A Girl And Her Wardrobe

45 Comments

• Lucy replied 9 years ago

  Wonderful updates! I love them both, especially the pants. And extra special that they did not break the bank...
  I'm almost the opposite. I tend to get confused when I have to start dressing for the new season, almost as if I have forgotten how. Clearly I am a creature of habit :) 

• Deborah replied 9 years ago

  Lucy, I completely relate lol. It often takes me a couple of weeks to confidently transition into the next seasons outfits.

• Sharon replied 9 years ago

  I am yearning for summer. Every day I wistfully eye my short-sleeved tops. Sometimes, I even try them on. And then common sense prevails and I dutifully dress in my winter clothes.

• gryffin replied 9 years ago

  Wow, Deborah, waiting for fall here!!  Never really get my summer wardrobe in shape, so it's the waiting game.  Lovely pieces, both will look stellar.  I think they are wonderful choices and the sweater looks like enough to be a real 3 season piece.  Enjoy!!

• frannieb replied 9 years ago

  This always happens to me in the winter. Last year was winter brutal in MN with super cold and having to wear your cold cold clothing much longer then normal. This usually results in me being completely unseasonably dressed and cold in the Spring because I'm so sick of my winter clothes. So I completely understand.
  Interestingly with me this never happens with summer clothes - Maybe because our summer is so short.
  Great pieces - I think they will fit in with your wardrobe as you like clothes that are architecturally interesting and interesting fabrications.

• viva replied 9 years ago

  There is a point in any season, I think, where I am fatigued and ready for the next. For me, it seems to be worst in the summer, which is when I dress the most casually and have the least structured routine. I lose hold of everything. Right now I am just hanging on by a thread until fall arrives! So, yes, I understand seasonal fatigue to the core of my very being!!!

  I began planning for fall in July -- and buying a couple of items. NAS happened at the perfect time. Clearing out my wardrobe and dreaming about leggings and booties, imagining new outfit combinations ... all have been really helpful as I have slipped into the same two dresses every single day.

• Jaime replied 9 years ago

  Well Deborah our summers are pretty endless too. My current culotte obsession is keeping me amused though! Your new pieces look perfect for you - can't wait to see them modeled!

• Mona replied 9 years ago

  Mid season refreshers are so imortant to combat the fatigue of long seasons. I feel it badly in winters around February.
  Both your pieces look lovely and I hope the jeans fit you. Also, congrats on 1 in and 2 out.

• Janet replied 9 years ago

  I hear you! I get pretty fatigued by the end of summer, although I think this year is shaping up better than any other I can recall. Getting a summer piece I'm excited to wear (the grey silk jumpsuit) helps, so I think your shopping strategy was a good one. Both of those pieces look like they'll work seamlessly with the rest of your wardrobe while giving you a little lift.

• Aubergine replied 9 years ago

  I really like the shape of that cardigan!

  I get really sick of my clothes in winter. There's a point where I want to scream every time I pull on black tights and tall black boots for yet.another.day. Was especially bad this last winter when it was colder than usual and I kept having to repeat the same few ultra-warm things.

  I don't really get this in summer, though. I mean, I sometimes get sick of my clothes, but it's never the same level of existential dread.

• Suz replied 9 years ago

  I get this every winter. Not in summer -- not at all. Or at least not this year, after my massive June shopping spree, LOL. 

  My recent count revealed that I have almost as many summer clothes as winter ones -- and our winters are more than twice as long as our summers!

  There's a lesson for me! Maybe I simply can't be a minimalist. Because what seems to be preventing boredom now, in the summer, is the variety of choices I have. Different colours, silhouettes, and levels of formality. Every day I feel I have multiple possibilities. Whereas in the winter, I feel that even when the pieces change, the overall look is essentially identical. Jeans and a pullover. jeans and a pullover. Oy. 

  I think your new pieces look great and will fit perfectly into your closet. 

• carolbee replied 9 years ago

  These pieces llok great and should help you refresh. Especially loving the cocoon cardigan.

• ruthe replied 9 years ago

  I like the pieces of clothing you posted. They look like you :) I know what you mean about season fatigue. We don't really have much winter here until January, February and by the end of March we're getting pretty warm again. It's just warm, hot and very warm again before we have any cold weather. By the end of Fall, I'm worn out.

• Transcona Shannon replied 9 years ago

  Lovely additions to your wardrobe Deb. I can see these working beautifully for you.

  Like Suz, I get the wardrobe fatigue in winter. Here I wear my fall/winter items from mid/end September right through to April and by February/March I am sick to death of the cold and clothes that go with it. Our summers are so short there's no time for fatigue.

  The only thing I will say that I'm missing is booties - booties are my favorite type of footwear and you just can't wear them in the heat.

• Ledonna N. replied 9 years ago

  I really like your additions especially the leggins.

