One-Dollar Wonders

36 Comments

• Raisin replied 10 years ago

  I don't know if it's too soon for Spring. I'd say for sure in canada but I know you're in much warmer weather.

  I could use a Pinterest challenge to get myself back on track. I have no style lately.

• nancylee replied 10 years ago

  You can probably get away with more Spring looks in CA than those of us in the cold Northeast, Rae.  Perhaps you can start mixing in some spring colors and fabrics with your winter pieces…sort of a transitional look that give a nod to Spring while still acknowledging that it's January.  ;)

• Mo replied 10 years ago

  I'd say yes.  If the weather is acting like spring, then spring it is.  Maybe choose lighter weight fabrics in more F/W colors?  But honestly, if it's frickin' 80 degrees, wear peep toes or white or whatever, ya know??

• ironkurtin replied 10 years ago

  Yes.  It's hot enough here that I shaved my legs.  Of course, that usually means it's going to snow in a few days.

• CocoLion replied 10 years ago

  I know, this is so crazy, it's in the low 70s, and it will continue to be warm for the next 10 days (high 60s).  I say wear winter white, black and white, red maybe.  I think it's also a great time for booties without socks, rolled bf's, white jeans, etc.  I'm not ready to pull out my shorts and sandals yet though.  Nor am I ready for true Spring pastels.  Although maybe kelly green, navy and white -- those might work.

• minimalist replied 10 years ago

  Total n00b questions for you:

  - if you wear your S/S capsule when weather permits/requires it, does this violate guidelines important to you (or to your employer)?

  - if you get bored of you S/S capsule, will you be out of options (bc of budget or supply limitations) for supplementing it or building an additional capsule?

  - do you feel (or are you, by employer) obligated to wear your autumn/winter wear?

• Diana replied 10 years ago

  Booties with bare legs! I am jealous. Sometimes I bring skirts when I visit my parents in CA even though there's no need for anything but jeans just because I never get to wear my favorite skirt/boots/bare legs combos. Tights suck.

• minimalist replied 10 years ago

  - are there really women who shave/wax seasonally? where I'm from, many don't depilate at all, but as far as I know it's pretty much either/or, year-round. For the money I spend on underwear, I like to love the way it looks every day.

• rae replied 10 years ago

  Good questions, Amy K.!

  - I have no guidelines to follow except to represent the stylistic vibe of brands that I sell. 
  - If I get bored, there are always ways to supplement, but I would rather get to use the stuff for as long as possible. 
  - I am not obligated at all to wear winter wear... my coworker is already in skirts and sandals. 

  I suppose my main worry is that I am selling short my winter stuff and will be beating the S/S to death. Also, I'm already kind of bored with S/S looks because... well, I was wearing the same things well into November and haven't stopped wearing certain items as layering pieces. Sometimes endless summer = tedium.

• annagybe replied 10 years ago

  I'd say wear lighter fabrications, but keep them in a winter color palette.

• bmed replied 10 years ago

  I live in a warm climate also. I'm going with layers right now. Even thin layers...how about jeans and boots but then some transitional tops? The thing is, our warm weather lasts....FOREVER. So I will try to get as much mileage out of "winter wear". I will say this...I do have certain things that I only wear seasonally...sandals, boots, linen, etc.

• lyn* replied 10 years ago

  It's spring-like temps here for me today, so I definitely pulled out a cotton dress - there's few enough days here in the north that we can wear things like that, so I'm all for it!

• bmed replied 10 years ago

  Or maybe some lighter, thinner tops with sweaters, jackets

• Greyscale replied 10 years ago

  I've been struggling with this. I didn't realize I had so many things I think of as "summer" since we don't really have seasons. But this week's heat wave (70s, to be fair, not real heat) had me torn between wearing a few favorite summer pieces and wearing all the winter sweaters I've missed wearing. My linen pants are staying in the drawer til later in the year, but my sleeveless silk tops are year-round layering pieces. I don't know. Seasonal confusion for sure. I miss the cold.

• CocoLion replied 10 years ago

  AmyK --  I love A/W dressing and feel I am being cheated out of wearing my cozy cardigans with this super warm weather!  Due to its great selection, I made a big commitment to knitwear this year and now I feel I can't wear it.  For me, not pulling out S/S clothes now means I won't get sick of them by, for example, June.  

