This is interesting to me! I have a big wardrobe and am pretty good at putting together outfits on the fly (and I have some good fast fallback options that work when I’m short on time and confidence). But I think this kind of planning can be useful. I tend to only do this trying-on when either 1) I’ve brought a new piece into my closet and am figuring out how to wear it, or 2) I’m doing a closet edit and need to figure out why I’m not wearing something. The only outfit planning I really do is for a special event or for travel. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Sorry that insomnia has been giving you grief, hope you are feeling better. I've not been much of an outfit planner since I started working from home, as I almost always ignore what I picked out the day before in favour of something more low key. I used to plan my office outfits though and agree that it saves one a lot of stress!
I am sometimes intentional about spotlighting a particular piece--usually a foundational piece like a trouser or skirt or jacket and I will wear it all week in various outfits, weather permitting. Sometimes I realise a piece doesn't work for my life anymore, sometimes I fall madly in love with it again. I plan one or two outfits and then I improvise the rest. It's less work than planning a whole week of outfits!
And yep, nothing I feel good in photographs all that way. I do love all your outfits though; maybe it's because you also shared the context behind them?
Be still my heart! I am honored that you tried it and ecstatic that it helped. I definitely would have complimented you in your tulle … and also from now on, I am going to provide the theme in the caption of the previous week’s Sunday night outfit planning! 😘
I love the tulle outfit! I think sometimes we get so caught up in others’ reactions , or imagined reactions, that we limit ourselves unnecessarily.
And sometimes photos can look/ feel harsh. More importantly is how you feel when you step out - if you are feeling great then the world be damned ( back to the point above🙃).
Thank you for investing such time and energy in this exercise! I too really like your petticoat outfit from Saturday, and am a fan of black and white, trends be damned. It’s so graphic!
You are not alone in wondering “whether outfit pictures in general are distorting our sense of self and the connection we have with our clothes.” I definitely think this is the case for me.
When I think about outfits I have put together that I love, they often fall into the category of outfits I wake up thinking about as I drift awake, bubbling up from my dreams. Unfortunately this only happens occasionally, a few times a season. So I need to make sure I capture them before they escape and are forgotten, usually by hauling the pieces out of the wardrobe as soon as I crawl out of bed.
That's an interesting read. I never plan outfits a whole week ahead. I often plan outfits on paper when it's actually not needed atm, just writing down combinations of garments, without trying them on. Sometimes I've a clear idea in the morning, but more often I've to decided in the morning basen on the weather and my mood. I often start in my head with one of the ideas I've written down before and complete the outfit when dressing. That has to be rapid decisions because I don't have much time in the morning before leaving the house. Sometimes I can be indecisive and then the fastast solution is to scroll to my IG and do an outfit on repeat.
I never try on outfits in advance, but trying on my clothes by category often to know if they still feel allright. If not I take them out if my wardrobe to try again a couple of days later to see if it's time to let the item go.
I have always shied away from weekly outfit planning - partly because of the time it would take to plan an entire week of outfits, and partly because I am afraid it would take some of the joy and spontaneity out of getting dressed. I absolutely loved the tulle look, and can so relate to the feeling of trying something new and wanting my clothes to be noticed! Reading this was encouraging, and I might even try planning a week of outfits myself.
Yay! I love the whimsy of the tulle skirt over the pants. Outfit planning is something I've never really done either as I'm also an intuitive dresser most of the time, but I love adding the extra effort to plan out pieces that don't get much (or any) wear. I think sometimes we take for granted that getting dressed well should feel *so effortless*, but it does take effort sometimes. Like you said, it can take time to grow into our clothes/wardrobe/style. PS photos of outfits can totally distort things. I can't count how many times I've gotten dressed, felt great in and about what I was wearing, and then taken a pic only to find that it didn't really translate to the image. Whatever. We get dressed first and foremost for our real lives in the physical world, not for the internet.
