Wardrobe Revamp Recap

Well here we are over a year later and I never updated to talk about my new, revamped wardrobe of clothing. Now that I've finally moved and all the chaos has died down, I figure it's a perfect time to update you about that project. And just for fun, I've littered this post with photographs of some of my favorite outfits.

My new favorite picture of me with lipstick scarf and straw hat.

If you'll recall, I read Color Me Beautiful and got really excited about Seasonal Color Analysis. Here is my post explaining it. According to their system, I am a "light summer," which I explain here. Armed with my new system, I set out to conquer my wardrobe. I wanted to change it into something I would like, that was more suited to me. I started off with an inventory of my clothes (here). You can tell I've changed things up a LOT since then. 

Me in red shirt, dinosaur necklace, black and white pinstripe hat,
black suspenders, and white nail polish.

In lieu of a bunch of wardrobe photos, I'm going to give you a bunch of stats about my new and improved wardrobe, courtesy of the Stylebook app (which I review here). 

Me in a pink shirt, brown checkered vest, brown cap,
and pink floral necklace worn in the place of a cravat.

Number of Items in My Closet:
186

This number excludes socks and underwear because I didn't feel like putting them in the app. It does include all of my jewelry, a feather boa, some buttons, a fairy wand, my sparkly leg warmers, and other random things like that. I think the accessories are bumping up the number since I wouldn't have included them in an "items in my closet" count, but whatever.

Me in black shirt, black and white striped tie, black and white striped skirt,
black nail polish, and black combat boots..

Total Closet Value:
$1,712.24.

This is calculated using the purchase price and it doesn't factor in depreciation. I was very surprised by this because it seems like a LOT of money to have spent on clothes! That said, the money was not spent all at once. The oldest things in my wardrobe are my tan-colored Timberland work boots. They're the only leather I own and they actually pre-date me going veggie at age sixteen. I bought them to wear doing farm and construction work when I was fourteen and they were a bit big on me then so I had to double up on thick socks. They fit me perfectly now because my feet grew a bit so one pair of socks is sufficient. I wear them whenever I know I'll be stomping about in gross things. Given that I've had them for almost twenty years, I'd say they've paid for themselves many times over by now.

Me in a purple button up shirt, charcoal grey vest, floral tie,
charcoal grey nail polish, and fake diamond earrings.

Per Item Average:
$9.20

I got this by dividing the total closet value by the number of items in my closet. Under $10 seems like it's not too bad. I've got a few expensive things that may be skewing this number a bit, but overall it seems accurate.

Me in my flowered blue shirt, flowered pink tie, flowered kerchief,
and multicolored beaded necklace worn as a bracelet.

Most Expensive Item:
My fancy name brand sports coat that was originally $150 and that I got on clearance for $50.

Me in my fancy jacket, a pink shirt, and cross necklace.

Least Expensive Item:
My $1 gauzy white thrift store skirt. This category excludes presents since I didn't buy them.

Me in my thrift store skirt, black "The Godfather" t-shirt, combat boots, and fairy wand.

Most Common Colors:
My most common clothing colors in order: black, blue, and metallics (aka jewelry). Is anyone surprised? Because I'm not. I have been trying to brighten up my wardrobe but I look good in blue and I love black so they've turned into my color base.

Me in a blue shirt, blue vest, blue lipstick, blue nail polish,
fake diamond earrings, and multi strand silver necklace.

Most Worn:
My super comfy black vegan Saucony sneakers and my Alchemy Goods messenger bag made from recycled bike inner tubes.

Body shot of my jeans with the orange cuffs, teal sweater,
orange bracelet, orange nail polish, and my favorite sneakers.

Things To Replace:
I'm going to need to replace some things soon since I've lost weight. Mostly pants since so far t-shirts still work even with the weight loss. I do have a few t-shirts I want to replace because they're getting threadbare and I've already had to patch holes in the armpits of some of them. I also need a new umbrella because mine essentially got destroyed in the move. I'd also like a new fishnet shirt that's slightly bigger than the one I have since I accidentally shrunk my current one in the wash.

