I followed with interest the recent efforts of several bloggers (Duchesse, Deja Pseu, FrugalScholar), to limit themselves to a select number (6-12) of clothing pieces to dress themselves for a month. Clothes for special activities (sleep, exercise) weren't included in the count, those could be extra. It seemed to me to be an exercise in how to do more with less, but also addressed the need for discipline one craves when possessing too much. (I'm holding my hand up). I thought about joining the game, but couldn't decide which part of my life was the 'special' or 'extra' part: the part where I stay home and no one but Bill sees me or the part where I go out and about. So I have taken a different approach to making life simpler in this Mad Season of Thanksgiving week through New Years Day.
I mainly stay at home on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I'm home most all day on Monday and Wednesday. (Please note that I consider staying at home one of the ultimate luxuries of being retired. I am not lonesome and I'm not bored; I love it.) We go to the running club on Monday and might go to the pub after the run, but usually just come home. I go to the sewing group on Tuesday mornings and generally do errands in the afternoon. Wednesday is the same as Monday, but we normally meet friends at the pub. Thursday afternoon is my bookbinding class and any errands I have in town are done on this day.
The main thing I want from the clothes I wear at home is for them to be comfortable, warm, colour coordinated and suitable for wearing to the grocery store if needed. I'm prepared to wear heels to the pub as we take the car (being designated driver, I drink fruit juice or tea); this is when I wear my 'smart' clothes. Smart clothes are preferred for sewing and bookbinding (with an apron for wiping gluey fingers), but I walk a lot on those days and heels are useless.
Given this information (and using my chosen colour of the month), I put together four outfits to wear at home (1-4), four outfits to wear to the pub (A-D) and four to wear with flat shoes (a-d). "a" is the same as "A" only with different slacks/skirt/shoes.
The schedule looks like:
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 1 | 2 - A | a | 3 - B | b | 4 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 - B | b | 4 - A | a | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 - C | c | 1 - D | d | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | 1 - D | d | 2 - C | c | 3 | 4 |
This is similar to the system I used to plan clothes when I pack for a vacation, only the numbers are tops, the small letters are bottoms and the capital letters are 'covers' (jackets/cardigans). I try each combination of the selected items to make sure they all work together.
When I was working, I planned the week's clothes on a Sunday afternoon, remembering to wear my 'confidence' clothes for scary meetings, practical shoes for travel days and slightly more Bohemian outfits when working at the university. I put all the accessories in a plastic bag on the hanger and one part of morning stress was erased.
1 comment:
Great exercise and I love your numbering system.
I can't say I plan a whole weeks of outfits, but I definitely take into account scary meetings (or simply wanna-look-fab appointments) together with the ever-present question of how much I'll be walking. I've been doing a lunchtime exercise class, too, so clothes that are fairly easy to change out of, stuff in a bag, and then reverse, are necessary too.
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