goldenpig

30 Comments

• Kirti replied 12 years ago

  I have the tiniest closet possible (pics below) and I don't have a huge budget either, yet I rarely ever repeat an outfit. For me, remixing is the way that I won't get sick of the few items I have! I also have a blog where I post almost daily and I definitely feel like my readers would get bored to see repeats of outfits, since I'm already repeating the same pieces. I wear the exact same outfit again only if I wore it during the weekend and it was too fab not to wear to class.
  But I don't know how well this will work in summer - take away the options of layers, scarves, tights and I'm not sure how creatively I will be able to remix. I guess I'll have to wait and see :D

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• goldenpig replied 12 years ago

  Kirti, I am SERIOUSLY impressed by your minimalist wardrobe! I would never know it based on how many different outfits you post! I agree it's easy not to repeat if you have lots of (too many!) clothes like me. I wish I was a more creative remixer like you!

• bj1111 replied 12 years ago

  kirti, your closet is not small...it's "well curated."

  i tend to repeat whole outfits especially if i feel fab. i find the pressure to remix is great, especially when reading so many outfit blogs. but it's not so me. i think i'm a big picture person...if the silhouette is the same (even if the top or bottom has been swapped out) i tend to read it as the "same" outfit.

• Velma replied 12 years ago

  I tend to repeat summer outfits exactly much more often--more layers in the winter for me means more opportunities to change things up. In the summer, I'm more likely to wear a dress or a simple skirt-and-top outfit. Without a cardigan, jacket, or scarf layer, it is what it is!

• Kirti replied 12 years ago

  It isn't minimalist by choice :P I am just very limited by my budget and a fussy nature. Thank you so much for saying that! It is the reason I remix - so that I won't feel bummed about not having lots of clothes :D

  bj1111: Thank you :) that is such a great compliment!

• replied 12 years ago

  @Kirti, that is a fab closet and I know that creativity is sparked by less, not more (for me, anyway). Your wardrobe makes me take a deep breath and then relax. No chaos in there!

  GP, such a great question. Like Kirti, I do a lot of remixing because it helps me not to feel like I don't have enough. Whenever I get a new item, it mulitplies the combinations I can create. In fact I *just* posted an outfit remixing my basics again, how about that? I probably only repeat an exact outfit every few weeks or so. I have been trying not to post duplicates, and I even cringe when I imagine readers thinking, "Oh there she is in that dumb _______ again!" about my clothing items. I'm glad to hear you don't think that! :)

• Kirti replied 12 years ago

  Claire: Definitely no chaos! I try as hard as I can to come up with new outfits from whatever little I own! I even did a post about it - http://dressupforlife.blogspot.....-part.html. To be honest though, I do get a lot of inspiration from posters here on YLF and other bloggers, they really help me push my limits.

  I totally identify with "Oh there she is in that dumb _______ again!" - I am always in fear of readers being bored!

  Sorry for hijacking your thread GP, but this is a topic really close to my heart! I hope you don't mind.

• Meredith1953 replied 12 years ago

  I like seeing standout outfits (ones well all really love) more than once!! What if I missed them the first time around?
  Kirti
  That is one really well-curated closet you have!

• Jjsloane replied 12 years ago

  I admit I have an aversion to wearing the same thing twice. I have a rather extensive closet so it's not generally an issue, but I rarely repeat the entire ensemble just because I can mix it up. I kind of feel guilty since finding YLF and developing some great combos that I don't repeat them more, but I enjoy experimenting.

  On the other hand I feel guilty not wearing certain things more because I'm too busy remixing.

• Transcona Shannon replied 12 years ago

  I do a lot of remixing of particular items but just today, wore a complete outfit from head to toe as previously worn and posted (hence my original question).

• goldenpig replied 12 years ago

  Claire and Kirti, I have *never* thought that any of your outfits were dumb. You guys are so creative and stylish. I'm always so excited to see your outfit posts and wish you would both post more!

  Bj1111, I totally agree with your statement, "i tend to repeat whole outfits especially if i feel fab." I think that is the #1 reason I repeat outfits. If it makes you feel perfectly fab, why mess with it?

  Meredith, I agree, I would like to see standout outfits back for encores, especially in case I may have missed it the first time!

  Velma, that makes sense that there are more repeats in the summer with fewer layers. I'll be interested to see what happens on the forum this spring and summer since I joined in late summer just when all the fall clothes were coming out.

  Jjsloane, I am in the same boat with you with the large wardrobe. I want to be more creative about remixing, but then I feel bad that there are fab things in my closet that I haven't worn yet or worn often enough. I am not very good at getting CPW down!

  Shannon, now I'm curious--which outfit was it that you repeated? Can you at least provide a link to the original?

• Jewell replied 12 years ago

  I am both a repeater and a remixer.