Me in my skeleton face mask, black shirt, black cap,
my dog tags for Jesus, and black nail polish.

Wants:
I want a charcoal grey suit jacket to match my vest and pants. I keep looking longingly at black Dr. Martens boots with flowers on them so if I can find vegan ones I plan to buy them. If I keep taking circus classes I'll need some sort of lycra/spandex pants since you're supposed to have the backs of your knees covered and my current strategy of shorts over long underwear is too hot. I'd like to get a couple of button up sweaters because I secretly want to be Mr. Rogers. I also want a pocket watch and a wrist watch so I can go places without my phone and still know the time. I could use a casual style belt since this weight loss has my pants falling down and I only have one belt. And obviously I'll wind up accumulating more random accessories as I go along since I've gotten into accessories now.

Me in an orange sweater, orange and grey multi strand necklace,
with orange nail polish.

That's it! New wardrobe update. I'll probably eventually post photos of my wardrobe but that won't happen right away because despite having unpacked and set up the common areas, I'm still unpacking and setting up my room and that's my first priority. Plus, I need to buy some correctly-sized pants before I start taking photos of everything.

Movies and Parties Galore!

This past week was ridiculous. I saw the movies "Get Out," "Beauty And the Beast" and "Hounds of Love" and I went to two different parties - my new neighbor's housewarming and Cupcake's best friend's St. Paddy's Day party that was not held on St. Paddy's Day. I also hung out at my friends' house and did trapeze in my circus class. Now I'm exhausted and glad I didn't make any plans until Thursday this week. And with that I will leave you with this photograph of Cupcake and the glittery silver labrador retriever statue we did not buy when we went to the home goods store:

Cupcake looking adorable in a rainbow dress and red cardigan.
They're sitting on the floor and petting a dog statue.

Busy Sunday

Today was busy. Church, kids' karate tournament, finishing up the living room and entryway, partner acrobatics in circus class, and the return of Cupcake from vacation! Here's a bunch of photos of the karate tournament. Plum was also at the tournament but she was having a bad day so she didn't want to be photographed.

Joy, Weirdra, and me.

Weirdra and Terzo.

Primo, Weirdra, and Secondo.

Me and Mini T.

Joy and Primo.

Secondo and Primo in their ready stance.

Secondo and Primo in fighting stances.

Gym filled with karate students.

Secondo fighting.

Primo demonstrating his forms.

Secondo won two third place trophies!

Primo won a first place trophy, a second place trophy, and a third place trophy.

Secondo and Primo and their karate teachers.

Mini T and Secondo's matching hair.

Fun with Friends

Today was a great day. I got up and was picked up by my friend Merbabe. We drove together to Salem for brunch and meanderings.

Merbabe in the "Stickwork" structures.

Me on a ridiculous throne wearing furs, both of which are on sale in the local thrift store. 

Random blue dinosaur peering over a fence?

Me and Merbabe by the wharf.

After Salem, I dashed off to Plath's house for an Ethiopian food potluck with Plath's family and Alice.

Plath, Alice, and me.

I had a blast, and was super excited when Alice gave me my belated birthday present - a scarf she crocheted herself! Isn't it lovely?

Me in my new scarf.

Fierce Friday and The End of Skirt Week

Today was the last day of Skirt Week. Thank goodness, since I've run out of skirts!

Daria and Jane.

I decided to use the end of skirt week as an excuse to debut a thrift store find I'm really excited about. It's a long stretchy black and white striped skirt (thin stripes) with black lace bands in several places. I absolutely love it! I decided to goth it up a bit with black nail polish, black t-shirt, black and white striped tie, screw earrings, and my black combat boots. I felt like a stompy booted fem made of awesome and I think that Jane Lane and Daria would be friends with me if they met me in this getup.

