My wardrobe count going into 2016

It's been well over a year since I started using the Stylebook App and it has definitely helped me to keep focused on my purchases and how often I'm using each item in my wardrobe. 

When I first started using the Stylebook App towards the end of 2014, my wardrobe consisted of:

124 tops (includes sleeveless, blouses, t-shirts, sweaters, sweatshirt/hoodies, blazers)

48 bottoms (includes jeans, shorts, trousers)

25 dresses

53 shoes

17 scarves 

68 bags (including clutches)

17 coats and jackets

32 pieces off active wear (tops, headbands, bottoms, runners)

After more than a year of purging and refining, these are my current numbers:

106 tops (includes sleeveless, blouses, t-shirts, sweaters, sweatshirt/hoodies, blazers)

54 bottoms (includes jeans, shorts, trousers)

31 dresses

51 shoes (I previously reported 46 pairs of shoes because I didn't count my one pair of sneakers for running, or a few pairs of shoes that were made specially for my Chinese wedding ceremony when I got married)

16 scarves 

65 bags (including clutches)

18 coats and jackets

22 pieces off active wear (tops, headbands, bottoms, runners)

Overall, I think I did pretty well - doing this for almost 2 years now I've definitely seen a shift from purging, to learning what works for me, to narrowing things that work really well for me and finally coming to a plateau where I feel comfortable with the items I have. 

The drop in numbers in my tops came from letting go of graphic-Ts, tops I had been holding on to in hopes to fit into them again in the future, and items that didn't fit as well anymore. Bottoms saw an increase as I slowly replaced wider legged trousers with slim fitted ones and also got some incredible deals on shorts and jeans; I also stocked up a bit on pencil skirts, my work staple. Dresses saw an increase mostly because I brought some that were at my parents home, into my current closet. 

Final count in wardrobe for 2014

I have finally finished cataloging my wardrobe into the Stylebook App and my final count for 2014 is:

• 122 tops (includes sleeveless, blouses, t-shirts, sweaters, sweatshirt/hoodies, blazers)
• 46 bottoms (includes jeans, shorts, trousers)
• 25 dresses
• 53 shoes
• 17 scarves 
• 68 bags (including clutches)
• 17 coats and jackets
• 32 pieces off active wear (tops, headbands, bottoms, runners)

FINALLY!!! - Knee high boots that fit me!!!

This post may be THE most exciting one for me because I'm so so SO happy to share that I have been able to find knee high boots that will zip up over my calves. I kid you not, I have been searching for almost 10 years - every knee high boot I've ever tried on would never zip up over my calves (even at my skinniest at 125lbs). 

I was commuting to work on Thursday when I came across an ad for the Hudson Bay's "Bay Days" where they have one day sales on selected items, which on that day were 50% off all boots. I never paid much attention to these but for some reason decided to check it out during lunch and thought, "maybe I'll see if I can find knee high boots," which is something I stopped even dreaming about. It must have been fate because I found beauties: 

With a little oomph, they zipped up all the way, and when on, did not feel tight at all. I unzipped them and tried again (just to be sure I wasn't just forcing them too much) and they were actually easier to zip than the first time. 

Black. Gold hardware. Leather. FIT ME. Everything I could ask for. Also, I was happy that they were Lauren by Ralph Lauren so I do have some comfort that the quality will be relatively good and hold up for a while as it may be the only time I will ever find knee high boots that fit again. The icing on the cake was that they were half off, so I paid only $95 for these!!!

I already inputted them into my Stylebook App and began making outfits with them. These are a few of my favourites:

Second chances - my Dr. Martens

I've had these shoes since my grade school days and I remember wanting them soooo badly. I wore them for a year and put them away. Since returning from university, I have debated many times to let these go but didn't have the heart to because I remember how happy I was to finally get them, and also they are in really, really good condition.

This year, I made a decision to wear them. I brought them to my own home (they were living at my parents' place) and began a Pinterest board of outfit ideas. On the weekends, I dabbled in some casual outfits, mostly consisting of jeans and a sweatshirt, but last week, I debuted them for the first time in an actual, thought-out outfit for work.

Using my Stylebook App, and inspirations from Pinterest, I put together this outfit:

Other outfits I plan to wear them with are:

You'll note another mustard yellow cardigan =) Bonus! They match the signature stitching of my Dr. Martens perfectly. 

I am SO happy that I decided to keep these and am over-joyed that I will finally be able to enjoy them fashionably, and not part of a school uniform.

I also have the boot version and am working on outfits for those too - stay-tuned.... =)

Current count in wardrobe

The last 3 weeks I have been busy cataloging my wardrobe into the Stylebook App and current count for major categories is:

• 77 tops (includes sleeveless, blouses, t-shirts, sweaters, sweatshirt/hoodies, blazers)
• 38 bottoms (includes jeans, shorts, trousers)
• 4 dresses
• 20 shoes
• 15 scarves 
• 58 bags (including clutches)
• 10 coats and jackets
• 24 pieces off active wear

I'm about 3/5 of the way through. When I am done, I will be fine-tuning and purging my wardrobe again.  

I already have some goals/benchmarks/'rules' for next year, for the number of items in my wardrobe. 

I let go of 2 more shirts today during my cataloging. 

Edit: mustard yellow works for me!

I had previously posted that yellow was a color that did not work for me, but I would like to edit, and state: the majority of yellows don't work for me but I have found that mustard yellow does! While most yellows wash me out, this wonderful shade seems to complement my skin tone and is a great accent to my base colors. It goes really well with purple, navy, and gray.

While I had purged most of my yellow items, I had kept a cardigan in a dark mustard shade because: it didn't wash me out, I loved the details, and I was able to find outfit ideas on Pinterest that worked with existing items. I did note though, that the outfits I found used a slightly brighter yellow than what I owned.

Recently my mom got me several sweaters and cardigans and when I saw them, I got really excited since they were the actual shade I had been seeing on Pinterest. I immediately started putting together outfits. This is one of the cardigans in the only yellow shade that works for me:

I should have known that this shade worked for me because my 'second chances' scarf carries this shade, and one of my remaining 3 yellow items from my purge contain it as part of its pattern.

Here are 3 different outfits I used it in. 

For those interested, this cardigan is by Sparrow.