  I have a few outfits that are so close to perfect (in my opinion) that I wear them the exact same way from time to time. My personal rule is to allow at least a month to go by before wearing the exact same outfit, though. Most people probably wouldn't notice anyways unless it featured a standout item like those red pants I posted. That bright sweater I wore yesterday is another item that people don't soon forget.

  I've also gotten into remixing outfits. Oftentimes I'll look at the picture I took of an outfit and see potential that I didn't see before, or maybe I'll get inspired by something I see on the forum or elsewhere. A perfect example is a dress I wore during the first week of February (didn't post the pic because I wasn't crazy about the way I styled it). I later saw Sveta post a pic of a similar dress that she'd layered over a white button down. I thought, "Why didn't I think of that?!" I tried it and loved the way it looked. I've been waiting for a new month to roll around so I can wear the dress again over my white button down shirt. Hmmm tomorrow's a new month ; )

• replied 12 years ago

  Complete side note Natalie: I was looking at your pinterest page. I noticed we have the same KS fiorella bib necklace. I wear it all the time!
  Hi necklace twin:)

  Your blog looks so good!

• goldenpig replied 12 years ago

  Kirti and Claire,
  I had another thought about your concerns about YLF'ers/blog readers being "bored" with your outfits or thinking they're "dumb". I would guess that most of us pay much more attention to ourselves (I think people tend to be navel gazers by nature) and are harsher critics of ourselves than we are of others. And we think that others pay the same level of attention to us and are just as critical, but it's simply not true in most cases, because we're too busy worrying about ourselves! It's the same reason we are so focused on perceived flaws in our bodies and exaggerate their importance, when most of the rest of us don't even notice these supposed problems. All that is to say, I think you guys are fabulous and stylish and don't need to worry at all about the size of your wardrobes!

• goldenpig replied 12 years ago

  Oooh, high five Zap! I love that Kate Spade Fiorella necklace! I got it on eBay. Unfortunately it hasn't made its real life debut yet but I think I need to create an occasion just to wear it! You should post the outfits you wore it with so I can get some inspiration!

• Sara L. replied 12 years ago

  I occasionally repeat outfits but not too often. I email a picture of myself every morning to my sister and she does the same for me. I don't want to keep sending her the same outfits, so I try to mix it up a little. However, I agree that if an outfit is fabulous it should get worn more than once. Trying not to repeat forces me to be creative and out of the rut of "this shirt can only be worn with those pants" which I can easily fall into.

• replied 12 years ago

  Actually, you can wear that necklace with everything. Other than the evening gown route, I have done the following:
  Pic #1 - Over button down and sweater
  Pic #2 - Over button down adding tweed blazer.
  Pic #3 - Over cream turtleneck.
  I plan to wear it with a simple sleeveless blouse, white skinnies and nude sandals for my birthday in July. I did also wear it with a teal blouse I got at the meetup, black cami, black skinny pants, insanely high suede booties and my TB tomato red clutch.

  ETA: You can use it instead of pearls under one of your Anne Fontaine blouses. Pop the collar a la Angie... See #4. I love that picture of her. I added a pic of the necklace for whoever took interest in the side convo.

  See pics by one of my style icons, Jessica from what I wore, below.

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• lyn* replied 12 years ago

  I probably 100% repeat an outfit about once a month. And it's usually a super good outfit, or I was super lazy.

• goldenpig replied 12 years ago

  LOL Lyn, that's my M.O. too!

  Sara, I agree. Pre-YLF my mentality was thinking in outfits (this shirt goes with this pants, this skirt goes with this sweater) which was really limiting, so I have been trying hard to remix. But now that I'm figuring out what works, the pendulum is swinging back and I'm starting to like to repeat favorite outfits. I think if the outfit makes you feel super fab, it should be repeated!

  Zap, thank you thank you thank you for the pics and suggestions! I am going to try these out and report back to you!

  I have never seen Angie in a maxi skirt before. Gorgeous! I don't understand why maxis are so frowned on here!

• Jonesy replied 12 years ago

  I almost never repeat a look, but I think it's perfectly fab if people post their repeats here at YLF, for lots of the reasons people have already mentioned.

• replied 12 years ago

  ops... wrong post

• Transcona Shannon replied 12 years ago

  Hey Natalie - this is the outfit I wore today - exactly as previously styled.
  http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....int-of-leg

• lyn* replied 12 years ago

  btw; much jealous of all the pretty necklaces on the thread - the Kate Spade stuff is drool-worthy!

• anne replied 12 years ago

  I repeat whole outfits frequently and don't mind it at all. Of course I wear different tops with clams, jeans, and denim skirts, but I don't think that goes to the heart of the remix concept. Most of my remixing is more because of laundry constraints (given that I have a smallish wardrobe) than a need for variety. And I wear dresses a lot, which are often outfits in themselves.
  It is summer now in Australia, and I will wear some outfits twice a week! I guess I do try not to repeat in the same context, (like the next day, or the next weekly event) bit may well wear it pretty soon.

