#officebutfancy

[lucyless85]

Longsleeves!

I absolutely love wearing long sleeves, even during summer for some reasons. Therefore it is no surprise, that I do have some: five longsleeves and three with 3/4 sleeves. 

I have those with shorter sleeves stored away right now. I do not like wearing them with a jacket, dunno why.

Included Pieces

While starting my winter capsule I included all five longsleeves in it, but in February I stored one of them away, because I did not wear it that much. It is a bit fancy and all of its features are not shown with a jacket on top. So I leave it for spring and summer season.

black rollneck, thin fabric

black rollneck, knitted,slightly thicker fabric

black and white striped

blue and white checkered

grey with buttons and sewed in lighter grey opening (stored)

Both rollnecks are from H&M more than five years old now. I have mentioned before, that I do have to mend the thin one because of several holes in the sleeves, which I have done today. It looks much better right now, but I really have to replace it this year, when I am ready to do so... and have some spare money. The fabric is viscose with a bit of elastane.

The striped longsleeve was bought in 2018, when I started thrifting. It was my first find and I really love this one. The fabric is very light and smooth (100% viscose) but still thick enough for colder temperatures. It is from a German brand called Steffen Schraut which I did not know before.

I found the checkered longsleeve online last year. It is from the French brand PetitBateau and made of 100% cotton. Originally the top is from their young adult collection, but I think it fits me very well.

Lastly, the top I stored away, is from IrieDaily and is made of 100% cotton. It is very thin and smooth and I know I will wear it a lot with warmer temperatures coming back to us.

Fabric issues

In my last post I talked about my problems with non-organic fabrics. All my tops and shirts are made from cotton or viscose, which are wearable for me. I’d love to test out linen or tencel, but I could not lay my hands on a piece made from them, yet. I also own a longsleeve made from 100% Merino wool from Icebreaker. I only wear this one for really cold days when I go for a walk, otherwise it would be too warm for me and I’d start sweating like hell.

How I wear them

I always wear the black rollneck under a T-shirt or with a jacket on top. The knitted one can go by itself, with a singlet under it. For the other ones I use to wear a body under them or a jacket on top. I have not tried to use them as a base layer with a printed T-shirt on top, it did not occur to me while dressing and thinking about it feels weird, so I will not give it a try ;)

[lucyless85]

Over the top...

Today is dedicated to the pieces I could wear over the other ones... with a special item which could go as a never ending story.

Jumpers and Hoodies

I have three jumpers and one hoodie in my winter capsule. On the picture I have taken in January there still is my Ravenclaw jumper shown, which I have given away by now.

blue jumper, normal fit, American Cotton, thrifted

dark blue jumper, loose fit, Only, thrifted

dark grey jumper, loose fit, H&M, more than 4 years old

green hoodie, with a Alice motive done with bleach, H&M, thrifted

All of them have different fit and style to them, which is great, but means, that there are some restrictions when it comes to the combining options. I have talked about that in the post before.

Jackets

On the following picture there is also an item, which I have given away in the beginning of February.

blue hoodie jacket, Primark, 6 years old

black hoodie jacket, H&M, more than 5 years old

grey knitted hoodie jacket, H&M, thrifted

brown grey shirt jacket, Bench, thrifted

I went to Primark twice. I bought the jacket and a dress on my second visit and was a shopping companion on my first one. I have never visited Primark again, unless the jacket really holds well, as I must say. Although it contains polyester, I wear it very often. I hope that I will be able to find a jacket in the same color with better quality and made from cotton once.

The black jacket is one of my favorite pieces which goes with everything I have, so I reach for it as often as I reach for the blue one.

The knitted hoodie jackets were an online find from last year. I bought them both, because I thought that it would be better to have them in two colours. Unfortunately, the white one started getting sweat stains after some wears which I could not get rid off... so it has to go. I keep the grey one, but I am not sure of it, too. I do not know if it is the fit or the fabric, I do not like to wear it as much as I expected to.

The shirt jacket is a tricky piece. It has a very loose fit and I cannot wear it often, but when I wear it I love how the outfit turned out in the end.

