I did it. I put contents of my closet in a spreadsheet and here is the analysis. Laugh all you want , but I will have a coordinated efficient wardrobe. The spreadsheet contains all of the jackets, cardigans, sweaters, pants, skirts, and dresses that I can wear to work. It does not include my denim jeans, tee shirts, tops and blouses, or evening clothes. I always wear a jacket or sweater in the office even with dresses and when I’m lazy on a Friday I will sometimes wear jeans.
THE STATS
21 Jackets and sweater jackets
19% made by me
Hmmm…..I need to get this number up. I haven’t bought any in years (except for a few Salvation Army and consignment purchases), but my early me-made garments tend to get tossed as I develop better sewing and fitting skills.
13 Sweaters (including 6 I bought last Fall)
23% handmade (by my mother, wow!)
Looks like the cardis are much more versatile than the pullovers since I consider them year round items.
10 Pants
80% me made. Aside from my jeans, the only RTW pants I have are heavily modified and match RTW jackets. I make pants because I can get a better fit than RTW.
10 Skirts
50% me made. Easy to fit, easy to buy, easy to make. Surprisingly I wear skirts more in the winter than summer since I can wear thick warm tights with tall boots and be quite warm. Bare legs FREEZE in the summer at work and on the train.
4 Dresses
100% me made. See skirt comments above. I’m not a girly-girl and many dresses don’t feel “serious” enough for clients. Also, I find them difficult to pair with jackets and cardis.
THE IN-CROWD
Based on my spreadsheet, these are the most successful garments in terms of flexibility. Each one can be worn with at least 10 other items.
- Cool brown wool gabardine pants; me-made. This was the #1 champion with 14 coordinating possibilities.
- J. Crew Navy wool skirt; Gets out more in winter than summer as the color is too dark for my pale legs. This came in at #2.
- In third place, the Tahari navy poly/rayon pants.
- Taupe gabardine pants; a me-made. Great fit, great drape, and most importantly a great color.
- Eileen Fisher black wool knit skirt.
- Black wool skirt; me made, hits the top of the knee. A basic.
- Black vee neck cardigan; a classic.
- Navy vee neck cardigan; a classic.
I see that most of these garments are navy or black basics. No surprise here.
THE MISFITS
These pieces had 0 to 2 mates.
- Garnet Hill Yellow pale cashmere pullover; very comfy but a loose fit and not really a great color for me. This is being relegated to the weekend pile.
- Blue/grey poly/rayon Eli Tahari jacket – nice cut but a terrible color for me. Only gets worn with jeans on Fridays. What was I thinking when I bought this? I look like a theater usher in this. And it’s not even a natural fiber which is disappointing for this brand. No reason to bother with any coordinates for this one.
- Mint jacket; unusual, funky, empire waist. Looks good with navy skirt, but need more options. Let’s add cream colored pants or navy cigarette pants to the “to sew” list.
- Grey puff sleeved jacket; me-made, interesting and unusual design, but the neck is not very flattering. Need to come up with something else to wear with this other than its matching skirt but what? The fabric is a cross-weave of black and off-white with a tiny stripe pattern in melon and light blue. The overall affect is light warm grey with pinstripes. (I’ve got an upcoming review of this.) Skinny charcoal grey pants?
Vogue V1092 - Grey skirt with pinstripes; mate to jacket above. Needs more company. No clue what to put with it.
- Red jeans; me-made from cotton upholstery fabric, not very comfortable (no Lycra), and not a great shade of red. I would ditch these if I had a few more jeans to replace them. Let’s not make any companion garments.
- Periwinkle with white polka-dot knit wrap dress; me-made. Need something to coordinate as the navy cardi is getting tired. I keep thinking of a big orange scarf but I need something else.
- Turquoise slinky dress w half sleeves; me-made. The neckline doesn’t sit well with a jacket or top. A vee neck cardigan in taupe or camel might work.
New Look 6825 - Talbots print skirt; I just shopped my stash and found a camel RPL and a wheat linen that might work. Some of the skirt colors are just, well, pukey. (This skirt would look great with a white cotton wrap blouse but I just can’t rock white.)
- Red cotton eyelet skirt; me-made, it has such promise but I need to find a way to wear it without either black or white. Let’s say navy linen since I have one from the Salvation Army that I am planning to refashion. I also have some navy wool gabardine that might do the trick.
Next I’ll plan out the 12 piece wardrobe and will see how my existing wardrobe and needed infill need fit into the larger plan.
Suits Me 