Aaargh.

As it seems to be the week of “one step forward, two steps back”, I thought I’d share a little bit of the chaos round here:

Yup. That’s a shed. In my sitting room. Hopefully it won’t be there for too much longer as the tree surgeon is coming on Friday to give the tree which is in the way of its new home a haircut,  so we should be able to assemble it over the weekend.

Nevertheless, it does sum up how things feel around here. I’m struggling to keep control. I know what I’m meant to be doing (for example, that shed is part of a larger decluttering plan that should reap enormous dividends) but everything has descended into chaos.

Meep.

On the wardrobe therapy front, I’m so glad I am restricting myself to just the work-at-home wardrobe, but even that is proving to be a bit of a challenge. As predicted, all the ‘who do you think you are?’ and ‘what makes you feel beautiful?’ questions have got me running for the hills (which is probably why I’ve been silent for a while). But I’m plugging on with the practical things and am on target to unveil a complete work-at-home wardrobe by the end of this round.

Unders and Overs

I’m way overdue a Wardrobe Therapy update - sorry about that. I haven’t been slacking, just incredibly busy. This week it’s underthings and overthings. I can dispatch with the former straight away, as all is absolutely fine in that department. For overthings (jackets, etc), I am restricting myself to top layers for my work-at-home wardrobe which is, after all, the focus of this round of WT for me.

As I have nothing to pile, I have identified that all I need here are two big slouchy cardigans. I looked around the shops, but couldn’t find anything that fitted the bill in terms of joyous colours, so instead bought wool and have been knitting away. Here is a sneak preview of the first one:

It’s big and chunky, and is a bit too warm for summer, but it ticks all the boxes in terms of comfort and joy. I would never wear it out of the house (or rather past the garden gate) but for private, work at home time I think it will be perfect. The colours make me smile and feel creative and the wool is so, so soft (it’s Adriafil “Friends” in case you are interested).

The second cardigan is going to be much less chunky and probably a drapey shawl cardigan of some sort. I’ve bought a load of Rowan Summer Tweed for it, but haven’t decided on a pattern yet.

In other WT news, my copy of the Ottobre Woman pattern magazine arrived at the weekend and I spent Sunday making the first of my tunic tops. I’ve got to buy some more thread when I’m in town tomorrow to finish it. It was my first attempt making anything with jersey fabric and it’s not perfect, but should be OK. Hopefully my second attempt will be better. I’ll post photos when it’s finished!

I also stumbled across a great pair of work-at-home trousers in a cheapy clothes shop yesterday. They are fake jeans with elastic at the back of the waist. They sound horrible, but the fabric is so soft and below the waist/crotch area they look just like normal trousers. And they are so comfortable - perfect for working at home. I’m going to test this pair for a couple of days (I need to take them up by about an inch first) and then maybe grab another pair to dye a different colour - charcoal perhaps?

More Piles

I am determined to finish Wardrobe Therapy this time round even though, as Wende points out, it’s a bit slow going at the moment. So here we have shoes and bags.

Piling my shoes was fairly easy, as I’m pretty fussy when it comes to buying shoes. They have to be comfortable and fit well, otherwise they don’t come home. My main problem is wearing things to death. This is my complete shoe collection (which, since this photo was taken, is now considerably smaller):

Back Row (left to right):

Three pairs of heeled shoes, hardly ever worn, each pair bought in panic just before a smart occasion. I’m not going to get rid of these, as I don’t know what my shoe needs will be once I put my More Dresses Plan into action. So I just dusted them and put them back.

Trainers. Ha! These were so dusty. Again, these have been stored away as experience tells me that I will need to wear them again for some sort of self-enforced exercise blitz and I don’t want to have to go out and buy another pair, when these are perfectly good (after all, they have hardly been used).

Brown shoes - completely rabbity. (Gone)

Front Row (Left to Right)

Black sandals - very useful and got compliments last summer despite their age, so I’ll hang on to them.

