I am not a fashionista. If you’ve seen me in person, you can attest to this fact. But I learned early in life that just like every other area of our lives, we benefit from being intentional.  None of this “I woke up like this” nonsense. I have come to recognize that my current situation has a few problems with the whole notion of dressing with intention.

Problem #1

I’ve had 5 children in the past decade. My body now is not the body I had ten years ago. This would probably be true even if I hadn’t birthed 5 babies, but those roller coasters of weight gains and losses didn’t do me many favors either. Now that my baby girl is nearly three, and we’re not planning to expand our family any further, I think I am safe to say that my body is at it’s new normal, pending some toning from another round of MuTu I need to commit to doing regularly again.

But here’s the problem: I have a few clothes from before babies (though most of my wardrobe I’ve purchased sometime in the past five years or so), but I do not own many things in my new normal size that fit my new normal shape. I’m a natural spender, so I have fought the urge to throw it all out and start fresh. I don’t have the budget for that!

Problem #2

I don’t want a bazillion things in my closet. I really want a smaller amount of clothing overall, but more versatile pieces so I can mix and match them easily. I was that girl in college whose closet was bulging with too many clothes, yet I probably only wore about ten items over and over most of the time. In the past decade–special thanks to problem #1–I have gotten better at paring down the items in my closet, but I want to do better.

Problem #3

I never remember what I’ve worn in the past. I am on a board of directors that meets once a month and I never remember what I’ve worn to the meeting the month prior. I always wonder if I’m wearing the same thing each month and for some reason I feel silly about that.

Problem #4

Beside meal planning, I despise choosing what I’m going to wear THE MOST! It is just not fun to me. I have read that choosing your outfit the night before really helps with increased willpower the following day as those early decisions are already made. But each night when I consider picking out my outfit for the next day, I just put it off because I don’t like to do it. I know it’s silly, but I’m being open here. Laugh if you want.

Problem #5

I haven’t spent time studying fashion or paying attention to trends or brands or clothing design in almost 20 years. I appreciate a nice outfit, and I’ve created a board on Pinterest I’ve named “My Style,” but I’m not making much effort to see if my style is available at stores or it it is right for my body type. It is just not that big of a priority to me right now. I really just want to feel comfortable in the clothes I’m in and be dressed in a way that my personality will shine through and my kids won’t be embarrassed all at the same time. Is that too tall of an order?

My Solutions

I thought long and hard about my situation and my “problems.” Yes, I will be the first to admit that they are not prohibiting my survival. They are not earth-shattering and they absolutely do NOT keep me up at night. I am just trying to brainstorm ways to make the situation better and easier for me. What works for me may not work for you and there is no judgment here, I am just sharing with you what I am trying in hopes that it sparks some ideas for you if you have similar problems now or in the future.

SmartCloset

I am very visual, but looking at my clothes hanging in a closet just leaves me staring at a bunch of sleeves and I forget what’s even in there. I recognized that I needed to get more organized, but I just wasn’t sure how.

I recently came across an article about closet organizing apps. I was intrigued. I looked into them and while they mostly all look the same, I chose an app called “SmartCloset.” I chose this app because I could not only take pictures of my clothes and combine them into outfits based on their categories, but I could also plan the outfits in advance on a calendar! It’s basically like a meal plan but for my clothes! I am so excited! Plus, it would also serve as a record for what I’ve worn in the past! Problems 3 & 4 solved.  It also has ways to view outfits for inspiration and to shop from within the app, though I honestly haven’t tried those features yet.

I’m almost finished taking pictures of my clothes.

My goal has been to take pictures of my clothes as they come out of the dryer, before I put them away. Some days when I am feeling ambitious, I pull out clothes I have not worn recently that are hanging up in my closet. I can then use the app to block out the background and voila! I have a clean picture of each article of clothing I own. I chose to record the size of each thing (if I can), but not the price and not always the brand.

Seeing them on a screen instead of bunched up in my closet makes it easier for me to decide what items I don’t want to keep and even just this exercise of looking at my clothes more closely has enabled me to edit my wardrobe easier already. For example, I’m realizing I don’t need to keep a pair of dress pants that are four sizes too big. They probably would have just stayed in my closet gathering dust if I hadn’t been paying attention to their size.

I Tried Stitch Fix

Those of you who subscribe to my newsletter (I love you!) already know that I am preparing to attend a writer’s conference at the end of this month. I am a little nervous (OK, more than a little). And since I am going through my clothes and paying attention to the sizes of them and the size I actually wear nowadays, I am realizing that my options in the “business casual” category are very meager. Like one pair of charcoal pants from ten years ago (I bought them to start teaching after I found out I was having twins–silly me for not just going straight to maternity pants!). So I decided I needed a pair of navy pants. I don’t have control over much about this conference right now, but I can control my outfit. So I set out on a quest for a pair of navy pants. I’m still searching.

Because my opportunities to shop for clothes without at least one kid with me are slim to nonexistent right now, I decided to try Stitch Fix. I’ve heard about it for years, but had never felt brave enough to try it. Plus, in defense of my lack of bravery, I was also not finished having babies and I wasn’t sure what size I would come out at in the end, you know?

My Experience

I really liked receiving a package in the mail and having items that fit me perfectly and were beautiful. Sadly, I didn’t end up keeping any of the items in my “fix” but I have no regrets. It helped me to see styles I hadn’t considered because I’d never worn them before and I’d NEVER have chosen them off the hangers in a store. But in the comfort of my home, I was willing to try them on and now I know! I’m currently on an every-other-month schedule because I don’t feel like I really need a new outfit every single month (I’m paring down, remember?), so I’ll share updates on social media about how that goes. If my experience is bad, I’ll definitely update this article!

But after trying Stitch Fix, I learned that there are other companies doing similar services out there. So, I have already reached out to more and will share a future Friday Favorites with my results. I don’t want to send you to Stitch Fix if there are better options out there. But if you are interested in trying a service, I think Stitch Fix is a fantastic place to start. If you do try it out, you can receive a $25 credit toward your first purchase (and I’ll receive a $25 credit, too) if you use my referral code (https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/19711846?som=c&sod=i) If you don’t use mine, reach out to a friend who uses Stitch Fix because hey, twenty five dollars is twenty five dollars!

I hope this helps inspire you. If you have a service you love or one you’re curious about, share in the comments below. Have specific questions about these services you want to see me answer in my upcoming post? Email me or comment below.

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