House Frau and others

When you don’t have much clothing (and I have a goodly amount by choice, but not a ton) sometimes you need to wash everything. Other times I desire to be dressed because I have things to do around the house, but don’t want to actually put on pants. What do I need? A House Frau dress. I’ve been wanting one for awhile and my trip to the Goodwill yielded this classic. I love it. It’s a great color, not binding at all and, yes, incredibly unflattering. But that doesn’t matter, because after this picture, the public won’t see it.

It was a good Goodwill trip in other ways. I also got this great shell which is a bit more flattering than the House Frau dress.

And! In the Halloween section, of all places, I got this fabulous car coat which not only goes with the dress, it bridges the gap between the “too cold for no coat, too hot for the lightest weight coat.” Yipee!

Black pants.

Due to secret project that is upcoming, I’ve been videotaping and seeing myself live and on screen. What I’ve discovered? I really need new uniform pants. Like a lot. And quickly.

And here we go on the hunt for black pants that fit. I hate everything about this enterprise–the going to the store, the finding the black pants, which are always in six or seven different locations at the store, the dressing room mirrors which are always much too close to me, the having to bring two sizes of every brand because there is not standard sizing, the feelings of dissatisfaction with my body. Other things I hate about the process? Limits on the number of items you can bring in dressing rooms and store personnel who want to assist me. Thanks, I’d rather experience this disappointment and annoyance on my own. I avoid those last two by hitting Macy’s first. They leave me alone and don’t guard their dressing rooms.

At any rate, I managed to get myself to the store and through all those obstacles. I narrowed it down to two contenders. The Macy’s brand which was okay and a pair of Calvin Klein pants that I loved how they felt but the larger size was just a bit too big and the smaller size was just a bit too small. Due to the not-quite right fit and the fact the Calvin Klein’s were twice the price of the Macy’s brand, I went with the cheaper option. The pants look great, but they are lacking in any pockets which would be a big problem at work if I didn’t wear an apron to contain all the items needed for important Administrative Coordinator work.

One big check off for me today!

Uniform!

Police Officers. Lunch Ladies. Park Rangers. Nurses. Only some of the professions where people wear uniforms. And now: Administrative Coordinators at The Emerson School. Yes, that’s right, I’ve decided to assign myself a uniform.

It all started with one of my LEX friends. We write topic letters back and forth and one of her topics was, “do you dress for yourself or others?” In answering that question, I said that if I had my druthers, I would just wear a uniform to work every day. I’ve had several jobs that require a uniform and I’ve really enjoyed wearing them. When I wore a uniform, I would get up in the morning and I already know what I was going to wear.

“Hey!” I thought to myself a few days later, “I could just wear a uniform.” And so I did.

So this is it:
I have three pairs of Dockers black pants, four shirts from Eddie Bauer in “deep basil” and–what I am most excited about–I now own two cute black sweaters that I really like wearing. I bought some clogs, too. We shall see how we get along. I already have a few black skirts that I can wear when I feel like it.

When the weather turns colder, if I still like wearing the uniform I will buy some long-sleeved shirts and sweaters. I’m pretty excited about this venture. I’ve told my co-workers at work and they are amused/supportive. We shall see how long it takes before any of the parents or children at school say anything.

Also! I treated myself to some new Keen shoes. I really, really love them. And I’m allowed to wear them with the uniform, too.

Lint Wrap Up.

Well, the season of Lent is over and I think it is time to call and end to my season of Lint. I was going to extend the Lint project through orthodox lent, but I’ve decided not to as I am busy with the garden and other projects and a soon-to-start class.

I went great guns at the beginning, but the last few weeks tapered off into nothing. I started Parkour classes and those take up five hours of my Saturday with which I would otherwise have been doing Lint things. I accomplished some good things in that time:

  • Divided my closet into summer and winter wardrobes.
  • Donated all clothing that I didn’t like
  • Realized how few clothing items I love
  • Explored some new consignment stores and reacquainted myself with some old favorites.
  • Bought eight items of clothing and accessories.
  • Tried on 30 pairs of pants. Found one that fit.
  • Read a lot about style and wardrobe assembly
  • Learned a handy trick for checking pants to try on.
  • Realized I need to shop constantly, not just twice a year.

And so, with that last realization, the lint project lives on. I’m going to try to go shopping at least every other week until I get to a point in my wardrobe that I feel like I have enough. I’ll most likely go to the Goodwill store on the way home from church, but I could also regularly visit two clothing resale places that are near my job. I’m still on the lookout for pants that fit and still really need new tops. When I find new items I’ll post them here.

Lint Progress: Consignment store names.

What is it with consignment stores and dumb names. For example:

Seams to Fit.

What’s Upstairs.

It’s like the owners think cute or punny names are fun. To me though, they are just irritating. Even my favorite consignment stores are guilty of this.

There is the very hard to say out loud:

Here We Go Again Consignments

And even my my most favorite consignment store has a lame name:

Savvy Plus

It sounds like a more innocuous version of Mr. Pinky’s Hefty Hideaway.

The only consignment store with a good name that I can think of offhand is:

Zombie.

Lint Progress: Goodwill on 10th part II

I had some time to kill before watching the Oscars, so I made my way back to the Goodwill on 10th. I tried on a lot of pants and found a pair that fit–black even–but I didn’t really like them. I realized that if I bought the pants, I would just be perpetuating the dislike of my closet. So I put them back. Having more time to kill, I tried on skirts. Nothing really worked there either. Then I moved on to dresses.