Ancient Birkenstocks - completely rabbity. The picture doesn’t do their rabbitness justice. (Gone)

Red Sandals - these are actually a purchase from last week to replace the Birkies. Unworn Hush Puppies from a charity shop for £3. Very comfortable and perfect for my work-at-home wardrobe as well as to wear with skirts and dresses.

Teal shoes - a torture device. Very cheap. Very uncomfortable. (Gone)

Red shoes - old favourites and deeply loved rabbits. They are a shadow of their former selves and let in water. I have ordered a pair of these shoes from Lands End (in dark brown) to replace them and the brown ones behind them as errands/walking shoes. However, I realised just in time that I did need some shoes to wear while splashing paint around, so the rabbits are will live to see another day (albeit a grumpy, DIY-sweary day).

I’m not going to do any analysis for now because I think all my basic shoe needs are covered, although once I get the rest of my wardrobe sorted, I’ll probably want to refine my collection.

So, on to bags. This is a sad sight (and sorry about the lousy photo - I would complain about the spring sunshine, but don’t want to anger the gods):

The one I use every day is the brown leather one on the far right. I bought it a few years ago when it was an ageing vintage beauty. Now it’s just knackered and I have to find another one to replace it. It’s also a little bit bulky, and I would like to find something flatter. I do have trouble choosing handbags, because I’m not the sort to swap stuff from bag to bag on a daily basis, so I need one that will cope with everything. I may force myself into action by getting rid of this one today and using the black one on the back row until I get a replacement.

The one behind it is a homemade green schlepping-to-clients bag, which is OK but not very exciting. The black one next to that is OK, but again a bit dull.

I love the red old lady bag next to that, but the short handle isn’t practical for everyday use and I’m unsure about what to do with it. I may cheat and say it’s a winter bag and delay the decision until the autumn.

Finally, in front, is a great casual bag, a gift from my brother and his then girlfriend a few Christmases ago. Not only is it a great size and shape, it has novelty value because it is actually constructed from one big zip. In fact, when I unwrapped it, it was just a big zip with a label attached saying ‘Zip me!’. It’s fun.

Hell, Revisited

I remember during a past Apartment Therapy Cure, Alana wrote in her blog about getting to the point of wanting to throw her paintbrush against the wall and scream. I can’t find the link, but it stuck in my mind as being an all-too-familiar scenario. It is also exactly how I felt this morning before I’d even got my shoes on.

I’ve set myself the task of getting all the final bits and bobs finished in the kitchen (yup - it’s still not finished) by the end of the month. This weekend, I’m getting all the baseboards and skirting boards finished. In the spirit  of using up what we already have, I’m trying out ‘Dulux Brushwood’ on the baseboards. It’s a fake wood (which I like to call bois faux) paint system that my parents passed on to me last year. It’s meant to be mahogany and this is the base coat:

A bit pink, no? When the base coat(s) are dry (16 hours - so, tomorrow), you then use the top coat to create woodgrain. If it is still pink-ish at that point, I think I’ll mix up some stain and varnish (hmmm - it won’t explode, will it?) to tone it down a bit.

I’m also going to do my shoes piling this weekend, which I’m actually looking forward to as it should be a simple case of fit/don’t-fit and scuffed/not-scuffed. No body image issues there.

Speed Piling - Part One

Even though I’m concentrating on my work-at-home wardrobe, I’m still going to whizz through the other piles, if only to clear a bit of space and get rid of the stuff that is completely useless. Here are the results of this morning’s piling:

Trousers

Only two pairs of trousers escaped the cull. The first is a plain pair of khaki trousers, which are frayed and rabbity but the perfect cut for me (photo below). I’ve put them aside so I can take them apart to make a pattern for cloning. The second is a pair of jeans I bought in February, which need taking in about 6 inches(!) around the waist, but are great on the thighs.