• JAileen replied 10 years ago

  Please wear summer clothes! Maybe it's a jinx and we'll get some weather! I'm starting to get concerned about our trees. We're going to turn on the sprinklers to water them. I don't care about the lawn, but if the trees die, it takes another 20 years to grow new ones.

• Adelfa replied 10 years ago

  Rae, as a fellow Californian, I have a personal rule not to wear Spring items until at least February 15, and then judiciously for another 4-6 weeks after that. I made that date up, but for a reason--as you say, it's just too ridiculous to wear S/S items from January to November.

  So this (for me) means a F/W palette, long sleeves (scrunched or rolled), and footwear that covers my toes and probably my heels too (for example this week I wore my beloved AGL ballet flats over bare feet).

  I love the ideas of black and white, and booties with bare legs. More white in general. A silk shirt is very lightweight, or a drapey jersey tee. Less layering, unfortunately!

  Obviously you can do what you want! Whatever would be fun, because I know no matter what you do you'll look amazing!

• Suz replied 10 years ago

  I am tempted to growl...okay for YOU maybe but up here we are in snow boots...

  But in all seriousness, I see the dilemma! And wow, I find this fascinating. I guess it is always interesting to see how "the other half" lives - whatever the source of the divide. I guess with retail designed for some bizarre idealized four-season world, in a way, the fashion seasons never completely work for ANY of us. By the time the spring stuff appears in the shops you have already been sweltering for months; meanwhile, I am still shivering in my puffer and find it difficult to imagine spring! I guess maybe somebody in Virginia is happy!

• deb replied 10 years ago

  Go for it!!!

• Gigi replied 10 years ago

  Maybe you could make Friday of each week your spring day? Then you could wear some of your new spring stuff without getting too tired of it.

• Sveta replied 10 years ago

  I am so wary from winter now that I would jump on the spring bandwagon right away if I could!
  I never believed in "season" appropriate weather anyway, for me it is weather appropriate + "whatever I feel like at the moment" :-)

• cciele replied 10 years ago

  I'm wearing lighter-weight versions of "cold" weather clothing, but in winter colors -- black, white, gray, green. Wearing boots and booties, no sandals. Nothing that screams spring/summer, although it definitely feels like it. It was 76 deg F the other day! The mind boggles.

• rae replied 10 years ago

  Thank you all for your wisdom! I am definitely seeing (as Jody and Suz alluded) that in many ways one has to create one's own seasons and seasonal rules in this type of climate. 

  I am sort of seeing now how narrowing my use of color may bite me in the behind here... There are so little colors involved that I am struggling with the meaning of fall colors and spring colors. 

  I can definitely make a point of styling outfits around my leather jackets right now - that's one place to start, especially the Muubaa, since it's thicker and darker than my Tahari. 

  Denise, you also have me thinking that, for the future, maybe this is also a sign that I should not buy much knitwear. Not that I got that much anyway, but good to keep in mind.

• goldenpig replied 10 years ago

  I think you should wear whatever you like. That's the benefit of a temperate climate. Rules, schmules! If it's appropriate for the current weather (ie you're not too cold or hot wearing it), who cares if it's "spring" or "fall"? I'll wear a fall type palette/outfit one day and spring the next depending on my mood and capricious whims. And yes I wear ballet flats in the winter!
  Signed,
  Ms. Seasonally Confused

• Neel replied 10 years ago

  I am with Anna. Wear winter color palette with lighter weight fabrications. And put the boots back and get into sandals!! That's what our climate calls for!

• Lantana replied 10 years ago

  Can you tease out your Spring wardrobe a little so that you wear wintery/springy things now and leave summery/springy things for later.
  I have divvied up my summer wardrobe into clothes for early in the season with reasonable temps (eighties and low nineties) and clothes for high season with totally unreasonable temps (century and upwards). I have deliberately kept the latter and former separate so I don't get bored.

• LoveSarahDub replied 10 years ago

  I think I experience this problem every year! Living in Arkansas you never know when a 70 degree sunny day will pop up on you in the middle of December! I always prefer my colder weather wardrobe, but as soon as it starts to get warm or (more often) when I get new spring goodies, I start hoping for a weather change!

