Back in September when I first started thinking about clothes and my wardrobe and what I might like to do about my increasing dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs I was wary of the possibility of doing what I thought as too much thinking about the subject. I didn't want to become one of those women, those whom I have judged in the past to be over concerned with appearances or expenditures, who (I assumed) didn't dress to please themselves or those closest to them but rather other women in some vast public fashion show where only the rich and the beautiful (two things I am not) survive and the rules are rigged that way deliberately.
And then I got over myself and remembered that women (and men, now that I think more on it) have been adorning themselves since time immemorial. Berries crushed for the juice to be used on lips or cheeks, henna, kohl, and all manner of oils and salves served our ancient sisters in the same way that anything from Sephora serves us and I don't doubt that as soon as someone figured out a way to get a new dye color by smashing an as-yet unsmashed plant that a new color flax or wool or whatever became all the rage in the village.
Thus rationalizing my newly emerging interest in my own appearance, I pressed on to find an extraordinary trove of resources to inform my thinking. I haven't come to any real conclusions yet about what to change or how to change it, although I am taking ongoing inspiration from, in no particular order:
1) House Art Journal: Regina Doman writes on many subjects, including how she organized her wardrobe to satisfy the requirements of her busy life with "just" 35 thrifted components. Regina's and my needs aren't really similar, but I am excited about the possibility of applying a true, intentional, mindful organization to my closet. Using Mrs. Doman's categories as a springboard, I'm tossing around the idea of using four for myself: dressy/festive, church/professional, outings/casual, and (in a nod to one of the Boy's favorite television shows) Dirty Jobs.
2) Bombshell Beauty: A chatty blog taking the position that enjoying beauty and fashion needn't be the sole province of the slender (or rich). The sensibility is one younger than I might desire for myself and I like that it teaches me that throwing money at the problem doesn't make it go away. Bombshell Beauty mixes things up in a way that I find interesting and informative.
3) Fat Chic pulls no punches when it comes to plus size fashion, beauty and health. With advice for handling retailers, researchers and even family who would treat the curvy crowd as lesser citizens, Diana Rajchel urges women to be more than the culture would have them be. Ms. Rajchel actively strives to build up micro-businesses and artisans, something I find really cool. Say no to cookie cutter dressing!
4) Fussypants: Fussypants is a very popular blogger of whom I have only recently heard. She has contests, she gives away prizes, she's amusing and la la la, but what I found truly astonishing is her Fight the Frump series. Now, I don't love it all (and people who know me well will now precisely the bits I don't care for) but mostly the series is a nice kick in the pants for girls like me who are more inclined to wear something because it's clean than for any other reason. Sure, I'm no longer young and have an alarmingly high-numbered birthday bearing down on me but I've still got some fight in me and I'm going to use it against the Frump.
5) Wardrobe Refashion: Now this, I love. Wardrobe Refashioners take a pledge that for the duration of a pre-determined time frame (three, six or twelve months, I think) they will not purchase off-the-rack clothing but instead provide "new" items to their wardrobes by making from scratch or "re-fashioning" existing garments. Some of the participants are inspirational hardcore sewers whose creations send me into fits of awe, others are working their way through as I would - tentatively and perhaps with a little frustration. Reading their accounts of refashioning has prompted me to look at some of my own wardrobe duds in a new light and I am hatching plans to take the sleeves of one shirt and the bodice of another to create something I might wear out of two things that I categorically won't but which I am too cheap to throw away.
These are the women I've adopted as karmic sisters in my own closet-related battles. Hipsters, goth chicks, religiously devout moms, girls-about town...and me. Despite our outward appearances and the ways in which we lead our lives it seems to me that we are closer under the skin by our attention to what we wear on the outside of it and I have learned much from each of them.