A reintroduction of the Wardrobe Project
I started the Wardrobe Project sometime around 2005. I was posting on Livejournal then, and this was before “outfit of the day” photos were really a thing on the internet.
At the time I felt like my wardrobe was full of stuff but I still had nothing good to wear, so the idea was to go through it one garment at a time, build an outfit around that garment, snap a few photos, and just for fun post the outfit online along with a source list for all the clothes for those who might be interested.
If I couldn’t come up with an outfit I enjoyed I should probably get rid of that garment, and the more successful outfit photos would be inspiration whenever I felt I had nothing to wear.
The project went on for many years until I realised that for some time I had only been posting new outfits when I had a new garment, which meant the project had served its purpose and I only had good and useful things in my wardrobe. I officially closed the project in 2010. You can see a few old Wardrobe Project posts on the archived remains of my old blog.
After I moved to the UK I got into a bit of an outfit rut. I was doing a lot of work on our new house and garden and taking a lot of muddy walks. I was mostly wearing the same, comfy, sturdy, rain- and mud-friendly outfits every day. It was nice in a way, but I started to really miss dressing up in fun clothes, so I restarted the wardrobe project on Instagram.
This time the idea behind the project was a bit different since I knew I had a wardrobe full of great clothes but I wasn’t wearing them. I wanted an excuse to come up with fun outfits again, but I also wanted to get rid of everything I didn’t enjoy wearing anymore. As I’ve gotten older and started having more pronounced health problems I’ve become more concerned with comfort and practicality, which affects the clothes I want to wear.
For the second run of the Wardrobe Project I also wanted to make a point of mentioning that the majority of my clothes are acquired second hand, and do my tiny bit for the environment to hopefully encourage someone else to do the same. I know second hand clothing isn’t an option for everyone, I’m lucky to both fit into most clothes and have the skills to alter them, but I do think it’s an option anyone who is able should consider.
Instagram always felt like a really bad fit for the Wardrobe Project so I’m glad to restart it on the blog. I’m sure the posts were confusing to most people who saw them and weren’t familiar with my old Livejournal and blog posts. I couldn’t link to my introduction of the project and no one reads long captions anyway, and I guess outfit photos of a middle aged lady aren’t very algorithm friendly because they were seen by very few and felt kind of pointless.
I think I’m actually going to repost some of the outfits that were only shown on Instagram on the blog from time to time, at least my favourites, so I hope you don’t mind a few repeats.
Now that I have explained the idea behind this project, here’s are the details of my outfit!
Dress and headdress: Both from Baby the Stars Shine Bright. This is one of my favourite dresses and I love it so much. I love floral prints with a lot of black, and I also love gingham so this couldn’t be more perfect. I love the way the cut of the dress looks on me and I feel really comfortable in it.
Boots: A local charity shop find. I’ve wanted a pair of floral Doc Martens probably ever since my teens so I was so pleased to find these boots some years ago. They’re not actually Doc Martens but they look just as good to me.
Socks: I think I got these from Enchanted Dream Wear on Etsy.
Brooch: Pink House
In this outfit everything except the socks was bought second hand.