  I really don't do an entire closet switch every season. I like to work in my warmer pieces during colder months, and do the opposite during warmer months. I sometimes throw a sweater on with shorts, or rock some neon in the middle of winter. But I do try to stick with what time of year it is versus what the temperature reads (within reason), since I think its ridiculous that everyone here breaks out shorts if it reaches above 60 in January. But whatever makes you feel fabulous, go for it! :)

• E replied 10 years ago

  This is why my closet has quite a few 'wintry' coloured clothes in warmer weather fabrics! Living in south Texas, I never know if we're going to get real fall/winter or not, and wearing at least different colours comforts me. But that's because fall & winter are my favourite seasons!

  If you want to start wearing your spring stuff, and the weather's cooperating, seems like you should! Try an outfit or two at least and see if it makes you happy. :)

• kkards replied 10 years ago

  no wisdom to offer on the s/s clothing when the calendar say winter, but i'm afraid with the weird weather we have been having the last few years (where i live, the last couple of years, christmas was warmer than easter), i think this is a question more of us will be asking.

• Angie replied 10 years ago

  *of course*

• Karie replied 10 years ago

  I would say wear things in lighter fabrications but with a "winterish" vibe to them. Of course I'm saying this and looking out the window to complete snow cover, more snow on the way, and temps dropping to the teens in the next few days.

  I am jealous. Very, very jealous!

• unfrumped replied 10 years ago

  I can't say exactly what to wear buy I can relate to the dilemma- it feels like spring here nowbut we recently had one of our coldest winters. I can see how I'm tempted to overbuy dark wooly knits during a weather fluke or overbuy bright light things in July.

  Overall I'm going for a mixed approach, in this way-- aiming to stock a few "springy" pastel or cheerful clear colors in merino and cashmere knits, along with some grays and burgundies and camel in breathable rayon or cotton blends, so I can swing either way.

  Scarves and jewelry are other options for " lightening" or "darkening" the base layer.

  Right now I'm having less problem with outfit boredom and more risk of not wearing things and then finding 6 months later I no longer see how to use the item.

• Windchime replied 10 years ago

  I say dress for comfort. Here in the midwest, that often means pulling on knitwear well into April or May because it's still cold or even snowy, regardless of what the calendar says. Your idea to style around your jackets sounds good. If it were me, I'd want to save some of my S/S items for later in the season.

• Laura (rhubarbgirl) replied 10 years ago

  Of course, wear what you want, but I understand the dilemma. Here in the SF area we sometimes have the opposite problem - the calendar says spring or even summer and its 50 degrees and windy. Right now we are having a relative warm streak but despite that I tend to dress more winter-y, if only because I know that I want to reserve some of my spring wear for actual spring.

  One of my longer term goals is to develop some outfits for "winter but feels like spring" and "summer but feels like fall" days. Mostly that has to do with thickness of fabrics, but also color schemes and overall 'feel'.

• Lisa replied 10 years ago

  I say go for it.  Then on a chilly day your winter clothes will feel new.  And if you do tire of your spring wear, you can always increase the size of this capsule.  Maybe your spring season is longer than you originally thought?

• JulieJohn replied 10 years ago

  I'm glad you posted this, Rae.
  <rant>
  I have been loathe to complain since our sisters throughout the US and Canada are freezing their patooties off. But now that you've broken the ice (sorry), I will chime in to say this constant warm weather is not the most fun. I feel like we didn't have any break at all, and just dumb old summer all the time. I would gladly send about 50 of our degrees to you chilly gals, and I wouldn't even miss them. Plus, we are in a drought. Today we went to the Arboretum where they have a natural lake, and the water level is down so low it is gross.
  </rant>

  To fashion: I truly believe we need a seasonal color change in our wardrobes, even if nothing else changes. The eye needs to feel refreshed when spring rolls around, let's not cheat ourselves out of that "in your Easter bonnet" feeling. And thus, as I troll the stores for radiant orchid, I will also be looking for grey. I love sour brights and I know you do too, but for now I'll shift to more medium-toned versions of those colors. Perhaps rust? Kelly green? There must be some lightweight tops in those colors, I hope.