I absolutely devoured your newsletter this week. Firstly, as a fellow migraineur, I want to stand in solidarity with how hideous you would have felt and admire the fact you made such a glorious (pre-planned) effort for the rest of the week, given how tremendously drained one feels post migraine. Secondly, I felt the words IN MY BONES about standing in the closet in underwear with 2 minutes to spare before leaving the house - that is me most days, with 3 children tearing around my feet (and perfectly turned out). I just felt so very seen reading this and you have motivated me to make an attempt at putting effort into planning my wardrobe.
Thank you for writing all of this! I've been trying to play with my wardrobe more lately and this has encouraged and inspired me. 🖤
I personally loved your Wednesday outfit best (those shoes are really cute!) And the tulle was a bold choice but a fun one, which I think looked great.
Sending well-wishes for your insomnia. I regularly get the same thing and it's truly awful. 🖤
I actually have a mannequin that I try outfits on from things in my wardrobe. It is spring here in the northeast of the US sort of.. and so I am yearning for color. Nine times out of ten the mannequin outfits work but there is always a one off! I too am sorry that you cannot sleep. When I have this problem I sometimes just get up and get to work on a task quietly, but the next day can be a little tough. Best wishes for some sleep! Keep writing great content. PS- I actually love the tulle outfit. I wonder if you could wear it as some sort of top? Have a great week! Susi the mannequin girl!
Ooh I loved this exercise so much! I didn’t know Rachel did weekly outfit planning (perhaps the only time I’ve wanted to be on Instagram to see this!!). I am a huge outfit planner despite some of the challenges that you face (ie weather changes). I don’t sit down and do it all at once but I do enjoy finding inspiration on Pinterest and putting it into my Whering app so when I’m feeling uninspired or rushed, I have something at the ready.
First off, I love your tulle outfit. Secondly, I completely relate to your hesitations (weather, body and especially mood) while pre-planning your outfits. And finally, your question about how your selfies might distort your self-perception resonates. I learn a lot from my mirror selfies, but I am not sure what to think about an outfit that made me feel good but looks off in a photo.
Your outfit pics were fascinating to me because you were critical of them but for each picture I thought “man that looks so cool!” It reminded me that even on days where I don’t feel like an outfit is all it could be, to someone else who doesn’t see my closet every day, it might look rad, which I thought your outfits were. Disappointed in your office for not responding to the tulle!! How dare they!?
This was a really fun exercise to follow - thank you for sharing. I pretty much always set my clothes out the night before and leave shoes and accessories for the morning. However, I don't plan outfits beyond that unless it's packing for a trip. On the off chance I do plan far ahead, it's usually because of an event or to take advantage of the weather. (ex: this past week we had some scattered warm days + a friend's dinner party, so I made sure to wash/iron a few dresses I was excited to wear)
I'm sometimes surprised by what clothes do vs don't get comments at work. I guess you just never know what will catch another person's eye. That said, I think we can find our clothes more exciting than our coworkers do, especially if we frequently wear standout pieces. A few people I work with are well dressed and/or wear interesting clothes that I enjoy, but it rarely rises to me feeling compelled to say something. Even as someone who's into style/fashion, what other people are wearing is not top of mind when I'm in the office.
I like all these outfits very much. I’m sorry to read about the hard time you’ve had with insomnia, migraines, and weather complications.
The closest I ever get to outfit planning is packing for a trip, when I make sure to take a selection of things that could work together in different combinations, so I still have choice on any given day.
Another way I find is useful in structuring the choosing process (maybe if you lack time or inclination to prepare multiple full outfits) is to chose me or more items that I have not worn in a long time (or, perhaps, ever) and have in mind that the outfit has to incorporate that piece. Choosing this piece in advance, in my experience, means it percolates in my mind in the meantime, and I can quite often then get dressed with it quickly, even though I didn’t chose the rest of the outfit definitely in advance.
