Everything To Wear

I love my clothes. Now, I’m going to wear them.

[everythingtowear]

Week 3’s worth of outfits. As useful as Stylebook is, I think I’m going to have to bite the bullet and start taking fit pics.

[everythingtowear]

I’ve been idly keeping an eye on the new season’s runway shows (specifically the mens because, even though I am cis female, I wear far more menswear than womenswear) and came across this show by Hed Mayner, a designer I’d never heard of before. The cuts, the shapes, the fabrics- I goddamn love this.

[everythingtowear]

Week 2’s outfits. At this stage, you may be concluding that my style is basic as hell, and you’re not wrong.

[everythingtowear]

Had my first brush with temptation today. My dog managed to smash her ceramic water bowl with her big hard head, so I ventured to an Op Shop (thrift store) to find her a cheap replacement.

The big hard head in question. She is fine.

I went to Vinnies (a second hand shop chain popular in Australia. It’s technically ‘St Vincent de Paul’ but no one calls it that, not even the store chain itself). I’ve been here many, many times to do a spot of clothes hunting, and have scored some incredible bargains there- $5 Burberry, $25 YSL, a fabulous trench coat I wore constantly through spring- and oh, the temptation to take a little peek at what was on offer was strong.

I walked to the homewares, picked up a bowl, and walked straight to the counter.

“You knew what you were looking for!” remarked the volunteer behind the counter.

And- perhaps for the first time when walking in to an Op Shop- I did.

[synf3ll-moved]

take figures out of their boxes btw. sew patches on your favorite jacket. go to bed with your favorite plushes. wear the pants you usually save for special occasions. draw something cool on your wall. put a sticker on your laptop. dye your hair and pierce your lips. glass is meant to break, metal is meant to rust. items are meant to be used. that's how the world knows that somebody loved them.

[everythingtowear]

Week 1 of outfits. You’ll notice one particular pair of earrings cropping up frequently- I bought them towards the end of the year, so the novelty is still there.

I’ve had no particular interest in buying any new clothes this week, as a new friend entered my life on Tuesday…

… and she’s been keeping me busy.

[everythingtowear]

Happy New Year!

Here’s my outfit for the first day of 2024- keeping it casual.

I hope you all have a great start to the year!

[everythingtowear]

A few things to know about me before I embark on this challenge:

1) I am in my early forties, near the cusp of the Gen X/ Millennial divide. (I tend to identity with Gen X more because they seem to get blamed for less shit.) The older I get, the more I seem to be able to get away with sartorially.

2) My clothing has been mostly acquired from secondhand sources since 2019. I buy new things occasionally, and even make some of my own knitwear, but most of the clothing in my wardrobe is secondhand.

3) I am what I’ve heard referred to as ‘mid size’- that is, halfway between ‘straight’ sizes and ‘plus’ sizes. I’m an Australian size 16, which equates to a US 12/14 or a UK 18.

4) I live in a country with a lot of sunshine, and walk almost everywhere. As such, hats and sunglasses are key components of my style. Because I walk almost everywhere, my clothes are also pretty practical- lots of separates, pants and flat shoes.

5) Diane Keaton is my style icon. I can only hope to be as stylish as her one day. Look at this woman:

[everythingtowear]

Going into this no buy year, I knew I was going to need a few things to help keep me in line. These are the tools I’ll be using to help me succeed in 2024:

1) StyleBook (link to Apple App Store, but I’m sure it’s on other devices). I have been using StyleBook since late 2020 to track my clothing purchases, wears, and costs per wear. I have a whole system for this, which I’ll explain in a seperate post.

Stylebook can also be used to make outfit montages. For example, here’s what I’m wearing today:

I’ll mostly be using this method to display outfits here, though I’m sure I’ll take some full outfit photos as I go.

2) Various fashion media. Books, magazines, YouTube videos, Vogue Runway- all sources of inspiration and knowledge to help me get the most out of my clothes.

3) You folks. I made this blog so I’d have people to keep me accountable. Just knowing that someone is watching is a great incentive to get me going. Thanks, y’all.

[everythingtowear]

Here’s the thing. I love my clothes.

I’m proud of the second hand shopping skills I’ve acquired over the years. My wardrobe is full of wonderful things- crisp cotton shirts, smooth leather, breathable linen, cozy cashmere. I own absolute classics and tailoring oddities. Don’t get me started on my hat collection.

And yet, my impulse is always to hunt out more. More, more, more.

Time for a change. In 2024, I have everything to wear.