Fashion (blog) Week part 4: me

And at last, we bring Fashion (blog) Week to an end with my experience.


*Indicates events that I thought were happening when I planned my outfit, but did not.
** Indicates events that I did not know were happening when I planned my outfit, but that happened anyway.


Fashion (blog) Week part 1
Fashion (blog) Week part 2
Fashion (blog) Week part 3

Monday:

• What's the weather? High 80; low 61; isolated thunderstorms
• What's on your schedule? Cookout at my parents' house, lots of playtime with my young niece and nephew, possibly a trip to the lake*, nap**, bowling
• What's your inspiration? I'm not sure I understand the "inspiration" part of this. Casual effortlessness with a certain artsy early-60s j'ne sais quois?
• What's the outfit plan? Cuffed loose jeans, flip flops, sleeveless flowered blouse; swimsuit; running shoes and a pair of socks in case a walk is called for; bowling shoes later.
• How'd it work out?  Just fine, thanks. I don't remember the last time I got ready so quickly and didn't hate what I was wearing. Awesome.

Tuesday:

• What's the weather? High 79; low 63; isolated thunderstorms
• What's on your schedule? Morning workout; work with one internal meeting; a chiropractic appointment (midday); possibly drinks after work*; drinks and dinner to meet a friend's long-distance significant other in flash-flooding-type storms**
• What's your inspiration? Er — brown, I guess.
• What's the outfit plan? Workout clothes; khakis, brown peeptoe wedges, brown sleeveless sweater
• How'd it work out? Not bad, though I did add a white short-sleeved cardigan at the last minute because I chickened out of wearing a sleeveless shirt with nothing over it to work. And changed into jeans pre-drinks and dinner.

Wednesday:

• What's the weather? High 78; low 55; partly cloudy
• What's on your schedule? Morning workout*; work; bowling lesson; softball game (watching, not playing) in the evening*; yoga class**
• What's your inspiration? Summer, or also a desire to be simultaneously work-appropriate and casual enough for a softball game.
• What's the outfit plan? Workout clothes; green capris (or pedal pushers? I'm not sure I know the difference.), black peeptoes, short sleeved flower print shirt; short-sleeved black cardigan
• How'd it work out? Swell. The rain cancelled the softball game, but this outfit was a combination I don't use often, and I liked it. And it was good to have the workout clothes at-the-ready for the yoga class; there have been times in my life I'd have skipped the class because trying to pull together a clean workout outfit would have been tricky.

Thursday: 

• What's the weather? High 75; low 49; partly cloudy
• What's on your schedule? Morning workout; work, one internal meeting, possibly a long day writing the internal campus newsletter; lunch with a friend**
• What's your inspiration? Comfort and ease — the gray dress is jersey knit, and I could sleep in it if I had to. I'm not going to. Probably.
• What's the outfit plan? Workout clothes; gray dress, black peeptoes. 
• How'd it work out?  Super, and I did not, in fact, have to sleep in the gray dress. I didn't even have to work that late.

Friday:

• What's the weather? High 74; low 54; partly cloudy
• What's on your schedule? Morning workout; work; pedicure with a  friend**; "This American Life — Live"**
• What's your inspiration? Fun summer! Summer fun!
• What's the outfit plan? Workout clothes; blue denim dress, fun tan sandals, gray cardigan
• How'd it work out? Mostly great, though the temperature dropped suddenly during the late afternoon, so I had to run home and change out of my adorable dress and into jeans — which was not a problem, except that it left me having to pick a shirt on my own, with no planning, for the first time since Sunday night. I did fine. An olive green lace-neck t-shirt with the jeans, gray cardigan, and sandals worked out great. And it didn't take me an hour of changing outfits, either. I think I was just more confident in my ability to get dressed by this point — at least to get dressed for sitting in a dark theater.

So, overall, what did you learn?

• No kidding, Sunday night, this was painful and took me a very long time.
• Monday morning, on the other hand, was awesome, as I rolled out of bed and into clothes.
• If I lay out workout clothes for every day, I feel bad about not wearing them, and therefore am more likely to work out.
• I wear a lot of neutral clothing.
• My plans change a lot between Sunday and Friday.
• My friends and I have different sources for weather reports.
• What ikat is.

Will you keep up with the system?

• I'd like to try. It seems unlikely. But the workout factor alone would be worth it.

What were the best and worst parts?

• Best: The workout motivation; who knew that clothes were what was standing in my way there?
• Worst: I dunno. I'm a little sore from all the working out. Kidding — Sunday night was definitely the worst part. I have confidence it'd get better if I did it regularly.