Whole body picture.

Torso picture.

Skirt and boots!

I haven't chosen fake names for these friends. I went to their house and hung out. Then we went out to Indian food, played scrabble, and went looking for pokémon.

Still Skirt Week

I started off the day with another completely inappropriate for the weather outfit because I figured all I was doing was setting up the new apartment so it didn't matter what I wore. So I pretended I was on Cupcake's cruise in the Bahamas instead of in snowy Massachusetts and I wore a super comfy pajama dress that Joy gave me when she was purging her wardrobe. Of course, halfway through the day I decided to go out after all, which meant digging out my car which was entombed in ice. So I didn't actually wind up wearing a skirt all day. Oh well…

The dress is a tank-top dress that is long and stretchy with red, yellow, teal, and black triangle and zigzag patterns. I'm wearing my seahorse necklace, my anchor earrings, black nail polish and toenail polish a teal scarf, and a big floppy black and tan striped hat.

Head shot.

Body shot.

Attempting to get all of me in the picture but basically only got the top half.

Also, I spent some time today thinking about skirts. There's a double standard when it comes to gender-bending clothing. Women can get away with it much more easily than men and the reason for this is misogyny. Women are already at the bottom of the sexist hierarchy, so a woman dressing masculinely is ok because we think men are better than women and masculine dress is seen as more powerful. Conversely, men are at the top of the hierarchy so a man dressing femininely is considered unacceptable because society considers femininity worthless and degrading so it's seen as bizarre for someone with male privilege to find value in it. Obviously this is an oversimplification, but for proof of this idea you don't have to look very far. For example, masculine girls are labeled "tomboys" and are seen in a mostly positive light whereas feminine boys are labeled "sissies" and are mocked and tormented by other kids and even adults. I wish I could snap my fingers are change this, but the best I can do is put effort into fighting sexism and continue to dress more bravely than I feel so that other men and boys who might be stifling themselves to fit into masculine gender norms can see that they aren't the only ones and that it's ok to express yourself without fitting into those boxes.

Picture of a boy in a plaid skirt, blue shirt, necklace, and khaki button down shirt.
He is holding a piece of paper with a feminism symbol and there is black overlaid text that says:
"Girls can wear jeans and cut their hair short, wear shirts and boots because it's ok to be a boy.
But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, cause you think being a girl is degrading."

Lazy Wednesday

It's the middle of skirt week and I feel super cute! I even changed my Facebook profile picture to one of me in today's outfit. I got home at about 7am today and I basically ice skated up my street. Look:

At least it's pretty?

Anyway, once I got home I decided that since I wasn't going anywhere today I'd just dress completely inappropriately for the weather. So I pretended it was summer and wore Cupcake's black polka dot skirt, my pink shoes, my tan "it takes balls to be a fairy" shirt, a fun hat, my fake diamond earrings, and grey scarf with pastel lips all over it. 

Head shot. I look like a model! This is my new Facebook profile picture!

Bottom half of me.

Full body shot. 

Pi Day!

Today there was a snow storm! In honor of the snow, I decided to wear a white skirt, white t-shirt, white nail polish, white earrings, and my snowflake necklace.

Head shot of me showing off my nail polish.

Body shot sitting on the floor.

Today is also Pi Day! The day that geeky people celebrate the irrational number pi aka the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter aka 3.141592 (pi is actually a much longer number but that's all I have memorized). How do we celebrate? By eating pie on 3/14 because the date looks like the number pi. 

Einstein in a pi shirt holding a pie.

It turns out that wearing white may not have been the best choice of my life since I also decided to bake banana tarts for pi day. Good thing I have an awesome apron!

Me pointing at my tarts while wearing my white outfit
and a brown apron that says "They see me rollin' they hatin'."

Finished tart close-up.

And just because I liked this cartoon, I'm adding it into my post.