lusting over it at the store and then I purchased it for cheap on eBay. But I've only worn it once and that was yesterday. I have had difficulty styling it--I do not own red or yellow, and the purple/garnet tops I own do not go with the shape of the skirt. Brown and black make it look blah. A red shirt and a long gray clingy cardi would look great, but I currently own neither. They would not be bad wardrobe additions, but there are things that I need more: boots, shoes, trouser jeans, and a blazer. But here is the reason I'm going to part with this beloved piece: I was uncomfortable in this outfit all day and it was the bottom as much as the top. The length of the skirt and how it sits on my waist isn't flattering. I need at least 3 more inches of height and a different wardrobe for the top. As I mentioned in my Friend Friday dialogue with LHdM, if I regret an ensemble I'm self-conscious and off my game. Therefore, I'm saying au revoir to the skirt--but with a kiss on each cheek.

What pieces did you hold on to the longest even when you knew it was time to let go? (Wow, that sounds like a dead relationship).

Addendum: I am resolved. The skirt has got to go. I tried:

But its still how the skirt sits on my waist and lays against my bum.

And the suggestions about a black top worked the best (if you ignore the flash on my chest):

...but when I paired it with a gray cardi it made me look frumpy and wider again. I realize I loved the idea of the skirt in the world of the forms, but when I put it on my body (twice removed from the Platonic ideal--not thrice, that is what you are seeing in the photograph, a representation) I do not like it.