  Summer,  because it has been difficult to style myself during this time.  I am making progress but I am already over it.  My yearn for cooler temps even snow and Ice is big.  I love my fall/winter wardrobe it is perfect for me.  I love the coats/jackets I have boots warm socks and scarfs all the layers.  By joining YLF you all have helped me start the process of having a decent summer wardrobe.  hopefully by time I reach 45 or 50 I will be where I want to be with my summer clothing.

• Nebraskim replied 9 years ago

  Agree on the mid-season fatigue. Like Shannon's experiences, our fall-winter can last eight or nine months here. So I have a strategy that works because I have a deep closet. I have sort of an early season look, and then have a secondary late season look. And I often put things that were in heavy rotation one year into a hiatus the next year and pull them out the following year. This works because I have a style based on classics that are never really in style so they never fall out of style. I use them as foundation pieces, then refresh with current, fast-fashion accessories or shirts, etc., that bring trendy colors into the foundation of black, gray, brown and ink.

  Right now, I am tired of hot summer and am looking forward to fall transition. So I also love to shop pre and early season to pick up something that bridges and transitions. Great discussion question.

• Gracie replied 9 years ago

  The new additions look fab and so you. The texture on the sweater and its cocoon shape are lovely, and the inset panels on the jeans look sharp.

  I get fatigued by my outfits in winter also because there's only one option: cover everything up. Summer is the easiest and more fun for me since I have a choice of showing a tiny bit, a little more, or most arms and legs and decolette.

• TraceyLiz65 replied 9 years ago

  Great additions and a good thing to do when this feeling arises as it does quite often. I am feeling this about Summer right now , but have been using the time to buy off season items online clearance sections... This has been great , but unlike you didn't give me the bump I needed for the rest of this season... Perhaps I should have rethought that and left room in the budget for something for now... Unfortunately, trying to get two kids of to college this month, so going to have to muster through.... I will remember this for next time, so thank you for posting!!!!

• jackiec replied 9 years ago

  I love your new additions! I do get the same feeling at the end of every winter. I also tend to add a few pieces here and there as the season wears on (plus I love hitting those sales ;) ). I don't get the same feeling too much in summer since our summers are so short. Plus if I yearn for fall I've learned that once fall hits I'm pining away for the relaxing days of summer....

• Peri replied 9 years ago

  We probably all get this in whatever is our longest or least favorite season. For me it is summer and I am doing miles better than ever before thanks to YLF, I am definitely dreaming of Fall. Which is two months off at least. I bought something at NAS that fits Angie's blog post today, but holes or not, it is still beyond hot for any kind of sweater. 

  Summer just doesn't let me dress the way I most like to dress. And this time of year, everything is picked over and I am unmotivated to look for anything new. I'm not on a no-shop, I'm just sort of on a who cares?! If I saw something great I would buy, but I'm not really looking...not even browsing. 

  Fashion boredom is balanced by me having boatloads more free time than I will come Sept. That is what keeps me from despising summer altogether!

• Angie replied 9 years ago

  YES. Our Springs are cold and feel like Winter. It takes forever to warm up here. But at the moment we are having a BRILLIANTLY warm Summer. And I'm very happy. 

  I bet the TX ladies feel that way about Summer. 

• Mo replied 9 years ago

  Yes!  And I have actually made a mental note to change my shopping plan for next year accordingly.  I figure I will buy more at the start of a season, ease off for the next few months, and then buy a bit again near the end to 'recharge' my look as I'm starting to tire of the options in my closet.  
  So, for me that might look like 4 items in month one, then an item a month for the next two (or maybe a month of SYC in there), and 2 or 3 items again in the fourth and final month of a season.
  I'm a bit weary of summer here but I'm determined to get only an item or 2 of refreshers because I know I'm returning to snowy climate next year and will have plenty of summer stuff to get me through even if I purge a bit. 

• replied 9 years ago

  So Deborah, you can see we're all in the same boat here - and I distinctly recall almost packing up my greys and blacks and leggings and boots into garbage bags by March and threatening to throw them all out.  And Viviane - I had to laugh at you holding on by a thread right  now. Me too - maybe we can be friends and hold on together :)  I totally lose my mojo in August with all the heat!

  I find it interesting how many of us/you commenting here are talking about planning ahead for this time next year by saving room in the budget for a last-third refresh.  I think this is a great idea, but shopping sales racks and mounds of leftover sweaters is not something I find appealing either.  I like the two pieces you have added here Deborah - and maybe the key is to find new pieces in wintery colours but in lighter weights to push through into spring. 

• Aziraphale replied 9 years ago

  YES! I get this "season fatigue" toward the end of both summer and winter, every year. It never seems to happen with spring and fall, but perhaps that's because the weather is mild and varied during those seasons where I live. You get rainy days mixed in with sunny days or overcast days. You can wear tee shirts still, but also toppers. You don't have to protect yourself against cold or the heat. 

