have you ever wondered?

It's wordy. It's ranty. It has a lot of images. You have been warned.

kate sylvester

I have been so frustrated and overwhelmed by choice of what to wear lately, that I decided to get PRO-ACTIVE. Not the zit stuff, I just wanted to try and edit The Rack, which I guess is a little like trying to rid one's self of unnecessary mounds of yuck...ewww. Rumi of fashion toast had a post picture of her Spring Rack. I can do that, what a bloody good idea.

karen walker

But this proved to be difficult. Really difficult. How do fashion editors do it? Each garment that was man-handled and about to be put in either the Store It/Sell It/Salvo It/It's Shit pile instead of being placed on The Rack like a prize winner, had me battling vocally (oh yes, out loud) about it's potential to be re-styled/reworn/repaired/reworked/re-turned (as in it-could-come-back-with-a-vengeance-some-day).....Oh, if I wore it THIS way with THIS then it could be kinda cool. Well THIS colour is IN at the mo, I could just wear it THIS way. I can't get rid of this?! What if it is the next big thing and I don't have it anymore? I actually ended up with MORE garments crammed on The Rack than what I started with. WTF!!!????

karen walker

Big R tried to help telling me to keep only what i liked. Problem being, I liked EVERYTHING. Each garment had potential to become part of the ultimate outfit, the IT item, the go-to staple about which my ENTIRE wardrobe would revolve and would come unhinged and sucked into the abyss of style-challenged-nothingness if I got rid of it.

lonely hearts

Admittedly, I found some things I had totz forgotten about-bonus!-and had been on the verge of buying again-double bonus, clams saved!-but the whole exercise had proven to be A GIANT WASTE OF TIME AND EFFORT.
julian macdonald

I felt defeated, depressed and unaccommplished. Still frustrated. Still overwhelmed-if not more so. Still stylistically challenged.

I have endured 3 days and 2 sleepless nights of comtemplation, reviewing, list making, magazine tearing, mood boarding, justifying wierdo-ness fuelled by Tim Tams and Jarrah coffee.

I like many different aesthetics of many different designers. I like many different styles of many different people. I like many pricey items and many cheaper items. I like many different style tribes: granny chic, vintage mavens, quirky kids, street dudettes, labelistas, body-con babes, teddy girls,...the list is endless....

ellery....and then I had a brain fart.

richard nicoll fall 2010

It wasn't the clothes, it was me.

alexa chung for madewell

boy by band of outsiders

I have indulged and inundated myself with magazines and lookbooks for years and now blogs have also become a big inspiration source. And

also a source of frustration. I have been inspired to try new things, stick with old things and just all out lust after other things. And there's the rub. As much as one wants to show the world just how downright fashion they are-it does not make you whole. A whole lotta mess but not whole.

rag and bone

I love shopping, thrifting, online hunting for the Awesomest Next Top Garment (or accessory, let's not discriminate) that I MUST-HAVE. And there are a lot of contestants, that on first look and hurried purchase seem like they are the one to make me truly happy.

Hence, one has accumulated a fair bit of stuff that has been worn once but then allocated to notwearsville. It could've been for many reasons, quality, fit, colour, just didn't work, or more likely, it just didn't make me happy at all.

sherie muijs

I had to look at The Rack through new eyes. 'What I would wear all the time?' eyes. 'What I would wear that is ME?' eyes. 'What is relevant to ME, MY life, MY job, My play, My going out, MY shopping, MY coffees, MY thrifting trips, MY man (love you Big R), MY hanging out, MY hanging in?' eyes. I have a lot of eyes...4 in fact.

stolen girlfriends club

And the task was a lot easier. The Rack went from a gigantic clothy mound with a stick hidden somewhere in the middle (as previously, the hangers could not be seen) to an actual running rack with some clothes hanging from hangers on it. SO impressed with me. Chuffed. I will probably still wake up and look at The Rack thinking, 'I wanna wear something else'...I have strategically culled 6 drawers to 3 and created 1xdrawer-basics, 1xdrawer-eclectic/unique, 1xdrawer-events to cater for such moments. Big R is stoked to (finally) get 3 drawers of his very own. Lucky boy.

