Outfit #65 - Changeover

Outfit details:

Skirt and shoes: Hot Options.  Top and leggings: Ambra.  Earrings: from Mombasa.

One of my 10-yr-olds came into her lesson today and started with, "why are you wearing all black?" and followed with, "oh, and that top totally doesn't go with that skirt... Just kidding".  I had to explain to her the wardrobe changeover.  Summer clothes still in the attic, wardrobe full of winter clothes and clothes that are cool enough for summer but suitable for layering in cooler weather.  Today we were forecast for 28 and showers.

We also discussed leggings and jeggings.  If I wear a skirt with even just a bit of fullness (so, anything other than a straight skirt), the Marilyn Effect takes hold when I'm collecting kids from the junior school.  Leggings keep me modest.

These are the earrings I bought in May.  I wore them for the Mt Isa gig, then one of them got lost in my suitcase so they weren't worn since.  I dug them out on Friday.  Stay tuned for many more wearings.

Out of Season Organisation

Weather is weird.  In the middle of March, I was feeling the need for some warmer clothes.  The fan left the living room just before Easter.  And then I lived in shorts and tees for a while because summer came back.  Tuesday was forecast for 28C.  Today has been wonderfully cool though, and the next few days (according to weather on the iPhone) will be similarly not hot.  For Brisbane standards.

This evening I finally put my summer clothes in storage.  There is usually a crossover period where I have the next season's clothing down from the attic but still have the ebbing season's clothes still in use, and for a couple of weeks I've had my winter clothes strewn about the place.  Barring any more emergencies, I have no house guests for at least 2 weeks so, until I work out the best way to organise the winter things in my newly revamped wardrobe, the warmer things are now on the spare room bed.

One thing I noticed this year as I was getting the winter things down was that I had to go digging through the bags to find what I was after.  Well, I'll be honest - it's always the pajamas I'm after first.  Thankfully they have a distinct texture, but I thought it might be more useful (and organised!) to label the bags.  Well, to sort the clothes first, then to label the bags.  So I actually sorted my summer clothes (instead of just piling them all into the bags randomly), and labeled the bags.  That is, separates, togs (and swimming-related things), and dresses and pajamas.  I have a lot of dresses.  Hopefully this will make the next crossover easier.

Wardrobe Reorganisation Part 2

As promised earlier, there was a second, just as drastic, change to the wardrobe reorganisation.  After moving the chest of drawers down to the living room, I now had the space to install these hanging thingies.  They are *so* good.   The previous arrangement had everything now in the hanging things folded on the shelves (to the left, not pictured).  Which was ok... Except I only ever used the top few layers of clothes.  And it was hard to find anything not at the front. 

Now, though.... ah, bliss.  Surprisingly, it is much easier to put away my clothes.  Not surprisingly, it is much, much easier to find anything.  I'm not sure how I'll go when the cooler months arrive as I'll need space for bulkier clothes, but I'll sort out something then.


The main impetus for change was accessories.  I eventually found this hanger, intended for pants, which is perfect.  I can display all my necklaces (except for pearls), I can access them easily, I can see them easily.  Next step is to arrange them by colour, of course.

Not pictured are the shelves to the left.  Jeans, shorts, and workout gear occupy the lower 2 shelves, earrings and more delicate necklaces on the top.  The ease of finding workout gear is an unexpected joy.  Instead of searching through a jumble of stuff to find everything required, now I only need to look there to see an item in each pile, and search the laundry for any missing items.  So much time saved!  I am slowly becoming a convert to organised space.  Which doesn't really gel with the OCD compulsion I have, but I just didn't have anything in place before.  Now, though...

Wardrobe Reorganisation Part 1

This has been a huge change for me.  Previously, this chest of drawers was in my wardrobe.  For years.  Blouses and skirts could hang on the rail above, and earrings lived on top.  And, being a flat surface and out of sight, it was a magnet for junk.
But... being under the rail meant that I often knocked over the earring stand (disaster!) and it was hard to dust.  On top of all that, the living room is always chaotic when anyone stays as they have nowhere to store things.

So on New Year's Eve I went to Kmart to look for plants, and a hook for over a door (a bright idea for necklace storage).  I didn't buy any plants.  I didn't buy any hooks.  I did buy 2 hanging wardrobe storage things and 2 hanging shoe storage things.  I was thinking of doing before and after shots of the wardrobe, but the before state was just embarrassing, and I was so fed up with the way it was I couldn't wait to get stuck into change. 

It was still a week before the drawers made it downstairs to the living room.  And, at this stage, the drawers are not in their original order.  I need to clean them out so the original would be unnecessary, but it still throws me off when I'm looking for something and have to go through several drawers before I find The Right Drawer.