Step 1: Taking stock and making space

Spring Cleaning

In the month of March I spring cleaned my wardrobe. Clothes that were super old, had to mended etc. saw the black pit also known as my trash can. I folded all my winter clothes and put them away. There was some clarity appearing in my wardrobe. Yet I found myself utterly unsatisfied with the result.

Dawn of common sense

Yesterday I looked through my closet and realized I actively avoid sections. In fact when I hang my clothes I hang them in sections like “Favorite”, “Possibly wear during weekends” and “Forbidden section”. So I made up my mind to experiment from the forbidden section the next time. Today I took a dress which belonged in the aforementioned place and tried to work it in. Its actually tailored to fit. I tried it as a dress, as a skirt and even as a top. No accessory could save it. RIP dress. So I spent a good hour looking at my wardrobe and removing things that I never wear. I didnt make up my mind as to their fate. This really helped because if I thought I would discard them at some point, then some of the clothes would never have come down from the hanger. 

Good Progress

I found 20 items that I haven’t worn in almost 7-8 months . Actually over 75% of these clothes have been touched in a year. Most of it was “given” to me . Here is what happened to them:

1) Discarding: 5 bottoms , 10 tops, a scarf and a dress.

2) Giving away – 2 tops to my SIL. 1 linen pant with tags to my BFF.

3) Possibly sell – a fancy dress and a silky tank (in size 0, sigh!!!).

A lot of bloggers have the above categories. I added another one.

4) Vacation (heheh) – To this pile went really cute silk tops/cotton tops, floral tops etc. Call me an idiot who is in denial and you may not be very far from the truth. Still, I do enjoy wearing these clothes in Hawaii, to the beach or in the woods. Just not to work.

I am not done yet. I still have to throw out one more dress and a couple of tops. They went into my laundry this week, not because I wore them previously, but I badly wanted to get rid of the dust and smell that clothes accumulate when just standing in the same place forever. There , I said it.

In 24 hours, I will get rid of my BHP. Borderline Hoarder Personality.

On the hunt

I definitely need pieces for work and need a smaller streamlined wardrobe. I can wear most of my clothing outside work, especially during weekends and on vacation but for work I have really tried to dress for success. It has worked out well for me and I am definitely getting ahead. Looking put together makes me more confident . People notice me now and that’s good enough because all I really need is a chance.

Starting July (thru september) my next round of budget reopens. I have a few goals this time.  In a few months I should stop staring at my closet and wondering what I should wear. Well, this has always been my goal but I kind of identified what I like and what I don’t. I wish I had done this before.

What do I like?

1) Structured pieces in all colors.

2) Shirts, silky blouses, blazers, well fitting pants , dark wash jeans, opaque tights in dark colors only, longer pencil skirts, smaller A-line skirts, polished dresses and knee length tailored shorts . Actually will never wear anything more 2 inches below my knees to work. Oh, I love my 2 silk wrap around skirts. I swear I get compliments every time.

3) Occasionally work in Indian tunics, loose blouses (but only in solids).

What do I never wear to work?

1) Salwars or anything which is very Indian in nature.

2) Patterned loose blouses. I really don’t like wearing flowers, paisley prints, bright rose or green color etc.. I find that a lot of my clothes (mostly gifted) fit into this category and I have to force myself to wear them. SIGH!! If anyone is reading and wants to take these clothes, please let me know! 🙂

3) Extremely tight pants (one of my pants can never be buttoned), linen pants (have two and I have only worn one of them and that was on ONE occasion), patterned pants, light color denim. Who wants a size 27 brand new blue linen pant for free?

4) Shorter pencil skirts, pastel color skirts, suede skirts. I want to say that of the 7 skirts that I own , about 4 of them get regular use. I really need to give away the rest.

My next effort is to identify stuff to throw away, keep, donate or alter. At the end of it I want around 10-12 blouses, 3-4 pants, 2 blazers and a few skirts.

What I bought in June

Ok, my june purchases are highly exciting. I realized that I had nothing to wear during my walking. This was a major hole in my wardrobe.

Nike Pants on Sale – $20

Reebok Pants on Sale – $14

Adidas shorts – $14

Skechers memory foam shoes- $40

Feather thin basic t-s from express – $24

Calvin Klein belt – $13

In total,  June expenditure – $125

Ok, how did I do this quarter?

April – $180 , May – $104, June – $125 = $410

Woahhhhh !!!

Edited to add:

Kate Spade Bag – $180 (including shipping) I had a gift card for $100 from the mister for my birthday though .

New grand total $410 + $180 – $100 = $490 ($10 left over from the month. HahA)

What I bought in May

In May I was very underwhelmed with offerings in terms of clothes. I was however low on bath supplies, especially good quality , non-harmful stuff. Here is what I welcomed.

Lush Eye lotion bar – $15

Lush Hair Mask – $23

Lush charity pot – $7

Lush lip tint – $10

Pure almond whipped body butter (giant size)- $17

100% pure chocolate body scrub (discontinued) – $27

All together my may products – $104

What I bought in April

In April I was vacationing in India. This time I refused to but any long kurtas or handbags or jewelry(thank god!!) .

I bought 4 kurtis and two salwars. One was a coveted white kurti which I have longed for.  I was gifted 2 more by my parents. I was gifted a salwar and 2 kurtis by MIL. Oh and I took a few of current pieces and had them altered. Finally I broke my resolution to buy any western clothing and ended up with a cotton chino pants and a powder blue jean.

Here is what I spent:

Coveted white kurti – Rs.700

Salwars – Rs.2400

Kurti 2 – Rs 700

Kurti 3 – Rs 1000

Kurti 4 – Rs 800

Cotton Pants – Rs 700 (70% off from cottonworld)

Brown metro shoes – Rs 1500

Allen Solly Jeans – Rs 3000

Earrings – Rs 240

All together – Rs 11,000 = around $180

Month of April – $180

My little accountability corner

I just browsed through my shopping from the past few months and my eyes glazed over. I am setting a budget for myself going forward. Also, this past week I kept looking at my closet and realized that I gravitate towards certain patterns for work. For weekends I am pretty casual. Given that I plan to work as long as I am in California its time I streamlined my purchases.

I find that I indulge in bursts and hence $500 per quarter sounds good enough.

Q:What will it cover?

A: Tops, bottoms, jewellery/watches, handbag/accessories, luxury personal products etc.

Q: What is not included:

A: Undergarments, regular routine personal care purchases, birthday/anniversary gifts etc.

I will make it a point to never exceed my budget. If I want it badly, it will have to wait. If I dont spend the allocated amount in that quarter then it will carry over to the next .