  Summer fatigue is starting to set in with me. Don't get me wrong -- we have had one of the nicest summers I can remember this year, sunny and warm but generally not too hot. I'm not complaining. But around this time every year, I start to get a bit bored of shorts. My summer lifestyle is also very, very casual, so wearing skirts with heels and bare legs is not a day-to-day option. I haven't worn a coat in months, and my closetful of shoes I adore has a coating of dust since I've been wearing the same two pairs of sandals every day! I think part of the summer fatigue is actually a yearning for a return to the structure of my "regular" September-to-June life.

• unfrumped replied 9 years ago

  I like the items, and I think one of the best things is that you did the 2 out.
  That way the "refresher" is not just adding from boredom, but is part of wardrobe evolution.
  I want to remember that--so,   as I am going into our fall and winter, and I am wearing items, maybe some of which I'm not entirely loving but "made the cut" in the fall wardrobe review and so I'm not ready to toss, perhaps one or 2 of those can be targeted for replacement by a mid-late season addition.

• Alana in Canada replied 9 years ago

  I love the idea of a mid season refresher. I am going to plan for it. Thanks for the idea, Deborah.

• rachylou replied 9 years ago

  The cocoon cardigan is pretty awesome. I can't think of such a point in summer at the moment, but I know it well in winter. Inevitably, it makes me want another puffer, I go looking, and of course everything's long been sold out.

• LadyGeek replied 9 years ago

  Hi, It seems to me that in summer you can change a vest top and bingo, a new look.  But in winter there is SO much to wear to keep warm, and therefore to change.  I hate the damp cold here in England and any sense of style goes out of the window in winter.  Yep, tried layering, but don't like the bulk on my petite build.  Then I discovered very fine, fitted, non-scratchy wool base layers in the mountaineering/trekking shop: long sleeved top and long johns for the bottom.  I can now alternate my Orphan Annie/Bag Lady outfits with stylish things over the top and look halfway decent.  At least it rings the changes until the next (warmer) season is officially under way.

• Sara L. replied 9 years ago

  I always feel like this at the end of the season.  A few new items are a great way to update and refresh your wardrobe.  I find a few new things help me mix and match my existing clothes in new ways and helps me feel less bored. 

• Mary Beth (formerly LBD) replied 9 years ago

  Yes.   But my fatigue is maybe a little different... I love spring and summer.  I savor every moment of it that I can... and while I do look forward to wearing my cooler-weather stuff, I am never in a hurry for fall to get here.

  My fatigue is this:   I feel like the world is straining impatiently towards fall before we even reach the middle of July - and I am digging my heels into summer.   There are two months of summer left on the calendar!   I don't have kids, but when the kids around here go back to school (this past week!), I feel a sense of loss and mourning, because the holiday spirit of high summer seems to have been drained away from everyone.   So while I take great enjoyment in planning, shopping, preparing for fall style... I am not even close to ready to plunge into anything fall related.   Maybe this is why I have never cared for autumn colors in my house or on my body.

  It is only August, and already I am fatigued with the 'idea' of fall fashion.

  I'm like Rat, in The Wind in the Willows, watching, bewildered, as all his furred and feathered friends get ready to migrate, and wondering why everyone can't be content to sit still and enjoy the now.

• Lyn D. replied 9 years ago

  Hi Deborah,
  is that the one you tried at Metalicus with me last month?
  It looked great, and I am impressed with your 1 in 2 out purging :)

  I have bought 4 newbies this month, 3 of which are for Spring. I know it is partly due to current season fatigue, and find it tricky to be certain about next season purchases when I can't actually wear them 'out' to test suitability.
  Then again, Angie recommends buying early to get the best pieces before they sell-out….
  Like you I bought a version of a cardigan- a Trenery soft trench. Winter stock on sale- but I envision wearing as a F/S item over warmer weather tops with its sleeve scrunched.

  Good luck with the jeans!

• shedev replied 9 years ago

  Deb, those are really great finds. I especially like the pants.

  I'm feeling fatigue with my summer wardrobe, and yet it is my shorter season. I just like my cold weather stuff more. I did find a few really great things, and hope to find a few next year. I miss my boots and jackets.

• Deborah replied 9 years ago

  So good to know it's not just me:) I find I do experience this with both summer and winter, so I need to stick a note in my wardrobe reminding me to plan for a couple of new purchases to keep me motivated whe we are about 2/3rds through the season.

  Lyn, no its not the Metalicus one. This one is from Target from their current sale. It has an interesting weave and Im wering it today and it works really well. I don't have anything on my Metalicus radar at the moment:( I got my voucher but ...

