Azuki's Wardrobe 2023: Pruning in Order to Bloom
Welcome! This year I decided to post everything in my collection again, or at least as much of it as I could stand to photograph and format into a post. Even though it's a LOT of work with my wardrobe size, it is worth it to me to see everything I have in one place. I started working on this post a lot earlier in the month this time and that did help, as well as taking photos of some things on the dress form right after they arrived in the mail (a smart idea from someone in my local community) rather than waiting until January to do it. That said, there are lots of smaller things (hair accessories and jewelry, for example) that didn't make it this time, and I may edit this to add them in later but for now I just want to be done.
Theme for this coming year is 'pruning in order to bloom'. Just as plants sometimes need some cutting back in order to grow happily, my closet needs some weeding out to really close in on what I love to wear and will actually make use of. (My brain has been in Emily Temple Cute land all weekend and I think that came through in the title graphic, haha.)
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Background
I first got into lolita fashion as a teen in 2001, and have been actively wearing and building a collection since 2013. Details about my path to this fancy, frilly hobby are here.
Sweeter classic and romantic gothic tend to be my favorite types of looks but I experiment with a lot of different substyles. My favorite colors to wear are black, red, and blue. I love natural motifs (fruit, flowers, animals), food/sweets, hearts, and lace.
Previous wardrobe posts: 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017
What's new this year?
- Items with names in italics are new (have not been featured in a wardrobe post before). I only did a partial wardrobe post in 2022 so these "new" items may have been acquired any time after January 2021.
- Fewer main pieces. My goal for several years now was to make my wardrobe smaller, and this year I finally did it! I was motivated to get some closet space back because it was getting difficult to fit all my dresses inside, and also because I needed to get together some money for a big vacation at the end of the year. It can be hard to let things go. The biggest thing that gave me pause was that some items I sold were rare and/or in high demand and I had to be very sure I didn't want them anymore because it's unlikely I'd see them again, at least not for a price I would want to pay. Scalpers are getting more and more ridiculous, especially with older pieces.
- More blouses and accessories, especially more high quality/expensive ones rather than just budget pieces. Metamorphose consistently releasing plus size blouses in the last couple of years has been a wonderful thing! I can get more styles than just "fully shirred body".
Future goals
Going forward I want to slow down buying permanently, especially now that I have a pretty good idea of what I like to wear/will keep coming back to, and because I have a lot of nice things already after building my collection for 9 years. I did some slow buying in the fall and while it was initially really difficult to not give in, it became easier and ultimately I don't really miss anything that I had to pass up. I also stopped checking secondhand sale sites every day so that I would be less tempted. Again, hard to do at first but after a little while I didn't really miss it much. Unfortunately the impulse of wanting to buy anything I think is especially pretty and looks like it would fit to try it out when it's a good deal is ever present, but I'm learning to consider smaller features and my preferences more carefully. It definitely helps to have a concrete reason for wanting to keep my money (like the aforementioned vacation). The vacation has come and gone but I'm sure I can make up some more good reasons to hold onto my money.
I do have fewer main pieces now than I did at this time last year, but am still at 72 main pieces and want to downsize further. How will I decide what I want to keep? I think a good next step is wearing them for extended periods of time, because if something is not comfortable I'm probably not going to wear it no matter how much I like how it looks. Guess that means I need to do a lot more wearing this year!
On to the pretty pictures!
MAIN PIECES (OP/JSK/Skirt)
Sorted roughly by color -- black, black + color, color from light to dark, in order of the spectrum because rainbows are cool.
BLOUSES
Sorted roughly by color in the same way as the main pieces. I feel like in the last 2 years or so, I've concentrated better on rounding out this part of my wardrobe and I'm glad I did. Changing which blouse you wear with a dress can really change the look and feel of an outfit. I also expanded my range of colors (gold, pinks, purple). I would love to play with more patterned blouses if I can find ones that fit.
Ann Taylor
2013
H&M
SOCKS AND TIGHTS
I have found I like cotton/cotton blend and nylon/nylon blend socks the best. I do also like tights sometimes for layering, but most brand tights don't fit me so I look for offbrand tights.
SHOES
This section has not changed very much lately, other than getting some navy shoes. I may have to replace some pairs of shoes in the near future because some are starting to fall apart.
ON THE WAY
I am trying to limit how much I buy, but the wish list items just keep popping up! I have a few things in mind to sell to make room for these.
Your wardrobe is awesome!
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