Blazerish problems...

Moreover I had this Blazer in my wardrobe at the beginning... but I already knew then, that I’ll fail to wear it... and so it happened...

I did not wear it... I have not worn the Blazer more than five times since I bought it second hand in 2018. It is a beautiful piece and it totally sucks, that I did not feel comfortable in it, but what can I do?

Wearing Blazers always feels odd for me, it is like wearing a costume, like being another person, cannot describe it better. Looking formal is hard for me. That is why I decided to buy this Blazer, because it has a more loose fit and is made from Jersey, but the problem remains.

I have given that one away by now and I am still considering adding another Blazer I own since 2005 to my wardrobe, because in this one I feel a bit better. Maybe I should give it a try?

[lucyless85]

Recap January 2020

January is over so it is time to do a recap for this month.

Although I forgot to take a picture every single day, I got a good overview of the items I wore in January.

Regardless, I wrote down every piece in my wardrobe and made a tally sheet:

Longsleeves

black rollneck (5)

knitted black rollneck (2)

striped longsleeve (2)

checkered longsleeve (5)

fancy button longsleeve (1)

Tees

Rey (Star Wars) (2)

Leia (Star Wars) (1)

42 (2)

Stephen King (2)

Tomte (3)

NERD (2)

Jumpers

Alice (2)

Ravenclaw (2)

light blue (3)

middle blue (2)

Trousers

Chino Jeans (6)

blue Jeans (8)

grey skinny Jeans (7)

black Cords (4)

dark blue bootcut Cords (4)

Jackets

black hoodie (6)

blue hoodie (3)

white knit hoodie (1)

grey knit hoodie (2)

shirt (2)

Blazer (0)

Numbers in parenthesis show how often I wore the piece last month. As I took a look at the outcome, I realized that there is some room for changes...

The following items will be removed from my capsule by now:

fancy button longsleeve (1) (stored)

Leia (Star Wars) (1) (donate)

white knit hoodie (1) (donate)

Blazer (0) (donate)

And I already changed this one with a grey jumper:

Ravenclaw (2)

I love the Ravenclaw Jumper, but it has some Polyester in it and I could not bear  wearing this kind of fabric. That left me with 30 pieces for my winter capsule wardrobe.

The fact that I did not wear my tees that much does not worry me, it’s too cold for them ;)

And I really have to sew my black rollneck or replace it... there are so many holes in it, which could not be hidden anymore.

[lucyless85]

Let’s talk about trousers today...

Regarding the amount of different styles, colours, patterns, and fabrics one could get the impression, that you need a lot of trousers in your wardrobe to always be well dressed. But that simply is not true...

In my opinion it depends on some ones style and preferences which trousers he or she should wear and include in his/her wardrobe. Moreover I found out, that having different styles at hand the urge to add new trousers recede while the amount of styling options increase at the same time. A simple jumper will look totally different combined with skinny jeans or chino. I would love to challenge myself, wearing one jumper, one t-shirt and one longsleeve with every trouser I own... maybe I will do that in February. Kind of 10x10 challenge.

My wardrobe contains 14 trousers in total.

chino style jeans, mid blue

chino style jeans, light blue

chino, black

chino, blue

chino, sandy coloured

skinny jeans, light grey

jeans, mid blue

jeans, mid blue

jeans, black

dress pants, dark blue

dress pants, grey

dress pants, petrol

cords, dark blue, flared

cords, black

Due to some weight loss, I need to get rid of the black and blue chino. I did not like the sandy coloured chino and the light blue chino as much as I expected, so I will give them away, too. Furthermore I have to blue jeans of which one does not flatter me, so I  also have to get rid of them. Same goes with my dress pants: they are the same style and I do not need both. my black jeans are pretty worn out, I think it is time for a replacement. That leaves me with:

chino style jeans

skinny jeans, light grey

jeans, mid blue

dress pants, dark blue

dress pants, petrol

cords, dark blue, flared

cords, black

Both dress pants are absolutely inappropriate for cold weather, which means, I have five trousers to wear and, surprise, which are part of my winter capsule.