This is interesting to me! I have a big wardrobe and am pretty good at putting together outfits on the fly (and I have some good fast fallback options that work when I’m short on time and confidence). But I think this kind of planning can be useful. I tend to only do this trying-on when either 1) I’ve brought a new piece into my closet and am figuring out how to wear it, or 2) I’m doing a closet edit and need to figure out why I’m not wearing something. The only outfit planning I really do is for a special event or for travel. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Sorry that insomnia has been giving you grief, hope you are feeling better. I've not been much of an outfit planner since I started working from home, as I almost always ignore what I picked out the day before in favour of something more low key. I used to plan my office outfits though and agree that it saves one a lot of stress!
I am sometimes intentional about spotlighting a particular piece--usually a foundational piece like a trouser or skirt or jacket and I will wear it all week in various outfits, weather permitting. Sometimes I realise a piece doesn't work for my life anymore, sometimes I fall madly in love with it again. I plan one or two outfits and then I improvise the rest. It's less work than planning a whole week of outfits!
And yep, nothing I feel good in photographs all that way. I do love all your outfits though; maybe it's because you also shared the context behind them?
Be still my heart! I am honored that you tried it and ecstatic that it helped. I definitely would have complimented you in your tulle … and also from now on, I am going to provide the theme in the caption of the previous week’s Sunday night outfit planning! 😘
I love the tulle outfit! I think sometimes we get so caught up in others’ reactions , or imagined reactions, that we limit ourselves unnecessarily.
And sometimes photos can look/ feel harsh. More importantly is how you feel when you step out - if you are feeling great then the world be damned ( back to the point above🙃).
Thank you for investing such time and energy in this exercise! I too really like your petticoat outfit from Saturday, and am a fan of black and white, trends be damned. It’s so graphic!
You are not alone in wondering “whether outfit pictures in general are distorting our sense of self and the connection we have with our clothes.” I definitely think this is the case for me.
When I think about outfits I have put together that I love, they often fall into the category of outfits I wake up thinking about as I drift awake, bubbling up from my dreams. Unfortunately this only happens occasionally, a few times a season. So I need to make sure I capture them before they escape and are forgotten, usually by hauling the pieces out of the wardrobe as soon as I crawl out of bed.
That's an interesting read. I never plan outfits a whole week ahead. I often plan outfits on paper when it's actually not needed atm, just writing down combinations of garments, without trying them on. Sometimes I've a clear idea in the morning, but more often I've to decided in the morning basen on the weather and my mood. I often start in my head with one of the ideas I've written down before and complete the outfit when dressing. That has to be rapid decisions because I don't have much time in the morning before leaving the house. Sometimes I can be indecisive and then the fastast solution is to scroll to my IG and do an outfit on repeat.
I never try on outfits in advance, but trying on my clothes by category often to know if they still feel allright. If not I take them out if my wardrobe to try again a couple of days later to see if it's time to let the item go.
I have always shied away from weekly outfit planning - partly because of the time it would take to plan an entire week of outfits, and partly because I am afraid it would take some of the joy and spontaneity out of getting dressed. I absolutely loved the tulle look, and can so relate to the feeling of trying something new and wanting my clothes to be noticed! Reading this was encouraging, and I might even try planning a week of outfits myself.
Yay! I love the whimsy of the tulle skirt over the pants. Outfit planning is something I've never really done either as I'm also an intuitive dresser most of the time, but I love adding the extra effort to plan out pieces that don't get much (or any) wear. I think sometimes we take for granted that getting dressed well should feel *so effortless*, but it does take effort sometimes. Like you said, it can take time to grow into our clothes/wardrobe/style. PS photos of outfits can totally distort things. I can't count how many times I've gotten dressed, felt great in and about what I was wearing, and then taken a pic only to find that it didn't really translate to the image. Whatever. We get dressed first and foremost for our real lives in the physical world, not for the internet.