  Oh and the jeans were a bust. They didn't have my size and they are really long and taking them up would effect the detail:(

• Beth Ann replied 9 years ago

  Yes.  In both winter and summer, actually.  But winter is longer and the boredom is deeper.  I usually plan just a few mid-summer refreshers and, since my summers are casual, these aren't costly.  I have to budget for midwinter refreshers!

• replied 9 years ago

  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  So bored with Summer dressing.  I am not satisfied with anything in my closet right now.  

• T replied 9 years ago

  Oh yes! Major fatigue... but with summer! Where I live I experience over 11 months of hot, humid summer. Out of these 11, about 4 have daily torrential rain. Winter lasts for roughly 3 weeks. I'm one of those people who loves the concept of layers, scarfs, boots, coats etc, and also the 3 items concept. And boy, do I feel major fatigue with summer dressing of loose, light airy layers. I wanna feel snugly in my leggings & over sized sweatshirt with scarfs! :P

• replied 9 years ago

  Deborah, first of all I love your new items! I'm a bit envious that you are able to find things you love and fit your style so (seemingly) easily! After reading this post yesterday morning, I decided to follow suit and have a look through the shops after an airport run. I was so disappointed. All of the Summer things were so picked over and none of the styles appealed to me AT ALL. :(

  So, am I fatigued by the season? Yes, a bit. We still have two to three months of very hot weather left and  A) it's too hot to go shopping (most of our malls are outdoors), B) F/W is in the stores anyway, so why bother and C) all of my S/S budget is gone; I only have what little I've earned by re-selling some of my things. I think I'll try a little online shopping and make a huge note to myself to spread my shopping out better next S/S.

  Actually, part of my fatigue with S/S is that I'm not finding clothing that appeals to me or works within my parameters. Everything is so bare and boho and I like to cover up a little more. Most dresses that are modest on top are way too short on me and I end up feeling very discouraged when I shop. Even when I had my entire budget in hand I could not find clothes I liked in retail and ended up getting almost everything in consignment stores this season. 

• crutcher replied 9 years ago

  When one season has danced all of its tunes and is tired and ready to sit...I, too, get "season fatigue"...I am tired of the clothes, the temperature and the day in day out sameness...I am ready for the new girl to come on the stage and show me how its done......In my case, I am tired of summer...and ready for (ta dah)  FALL...with all of the clothes, boots, light coats, football, etc., etc...I am ready for a new girl...

• Amy replied 9 years ago

  I definitely get tired of my clothes by the end of summer. So ready for fall clothes which I think are way more fun than summer clothes. I love the layers of fall clothes where as summer clothes are so simple (which in my closet can get kinda boring). Give me a boot, fabulous jacket and cozy scarf! Can't wait for fall clothes!

• Sal replied 9 years ago

  Yes I too am fatigued with winter; I don't tend to feel the same way in summer. I had a refresh last week with two new items which I must show off. If you can find them towards the end of the season it does work well for a wee boost!

  Shame about the jeans, but the cocoon cardigan is great!

• cheryl replied 9 years ago

  Gorgeous pieces, both of them. I don't necessarily get bored with a certain season I just get restless and want something new. I haven't been doing much shopping and I am just ready for a new item or two. At this point I don't care if it's a clearance summer item or if it's a new for fall/winter item.

• Marley replied 9 years ago

  Spring/Summer are my favorite seasons so I can't say that I am fatigued at all!  I am annoyed that retail stores now have their fall items available and all of the summer stuff has been picked over - and where I live, our 2 warmest months of summer have just begun!

  I must admit that last winter when I spent 3 months with my mother in the polar vortex of the midwest, I got horribly fatigued with the season and my clothes - but then, I hate winter - so it had as much to do with that as it did with feeling fatigued with my wardrobe.

• Neel replied 9 years ago

  That's a beautiful cardigan and the jeans look good too. I am currently in a severe style rut thanks to our never ending summer (4 months down). We still have 2 months minimum for the temps to cool down. Ack .... I want to cry!

• Lisa replied 9 years ago

  This always happens to me near the end of our winter season, because I'm craving lighter colors yet it's still cold and dark.  Now I try to add lighter colored items so that I can lighten up even though it's still cold.  I also think a refresh of a few items during the season is a great way to keep things interesting.  Oddly enough I never get tired of summer clothes, maybe because I'm already sporting brighter colors?

• Thistle replied 9 years ago

  Oh my, yes!! Especially in winter.

  Our winters drag on and on and on. By January, we've already had 3 or so. On the of winter, and you are now in the darkest, coldest, shortest days with no Christmas lights to brighten it up.

  And yes, I do add refresher pieces at this point. All the winter stuff is one sale, and I still have 3+ months of winter to go. It might even be a piece or two at a lower price point that I plan on donating at the end of the year. I also like to pick up a piece or two in winter fabrication but in spring colors. Like my lavender cashmere sweater.