And I am totally fine with that. I do not think, that I will add more trousers to my wardrobe in near future, except for unexpected replacements.

[lucyless85]

It’s Tee-Time

Let’s dig deeper into my capsule and have a closer look on my t-shirts.

Story behind my collection:

In total, I own 16 T-Shirts of which only two are without any print on them. I started wearing more printed shirts two years ago, after I recognized, that I want to express my love for movies, books and bands with my clothes. Before I only had four printed T-Shirts, which I really like to wear during my spare time. At work, I always tried to wear plain clothes, for a more professional look. It took me some time to realize, that these plain clothes, in many different ways, worked like an obstacle I had to overcome. I always pretended to be someone else at work, some one more convenient for every customer and every colleague I work with. I ignored my inner voice, which told me, that I do not have to be like every one else. It is weird how much effect clothes can have on your life and the way people see you.

After six years of wearing plain clothes, all black in black, I started to wear one of my printed T-Shirts layered over a Longsleeve... and nothing happened. Some weeks later, one of my colleagues compliment me for wearing my “You can change the world” Tee. From this time on, I decided to get more printed T-Shirts and wear them on a regular basis. I did search for some motives, but there are also some, which I did come across accidentally.

I worked as a bookseller and after getting my hands on some funny book/movie related T-Shirts, I experienced really interesting conversations with customers, because we shared the same interest or they just liked the motive. To sum up, my decision was worthwhile.

Wearing movie/TV series related shirts does have one disadvantage. While watching, you’re totally into it and want to show this to everyone by wearing a proper Tee. At the beginning, I went kind of crazy, searching for countless motives and wanted to buy every single one I could get my hands on. Due to my discipline I did not buy all those T-Shirts I wanted to have. Even still there are some I will sort out over the next months, because I know I will not reach for them. For example: I own two Star Wars related Tees and I chose both for my winter capsule. I know by now, that I wore the dark blue one more often, because I like the motive more and it was a present by my spouse, so it has a deeper meaning for me. Therefore I have to decide, what to do with the other one and, if I will only sort it out or replace it with a different kind of motive.

Same goes for the GoT related Shirts. I have not watched the series during the last months, so I do not know, if I really want to keep them. There are some movies/TV series I always come back to... and others that are not that important. I still am pretty uncertain, if I will replace the Shirts which will be sorted out or if I will decide to have less in my wardrobe after that.

So here is the list:

light grey, “You can change the world” (3 years old)

dark blue, Star Wars (Christmas gift 2018)

light grey, Star Wars (thrifted)

dark blue, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (thrifted)

black, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (thrifted)

blue, Nerd (thrifted)

grey, Supernatural (thrifted)

black, Band  Tee Tomte (thrifted)

black, Band Tee Thees Uhlmann (bought after a concert in 2019)

black, Game of Thrones (thrifted)

grey, Game of Thrones (thrifted)

white, Batman (5 years old, pretty worn out)

black, New Model Army (12 years old)

black, New Model Army (12 years old)

black (thrifted)

light grey (thrifted)

Decision process

For winter capsule I chose:

dark blue, Star Wars

light grey, Star Wars

black, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

black, Tomte

black, Thees Uhlmann

blue, Nerd

As I wrote, I wanted to see, if I will reach for both Star Wars related T-Shirts or if I only need one in my collection. Both band shirts are staples and will not be replaced or anything. There could be a season, where I will store them away, to prevent me from getting tired of them. But that’s it. The black Hitchhiker’s Guide Shirt was chosen, because I realized, that I reach more for the dark blue one and this is kind of last chance for the black one to prove its right to exist in my wardrobe. And my “Nerd” Tee is just loveable ;)

During cold weather, I layer my T-Shirts over Longsleeves or under Jackets with a sleeveless top underneath for extra warmth. That’ pretty much it. They go with almost any Longsleeve/Jacket in my wardrobe and with any Trousers I own. So I do not have any problems combining them.