Friend Friday: Planning Outfits

(I’ll tell you a secret that is actually not a secret at all. That’s not even really a closet. It’s a small hallway between my bedroom and the kitchen. I’ll get into that more when I do an actual closet post as was requested.)

1. How do you determine what you will wear that day?
It varies. I go through phases where I have planned two to three days in advance and phases where I don't even think about it until I’m standing in the closet and need to leave in 10 minutes or be late. I check the weather every AM, because in Texas the weather is so changeable. It might be 54 degrees today and 78 tomorrow. So checking the weather is key for me.


(see how I gave Nathan 1 whole shelf? I'm so generous.)

2. Do you plan outfits out in advance for a whole week, month, weekend?
No. I have planned outfits, or looks that I have put together, but I don’t normally plan when I’ll wear them. They are simply available until I use them. I have a metal shelving unit I store my shoes in and I use that as a staging ground for planned outfits or elements I want to remember to work with. Whenever an idea comes to me, I pull it and place the pieces here. I check this first to see if any of the looks that I already have put together appeal to me and are weather appropriate. I also have just single pieces pulled, and I might build an outfit around those. For instance, you can see I’ve got two floral dresses already pulled and paired with jackets (and a tulle dress and floral velvet jacket hiding in the back), and I have pulled the appropriate gloves for the jacket with ¾ sleeves (DIY suckas!). But I also have a dress I want to re-wear soon and a tank I have not worn in a couple weeks ready to be worked into outfits.

In the picture above, you see how they actually hang in the closet, but I’ve pulled them apart here so you get a better idea of what’s there.



3. Do you have any specific way of tracking outfits and items already worn so you don't repeat?
Nope. I don’t see anything wrong with repeats. Repeats are natural. In fact I often use my Flickr account or blog to scroll through and try and find an outfit I remember feeling particularly good in to re-wear. That said, last night I put together that look with the Tucker floral dress and hoodie and realized that I had no less that 11 legitimate boot choices for the look and they would all look smashing, so I made a mental note to try to wear that look with at least 3 different boot choices before it gets too warm for boots!

4. How do you discover new combinations of items in your closet?
(Trial try-ons? Hanging items together?)
Hanging items together as seen above mostly. And I do sometimes just take a while and root around in the closet for the purpose of putting together looks. But that’s mostly just something I enjoy doing for fun and not a planned activity.

5. To streamline the process for 2011 what is one new thing you can do to cut down your dressing time?
I could pre-plan the night before each night, but I won't. lol. I do sometimes, but only when a particularly inspired outfit strikes. I like the time I spend getting dressed. Sure I have days where I end up late or dissolve into panic because nothing is working, but most of the time I find it a fun and relaxing way to start the day.

XOXO