The throw away pile consisted entirely of Torture Rabbits (clothes that are both torture to wear and worn out - am I the only one with this category?). A quick analysis suggests I should avoid the following in future trouser purchases: linen (I’m not a fan of the crumpled look), anything without a proper waistband (i.e. elastic or tie waists), side pockets (which always gape due to my curves) and noisy fabric.

Dresses

I have a lot more dresses than I thought - a few which I love but don’t fit into, some boring, some unflattering and one which startles me.

Rather than post lots of pictures of dresses, most of which are destined for charity, I’ll just post a few highlights.

In the unflattering group is this purchase from last year:

It makes me look and feel like a potato. The deep v-neck with gathers doesn’t help, but the main problem is the fabric - it’s a very fine jersey and is too clingy and drapey and generally unflattering. I’m going to see if I can recycle it to make a pair of yoga pants for my work-at-home wardrobe.

Next up, in the love-but-don’t-fit-into category:

The colour and pattern are truly joyous for me. It’s jersey, but quite a thick jersey, so not too clingy (when I’m a bit slimmer). Even though I have no use for it right now, I can’t bring myself to get rid of it, so I’m going to file it away under ‘too small’ in my wardrobe.

Finally, the startling dress:

It’s peach and sparkly. It’s a cocktail dress. It’s missing its zip. What on earth is it doing in my wardrobe? There is something about this dress that I love (perhaps simply that it’s vintage) and I’m torn about getting rid of it. However, in all my thirty-five years I have never been invited to an occasion for which this would be appropriate attire. In fact, does anyone have any suggestions as to what such an occasion might involve? It really has to go. I think I’ll take it to the vintage dress agency and see what they think. (Alternatively, there is a fellow WT-er who I think would look amazing in this and who has the sewing skills to do the necessary alterations- you know who you are, LS! - and if they would like it (for the cost of postage), it could easily be parcelled up and sent across the pond…)

It is spring, isn’t it?

It’s beautiful out there this morning:

But, snow? In April? Freaky. It makes my new work-at-home purchase look distinctly unseasonal:

I’m Back!

And you didn’t even know I had gone. Sorry about that. I’ve spent the week in London, doing (a tiny bit of) work and (a lot of) enjoying myself. Like the good WT-er I aim to be, I devoted many hours wandering around, looking in clothes shops and generally pondering the nature of the sartorial universe. This was a good experience, because the way forward is now very clear in my mind.

I had been feeling a bit overwhelmed because my wardrobe is so disorganised that it would be impossible for me to sort it all out in the 8-week process, due to time and budgetary restraints. But, following on from my thoughts about my sub-wardrobes from last weekend, I have now set my priority for this round of WT to be getting my work-at-home wardrobe sorted. This seems the best place to start because it sets the basic standard for everything else - once I have that organised, there is nowhere for the Velveteen Rabbits, Torture Devices and Torture Rabbits to hide (i.e. “it’s horrible, but it’ll do for working at home…”).

I now know that for my work at home wardobe, I need:

• 6 loose, no-iron, joyous colour, jersey or knit tunic tops
• 6 pairs of neutral-coloured yoga pants or cropped jersey legging thingies
• Some headbands to cover Bad Hair Day hair
• 2 big cosy cardigans
• Something for my feet

In London, I bought some fabric to make two jersey tunics (one teal, one plum-ish), a ready-made tunic in cream and gold stripes (sounds horrible, but it’s not), and a headband in joyous colour stripes that expands to cover my whole head or just part of my head (depending on the severity of the Bad Hair Day). I also ordered a copy of the current edition of Ottobre Woman (it’s the one with the yellow and green dress on the cover), which has all the patterns I need to make tops and bottoms and bought a couple of brooches I know I’ll need when it comes to sorting out other sub-wardrobes.

All in all, progress is being made. I’ve still got to catch up with what everyone else got up to this week, but will do that tomorrow along with some more piling and shoe wrangling.