Fashion Fridays...using my closet

I heard a statistic (and of course I can't remember wear) that a person usually wears 20% of their clothing 80% of the time.  "Can't be," were the first thoughts I had.  But then I looked at my closet.  Not only was I probably only wearing about 10% to 15%, but I was gravitating to jeans and sweatshirts most of the time. My mother would be unhappy at this fact.  She always wore nice trousers, blouses, suits or dresses.  Even on a Saturday, Joyce would don wool slacks with a belt, a silk blouse, bracelets, necklaces and nice flat shoes. Sometimes I think Chelsea is a mini Joyce with her accesorizing and pretty dresses.

Cut to me on a typical Saturday I wear day old jeans and some sort of sweatshirt...preferably without a stain.  Don't get me wrong I'm not a complete slob.  On work occasions, or special outings I like to obsess over what I'm going to wear.  Okay, so onto using my closet more.

 This week was my first attempt to wear a range of clothes. I didn't only wear jeans during the day, I slipped in some khaki's and skirts too. Instead of  tees and sweatshirts, I put on button down shirts, sweaters and cardigans.  Every day I took a few extra minutes to plan the outfit and accessorize.  Yup, I was wearing belts, nice shoes, scarves and jewelry.  Felt like I was channeling my mom a bit, which seemed to lift my spirits.  My husband had a date night Tuesday. I pulled out that dress that I never seem to have the occasion to wear and put it on.  Yes, I was a bit overdressed for a casual restaurant...but honestly it didn't feel awkward, it felt more empowering.  I wasn't going for it, but this week I got a few compliments on my appearance, which was a nice change. 

So I am hoping to keep up using a range from my closet.  It felt good and less wasteful to wear pieces that were never worn.  It felt creative to find new combinations that worked.  Like I said, I felt empowered a bit because I knew I looked more put together than usual.  Put all these reasons together and it makes sense why taking a few minutes to put together more of an outfit and less of a uniform (tees and sweats) makes sense.