In school I was good at math but never really loved it. I’m more drawn to images and words (hence…a blog) than to numbers. But luckily for those of you who’d rather deal in statistics and spreadsheets to assess your wardrobe (or those of you who really love to plan!), we have Adina over at Blue Collar Red Lipstick.
I’ve featured her in a previous Friday ReBlog but wanted to bring to y’all’s attention a couple of posts she’s written since then that can help you analyze your outfits in a myriad of interesting and informative ways.
First up, this post dives into what makes a piece of clothing a good buy from a $$ perspective. She covers things like cost per wear, MSRP (MRRP to Canadians) aka retail price, and your own personal price set point – what you are willing to pay for a particular item of clothing based on its worth to you. This is a great overview of helpful concepts, particularly if you are new to thrifting and it seems like EVERYTHING IS A DEAL or if you’ve committed to an edited wardrobe and need some economically sound, strategical reinforcement regarding what comes home with you vs. what stays on the rack.
The following week she wrote this post on how she plans her work wardrobe out a month in advance using a spreadsheet-style concept. She has a formula for how to fill in the workdays of the week and tracks what she wears in a way that eliminates almost all the guesswork. The comments are also a great place to learn about other people’s systems for outfit planning (including mine; spoiler, it’s “what do I feel like wearing today?”) and some good apps/tools that can do the work for you.
So tell me, Thrifters – which are you? More plan-it-out or spur-of-the-moment? More analyze-the-value or follow-your-gut? More track-and-evaluate how pieces perform or guesstimate-at-end-of-season? Scroll down to comment!
I do something similar to Adina. I bought a dollar calendar with spaces large enough for a few short notes. I plan about six weeks out, again thinking seasonally like Adina. I start with the “bottoms”- pants & skirts. They are all in basic colors-black, navy, camel, & gray & are in both twill & corduroy (the pants) so if the weather is warmer/cooler than expected, it’s a quick switch. Then I write each of the bottoms in on the calendar for each of my work days: Mon-black wool skirt, Tues-gray cords, Wed-camel linen, etc. As I work through the month I can switch things up so that I don’t wear the black wool pencil skirt on Monday again for a couple of weeks. Then I decide on whether I want a blazer or sweater. I work in the basement of several different buildings-some are warm and some are cold, so that determines which top layer I want. Again I switch up the tops, but with fewer blazers, it’s a little trickier. And lastly I add in blouses, jewelry, or scarves. That’s when I add color & interesting
textures.
Every Sunday afternoon, I binge watch TV as I consult my calendar, place my week’s outfits on hangers & hooks, iron what I need to, wash my make-up brushes, rinse out my bras, change my sheets, prep lunches for the next week, pack my tote, and so on. I start my work week relaxed and I don’t have to run around pulling everything together as I’m trying to get out the door.
Keep in mind, however, that I am an empty-nester & I’m not sure I could have done this when my kids were still young!
Carol, that sounds so relaxing! I have friends who do this on Sundays and it makes their week so zen. I’m not that organized by nature but with a toddler I find it’s a huge help to at least do laundry and put clothes away on weekends so everything is clean and ready for me and the kiddo. Much less running around in the mornings!
I sort of keep track of what I’ve worn retroactively on Instagram but I love the idea of planning out outfits with basics so you don’t repeat too often.
Thanks for sharing!