I’ve always loved dresses, much more so than skirts. I like that you just put on a dress and you are done. Of course, the mix and match abilities are more limited than with a skirt or pants, but dresses are more fun for me. I found two excellent additions to my wardrobe.

This is an excellent dress. It can crossover seasons and can be dressed up or down. Though probably I shouldn’t appear in public in stripy socks and slippers. It also, as the picture indicates, has excellent twirl factor, something I’m always looking for in a dress. The material is thick and luxurious feeling. When I bought it, it was a bit too big at the sides, so I had it taken in and it fits perfectly now. I’m very excited about this dress.
This is also a fabulous dress. It’s got a very nice wrap front and two layers of fabric which makes for a nice skimming effect the style books are always talking about. It’s a little fancy for where I work, but I can wear it to things like winter weddings, (which I bought it for) holidays and parties.
I also found some shoes. They were barley used and much more comfortable than the shoes I was wearing. I snapped them up.

It was a good shopping trip.

Lint Progress: Closet Tryout

Today was part two of shopping in my closet. After removing all the things I don’t love and am not wearing, I was to try on all my clothing and find great new combinations, making note of them on the handy form I cribbed from “Ready to Wear.” Then I could make a list of what I needed to take with me while shopping.

It didn’t go as planned. I was very tired from my weekend in general, but had made it a goal to get this step done. I started with my long black skirt. I paired it with every top and top/jacket combo and made note of what worked. And that was all I could take.

I know I should do the mix and match things, but it’s not going to happen. I basically know what I need: about three more pair of pants, all new tops, new dress shoes, new lace-up shoes, new bras, new underwear, new socks. We’ll just go from there.

Lint Progress: What’s Upstairs

I still had time to kill after “Seams to Fit” so I wandered up 23rd Ave. for some window shopping. On my way I came across another consignment store called “What’s Upstairs.” It’s located at 736 NW 23rd Ave. I climbed up the stairs to find out what was there.

It was a store I didn’t like at all. The person working there was not really very friendly. Though I realize that the person could be unfriendly for a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with me, the first thing I think is that I shouldn’t be shopping there. So that was the first strike against them.

As stated before, I don’t really like to shop. This means that I like things to be divided by size, so I can avoid looking through the smaller sizes. This shop was divided not by size, but by color. All the black pants were together, and all the black shirts, black sweaters, black jackets. On another wall were all the white things. In another room were all the colored things. All sizes, mixed up together. It was my shopping nightmare.

Clearly, some people like this store. Someone on Citysearch would “move to PDX FOR THIS SHOP.” I’m glad she’s happy. I won’t be going back.

Lint Progress: Seams to Fit

After a doctor appointment, I stopped by “Seams to Fit” to see if anything fit me. The store is located at 2264 NW Raleigh and, according to it’s website, “offers an upscale retail environment for consignment of your quality articles.” It is a very nice environment and the clothing was very high quality. It was also very expensive. I’m not really an Armani-suit wearing person, but if I were, I would shop here.

I had a lot of time to kill, so I tried a lot of things on. Including super fancy clothing that I had no intention of buying, even if it did fit. Clothing that costs over $40.00 makes me a bit nervous to wear. Some of the dresses I was trying on were $80.00 to $100.00. Used.

Nothing, sadly, fit. I’m being very picky about fit and nothing fit the bill. Still, I left in good spirits. This won’t be a main clothing store for me, but I’ll probably stop in once in awhile.

Lint Progress: Savvy Plus

I love Savvy Plus. One of the things I hate about shopping is that it is so uncomfortable. In retail stores, I tend to feel grubby and worried that I “shouldn’t” be shopping there. It’s mostly all “me” stuff, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Being on the top end of normal clothing stores isn’t fun, either. I tend to feel huge in normal retail stores. Savvy Plus is the solution. It’s a clothing store for sizes 12 and up with resale and some new items. Both are reasonably priced.

And, it is run by Gaya who completes the package. She’s very nice and full of good energy and also has my favorite combination of leaving me alone to navigate the store, but also providing more attentive service if I want it. She let me take her picture, even though I could tell she doesn’t like to have her picture taken. Who wouldn’t want to buy clothing from someone so great? It’s also the kind of store where people pipe up with their opinion if something looks great on someone. The whole experience is shopping without all the baggage.
I hit the pants first. Gaya nicely told me to leave whatever didn’t work in the dressing room. I appreciated that, as it is one of those things I’m often not sure about. I tried on six pairs of pants, but nothing worked there. I wandered around the store looking for a new black sweater that fits. I found a sweater-like thing that ties in the front. It was 50% off so only $7.00. When I got home I banished the “bit too small” sweater from my closet to the donate pile. That was a nice feeling.
I also found this jacket which fits very well and has both black, white and gray in it. It was 30% off and came to $16.80.
Savvy Plus. If you are female, size 12 or larger and live anywhere near Portland you must go there. Don’t delay.

I’ve just realized that I might not need any more blazers/jackets/sweaters. I think I need to do step two of Ready to Wear before I shop again. That would be figuring out how many outfits I have in my closet and generating a list of what I need. I’ll do that tomorrow.