twentyseven names

As you can see from the different images in this post, that I find it difficult to fit in with a specific aesthetic, they ALL inspire and influence me in some way. But I'm pretty sure that's the same issue for a lot of people out there. Am I girly? Am I tomboy? Am I foxy? Am I frumpy? Pale? Bold? Futuristic? Natural? Rock? Librarian? All at once? Or one look a day? Am I a maverick or a recipe dresser?

kate sylvester

That is the freedom of fashion. You can change your look to suit your mood, you can dress yourself to suit your budget- luxe or less? cheap and chic? this handbag or this outfit? are staple features in most magazines these days. You can wear pretty much anything, anyhow at anytime-no boundaries, no rules, no limits. And that's why fashion and personal style has turned into my prison. The choices, the options, the influence, the inspiration: so much to wear, so little time. Double edged sword.

burberry prorsum

I looked at my blog. I looked at what I've worn. I hoped for evolution, a common thread that suggested a development of and into my personal style. My signature. I found myself confused and at many times, cringing. If I flipped through a book with this collection of images, I would have screwed up my face.
I know, I know-the point of a fashion or style blog is exactly this. Not the cringing aspect but the unedited visual record of real people, in real time, wearing real stuff, how the would really wear it and blogging about this real cool garment or thing that they really want and a real awesome designer who really nailed it with their latest collection. Gotta have, gotta get, gotta give props, gotta pose, gotta be first one to create that recipe for the best outfit EVER!

But all I got was licorice allsorts and I don't really like them. This blog? This cake I'm baking? It's a flop.

ruby boutique

Putting together The Rack, though daunting, had to be done before Big R left me (a broody, grumpy westie is an unbearable bedfellow) and accomplish 3 things.
1/ Represent me.
2/ Organise but not stifle me.
3/ Make dressing fun again for me.

And each piece had to match ingredients from my new recipe:
* Have I worn it in the last 6 months?
* Is it in good condition?
* Statement, staple or basic? No 'just because' or 'but it cost a fortune' categories apply.
* Does it fit me properly?
* Do I feel good/confident in it?
* Do I REALLY like it...on ME?
* Is it a flexible garment? Can I style it to suit different aesthetics that I like?
* Are there 3 or more of this SAME garment not including basics? If yes, one has to go if this one is to stay.
* Do I like the garment, the association or the attachment? Memory/Label/Trend associations/attachments must be photographed and archived visually, not garment-ually.
* Did I buy this with good intention or blindness (see blinded by the light post)?
* If the garment does not favourably fit with these conditions, it has one last chance......is this a designer/iconic piece that should be archived? Signature prints/pieces. Historic pieces (not that I have any...yet.) By a retired/deceased designer like McQueen (as-if) Luella (as-if)or Mala Brajkovic (ooh, tick) that is archive worthy, not a t-shirt.

If not?......BYE BYE BABY, BYE BYE.

I think I've nailed it somewhat. I hope so. This definitely helped me take stock of what I have-(far too much! Big R was right...sshh, don't tell him), what I ACTUALLY need to get and maybe earn a little cash to buy a few indulgent things that I want. Oh yeah, they still have to fit the above criteria-I didn't go through all this shit for nothing! Plus, I think I've nailed my style a little better-like, understood it better...ya know? The only outfits that make it onto the blog are ones that I reckon readers would give two hoots about....you should see how many are questionable, beyond quirky and heading for oddball-ville, plain grotty or I should just not have gone into public wearing.

I guess we'll see over the next few posts huh?

flannel

Have you ever wondered?

all images sourced from the web, including but not exclusive to: tfs, style.com, fashiongonerogue, rag-pony, fashion toast, isaac likes.

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