The Bureau of Meteorology is already predicting a long hot Summer. The garden is full of Spring Bulbs, and there’ve been some slightly warmer sunny days. So it’s time to get the 2019 Signature Wardrobe Winter Update out of the way so I can start thinking about my Summer plan.

The 2019 Winter plan continued the basic eight outfits.

• 5 interchangeable work/errand/social outfits
• 1 exercise
• 1 house cleaning
• 1 yard work

And with a new year, and a new budget, I had $2,000 to spend on:

1. Pencil Skirts: 2-3, say $250
2. Cardigans: 2-3, say $300.
3. Lingerie: a couple of sets, say $300.
4. Alterations: say $300.

2019 Winter Update

Once again, my wardrobe plan went a bit of the rails.

Purchases

I had a couple of wardrobe malfunctions that led to unplanned replacements.

• 3 pencil skirts $240.
• 12 hoodies, vests and jackets $1,242.
• 2 sets of lingerie, 2 sets of long johns, and a bunch of socks $565.
• 3 sets of track pants not warm enough for winter (oops) then 3 pairs of toasty fleece-lined pants $309.
• 5 “winter” t-shirts $140.
• 7 long-sleeved shirts that should work for summer as well as winter $102.

Outcome

It’s been interesting, with mixed results

Budget

I spent $2,598; 24% over budget. However, Summer’s half sorted.

A lot of the garments I’ve bought this season have been less expensive experimental items, and it’s been interesting to see how I’ve felt wearing them.

In general, there’s less pressure to get it “right” when you buy less expensive clothing, and there’s also less of a commitment which makes them easier to get rid of garments that don’t work out. And as they don’t last as long, there’s more pressure to refresh seasonally.

But at the same time, some clothes aren’t well made and this makes them less cost-effective to alter. One of the hoodies started coming apart after the first wash, but it didn’t cost much so I can’t be too cross about it – sometimes you really do get what you pay for.

Appropriateness

Shopping for winter warmth has been hit and miss. Some of the “winter” clothes I bought won’t be warm enough for me in the summer let alone the winter. But I did stumble across wonderfully warm fleece-lined track pants, and I’m going to look for fleece-lined jeans as well.

I’ve bought some synthetic fibres this season, though their warmth results have been mixed. I’m not sure they’ll work too well for Summer.

Style

I did get some fitted clothes, but I found that some of the looser clothes were better for capturing warmth thus I am starting to look like a couch cushion with legs. Or Sponge Bob…

I mentioned in my Winter 2018 plan, I wanted to include more pattern in my wardrobe but didn’t see any I liked. This year I’ve managed to include some clothes with simple graphics and words, and they make me ridiculously happy. For me, patterns with clean crisp edges are better than blurry ones.

Next Steps

Katy and I had an interesting conversation about outfits v costumes, and I’ll experiment with that over Summer. The main thing for me is to keep the pattern going, and work out how to balance cost v wear of the garments.

How’s did you do over winter 2019?

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