I absolutely devoured your newsletter this week. Firstly, as a fellow migraineur, I want to stand in solidarity with how hideous you would have felt and admire the fact you made such a glorious (pre-planned) effort for the rest of the week, given how tremendously drained one feels post migraine. Secondly, I felt the words IN MY BONES about standing in the closet in underwear with 2 minutes to spare before leaving the house - that is me most days, with 3 children tearing around my feet (and perfectly turned out). I just felt so very seen reading this and you have motivated me to make an attempt at putting effort into planning my wardrobe.
Thank you for writing all of this! I've been trying to play with my wardrobe more lately and this has encouraged and inspired me. 🖤
I personally loved your Wednesday outfit best (those shoes are really cute!) And the tulle was a bold choice but a fun one, which I think looked great.
Sending well-wishes for your insomnia. I regularly get the same thing and it's truly awful. 🖤
I actually have a mannequin that I try outfits on from things in my wardrobe. It is spring here in the northeast of the US sort of.. and so I am yearning for color. Nine times out of ten the mannequin outfits work but there is always a one off! I too am sorry that you cannot sleep. When I have this problem I sometimes just get up and get to work on a task quietly, but the next day can be a little tough. Best wishes for some sleep! Keep writing great content. PS- I actually love the tulle outfit. I wonder if you could wear it as some sort of top? Have a great week! Susi the mannequin girl!
Ooh I loved this exercise so much! I didn’t know Rachel did weekly outfit planning (perhaps the only time I’ve wanted to be on Instagram to see this!!). I am a huge outfit planner despite some of the challenges that you face (ie weather changes). I don’t sit down and do it all at once but I do enjoy finding inspiration on Pinterest and putting it into my Whering app so when I’m feeling uninspired or rushed, I have something at the ready.
First off, I love your tulle outfit. Secondly, I completely relate to your hesitations (weather, body and especially mood) while pre-planning your outfits. And finally, your question about how your selfies might distort your self-perception resonates. I learn a lot from my mirror selfies, but I am not sure what to think about an outfit that made me feel good but looks off in a photo.
Your outfit pics were fascinating to me because you were critical of them but for each picture I thought “man that looks so cool!” It reminded me that even on days where I don’t feel like an outfit is all it could be, to someone else who doesn’t see my closet every day, it might look rad, which I thought your outfits were. Disappointed in your office for not responding to the tulle!! How dare they!?
This was a really fun exercise to follow - thank you for sharing. I pretty much always set my clothes out the night before and leave shoes and accessories for the morning. However, I don't plan outfits beyond that unless it's packing for a trip. On the off chance I do plan far ahead, it's usually because of an event or to take advantage of the weather. (ex: this past week we had some scattered warm days + a friend's dinner party, so I made sure to wash/iron a few dresses I was excited to wear)
I'm sometimes surprised by what clothes do vs don't get comments at work. I guess you just never know what will catch another person's eye. That said, I think we can find our clothes more exciting than our coworkers do, especially if we frequently wear standout pieces. A few people I work with are well dressed and/or wear interesting clothes that I enjoy, but it rarely rises to me feeling compelled to say something. Even as someone who's into style/fashion, what other people are wearing is not top of mind when I'm in the office.
PS: I loved the tulle outfit!
I like all these outfits very much. I’m sorry to read about the hard time you’ve had with insomnia, migraines, and weather complications.
The closest I ever get to outfit planning is packing for a trip, when I make sure to take a selection of things that could work together in different combinations, so I still have choice on any given day.
Another way I find is useful in structuring the choosing process (maybe if you lack time or inclination to prepare multiple full outfits) is to chose me or more items that I have not worn in a long time (or, perhaps, ever) and have in mind that the outfit has to incorporate that piece. Choosing this piece in advance, in my experience, means it percolates in my mind in the meantime, and I can quite often then get dressed with it quickly, even though I didn’t chose the rest of the outfit definitely in advance.