What's in a Wardrobe?

Do you have a closet full of clothes but always feel like you "don't have anything to wear"? Do most of your clothes not fit you very well? Do you never feel "put together" or always awkward in the clothing you are wearing? Do you find yourself spending money on clothes looking for quantity instead of quality? Do you ever go out in public in your "lounging around the house" clothes that are riddled with stains and holes from wearing them so much?

If you answered yes to any or all of those questions, know that you aren't alone. I can answer yes to every single one of those questions. I'm especially guilty of that last one. While my "lounging around the house" clothes might not be riddled with stains and holes, they definitely look worn out. They especially look stellar on days that I have spent most of my time at home with both girls and forgot about the early morning spit-up from Layla or the food Brooklyn threw at me that stuck to the side of my pants. Or, like yesterday, the dried up pee on my left pant leg (at least it was dry and no one else knew it was there!).

If you're a mom to one or more kids, you've probably gone out in public (especially grocery store or pharmacy) looking, well, frazzled and dumpy. If not, kudos to you! Tell me your secret because that has happened to me way more times than not. And trust me, if you know me and have been around me for a while, you know this is true. You've probably gone out with me wondering what I was thinking wearing what I was wearing and feeling embarrassed to be seen with me in public.

Well, fear no more! I'm working on fixing this problem pronto! I recently stumbled upon Project 333, a wardrobe minimizing project to help you get control of your wardrobe and have only what you need and what looks good on you. I'm not going to give a whole run-down of the entire program right now but if you click the link, it will take you to their site and then at the top, click the "getting started" tab and it will tell you how to get going with your wardrobe make over. I will tell you some basics about it though. It's a project to get your wardrobe down to 33 items that you will wear for 3 months. This includes your jewelry, shoes, clothes and any other accessories. It does not include your underwear, pajamas, workout clothes or "lounging around the house" clothes (those are the same as my workout clothes in my wardrobe).

I think it's an amazing concept and one that will help me refine my style and put more thought into each article of clothing I buy. Everything needs to be able to work together and if an article doesn't "go" with several other pieces, then you don't buy it. Simple as that. I have the worst habit of going out, seeing something on sale, buying it and then getting home to find that it doesn't go with ANYTHING I own! Then I either have to return it, try to make it work with something (which is doesn't but I pretend I'm trendy and doing something that is on the fringe of becoming popular) or go out and buy other things to match it. None of those options are appealing to me right now and I don't know why it's taken me so long to see that this is just not the way to go about getting a wardrobe.

So after reading up on the project, and also reading various online articles about developing a "mom uniform", I decided I first needed to figure out what my style was going to be. This was hard since my current style is "blah". Yes, you read correctly. I have a very blah style. Boring clothes that fit awkwardly or that are super baggy to hide my post-pregnancy jiggles and in boring colors and styles that aren't suited for me at all. There isn't any excitement for me in my daily dressing and getting ready. I always dread going out because I have to find something presentable to wear. If I can't find anything presentable, I end up going out in the best I can make do with and it's not a pretty site!

There are a few factors that went into figuring out what the best options are for me at this point in my life:

1. I just had a baby and am larger than normal I want to be.
2. I'm doing Weight Watchers and am slowly losing that weight.
3. I love comfy clothes that aren't binding and that are comfortable whether I'm sitting, standing or lying down.
4. I have always liked my clothes to be loose fitting (even in my thinner days).
5. I'm not into making bold statements with my wardrobe. I like pretty simple styles that are classic and will stay around for quite some time.
6. I'm not a huge fan of patterns or stripes. I'm more of a solid color gal.
7. Shoes have to be super comfy for me. I would live in flip flops if I could but a cute, comfortable pair of flats will also make me happy.
8. I don't wear much jewelry. I like to find one pair of earrings, one necklace, one or two extra rings and a bracelet that I wear all the time. 

So keeping in mind all of those things, here is what I've come up with so far in the line of what I'm going to be looking for:

• leggings and other comfortable, fitted and flowy pants that have an elastic waist
• long, dress-like tops that come down well past my rear end to cover the fitted pants I'll be buying
• some light weight cover shirts that I can wear over tank-tops (think flowy, white linen button up shirt to wear over things only not just in white)
• a nice white shirt and a nice black shirt (for wearing under things or just with a pair of jeans)
• one pair of jeans that fit me great and make me look good (this one will be hard and might have to wait till I lose a little more poundage)
• A white and black (and maybe brown) camisole
• A couple pairs of bermuda shorts that are flattering in basic colors like kakhi and maybe white or black
• A comfortable pair of black flats (I already have a really cute pair of brown ones)
• One cute beaded "fun" necklace that has several colors so it can be worn with several different outfits
• One silver ring to be worn on my right hand (I already have a pair of earrings and a bracelet to fit my needs and I don't wear the bracelet very often)
• A cute scarf that can be worn as an accessory (so it would have to be one of those really light-weight ones that won't be too hot to wear in the summer)

That's about all I've come up with so far, which is still a lot for me. This is going to push my boundaries in the wardrobe department. I haven't tried to have "cute" clothes in a very long time so it will be fun and frustrating at the same time. I'm going to build it slowly. I obviously don't have the money to go out and buy all this in one fell swoop, especially since I'll be looking for quality clothes instead of the cheapest thing I can find that fits. That also doesn't mean I'm going to spend a fortune on clothing. I'm just going to find things that are better than what I've been buying.

So what is your wardrobe dilemma? Do you think Project 333 would work for you? Go check it out and at least see if some of the concepts would work to help you with your wardrobe.