One of the most helpful things I’ve done for my wardrobe (and wallet) was to organize it by category and then for a week or two, keep track of the types of outfits I actually wear. My categories were simple: athletic or lounge, casual (t-shirt/sweater and jeans), almost fancy (maybe a jumpsuit, sweater dress, dressier top, etc.) and fancy (think wedding or formal event). Then I tallied up what I wore throughout the week and compared it to what I had in my closet. Afterwards, there were a couple things that surprised me. 1. I change my clothes during the day more often than I realized and 2. I need to give the althetic and leisure section of my closet a little TLC because it’s what I wore almost half the time yet only made up about 10-20 percent of my closet. Ironically, it’s also not usually what I add to my online shopping carts or what I spend my clothing budget on.
I haven’t done the same thing for the kids yet, but I’m guessing they’d get similar results. The good news is (and the main reason to do this!) is that it’s harder to buy something I don’t need (i.e. another silk top I’ll never wear or jeans super similar to another pair I already have) when I know that what my closet does need (and what will make my life function better) is a new pair of leggings or joggers and a zip up instead. Same goes for the rest of the fam… if I keep buying Poppy jeans and frilly tops but she lives in play dresses, tees and leggings or sweats, then I’m wasting my money and making it harder to get her dressed in the morning. No bueno.
MY OUTFIT | tee and joggers from everlane (wearing small in both), sneakers from veja (i have these and these on my wish list too!)
POPPY’S OUTFIT | tee and sneakers from zara, sweat pants from childhoods, roller skates from amazon
I tried to take a pic of my outfit notes so you could see, but the pink pencil didn’t show up in the photo… Oops sorry!
ESPEN’S OUTFIT | we absolutely love the tees and sweatpants for boys at J.Crew
Do you guys feel like your wardrobe reflects what you wear or what you would to wear?
xo, Rae
As a stay at home mom/college student again, my wardrobe is incredibly relaxed also. But like you I find that what I actually wear makes up a quarter of my already small wardrobe. Thank you for writing this, you’ve given me the inspiration to tend to my mom uniform that I actually wear, instead of what I think I should be wearing.
Yes, that’s awesome Breanna! xo, Rae