  I don't in general post WIWs (usually only if there is something new, or a particular question about an outfit) and don't read many pure WIW threads as I have time contraints and also visually overlead quite quickly (I try to get to the Australians' threads) so won't comment on whether or not repeating pics is helpful or not.

• Fruitful replied 12 years ago

  GP lots of wisdom in this post - I am a "repeat offender", I love wearing the same thing over and over, and change elements on a whim but not out of a sense of avoiding repeats.

  It never occurred to me that there is value in posting repeats, both to show the reality of dressing, and because people don't see every post (and to really get someone's style).

  Great post, and I love Kirti's wardrobe xx

• Joy replied 12 years ago

  I must get bored easily. I'm not sure if I've ever repeated an outfit without changing something although I keep track of any I really like in a notebook and check to see how it went together before. I find nothing wrong with repeats. An outfit is just something I keep tweeking.

• Kirti replied 12 years ago

  Thanks GP, that is so reassuring! :)

• ManidipaM replied 12 years ago

  I'm a habitual repeater, trying to break the mould and remix more! And I LOVE your signature outfit, Natalie --- if I had such a fab signature outfit, I'd want to repeat it at least once a month!

  One reason I repeat is that I tend to fall back on the 'safety' of what works --- to a fault. Another is the unwieldiness of my wardrobe --- split across two cities and mostly in boxes and drawers rather than hung up, I find I forget what I own sometimes. Every so often I'll think, 'Wait! Don't I have a white sweater somewhere...?' --- and be unable to recall what it looks like. However, I DO remember favourite outfits!

  I also have a large number of individual garments AND a lot of holes in the wardrobe at the same time. A key reason I took to YLF was that I really want to rescue some of the orphans and make the most of my existing closet. I have a hard time letting go, getting sentimentally attached to my clothes --- I think I still have a few things I wore back in university and perhaps even high school! This, and the fact that I cannot quickly fill the holes with new buys, is my biggest motivation to remix.

  But I still AM a serial repeater, often because of the holes that have hung around for so long that I'd almost given up. And also because I'm lazy. I think I wear the self-same outfit at home at least twice a week, though not back to back. And when I used to go into an office daily, I'm sure I still repeated outfits at least every 2 or 3 weeks --- right down to the jewellery I wore with it.

  Strangely, as with Claire and Kirti in the opposite direction ('what if they are bored?'), it is fear that prevents me from remixing more --- fear of being thought too invested in appearances, plus fear of trying something 'different' and getting it wrong enough to invite ridicule (this is the relatively newer one, and I'm actively trying to rise above this silly phobia).

  I *used* to feel the pressure back then to buy more just for variety's sake, comparing myself to colleagues who always seemed to be in something new. I feel differently now --- I don't want to have too many disposable/one-season things, as it just isn't in line with my style or values (which is how some colleagues managed their always-new looks) and I want to be a creative remixer rather than a serial consumer! But, as Velma says, this is really hard in summer --- so I might again resort to repeating if I can't do a great remix, for comfort now!

  (Slightly off-topic: Does the impulse towards long-wearing clothes automatically mean I have to give up on being fashionably current? I used to think the answer was, sadly, 'yes'. But YLF and a few other blogs have been making me rethink this --- and may help me to repeat even more!)

• Makrame replied 12 years ago

  I repeat both outfits and individual items frequently. Some combinations become a uniform of sorts (for example, this season I used two skirts and two turtlenecks to create a "uniform" with a vest - I wear some version of this for teaching once a week, and it feels fine. I have been doing a lot more remixing since joining YLF, though.

  I think I mentioned this before - I usually feel a bit guilty if I keep wearing new items all the time (like I am spending too much money on clothes or too much time on shopping) so I often will intentionally repeat items and then "sprinkle in" a new item or two among "old favorites".

  PS - I just read Manidipa's post above, and she expressed the same feeling of not wanting to seem too consumed with appearance by wearing too many new items. I am not sure mine is about "shallowness" but I know I have more disposable income than many people who work with me (like graduate students) so I sometimes feel like it may look like I am "flaunting it". I also like to keep things around for a long time so I might still have some clothes that are 10-15 years old by now.

• Deborah replied 12 years ago

  Really interesting thead GP.

  Before YLF for some reason I always felt pressured to constantly remix my outfits and rarely wore the same thing twice. Since coming here, I have really begun to appreciate what I have and I am enjoying my clothes mores. Given this, I find that I repeat outfits in their entirity. I do tend to have a generous wardrobe so I may not repeat them often but it often depends on what I feel like wearing too.

  I tend not to repost them though.

  Each outfit I photograph I file on Stylebook on my Iphone. And particuarly on days where I feel a bit uninspired, am in a hurry, or need something that I absolutely know works, I check out my photos quickly and chose an outfit. I do find this saves me quite a bit of time.

  Having said this, I do still remix but do it more out of enjoyment than a need to always be wearing something different.