Outfitting for Fall V.2012: Reduce and reuse

Hope boxy tee in wine; J.Crew wool trousers; Church's Sally loafers

Yikes. I don't know if time seems to be going by quicker because I'm older or if I'm older because time is flying by, but even if earthquakes and climate change have made the Earth rotate faster, I feel simultaneously worn out and bored all the time. It wasn't too long ago that I blogged about gearing up for Fall when here we are again -- albeit this time, it feels much too warm to be dressed in sweaters and a waxed jacket in September. My purchases for this season and the next will be highly pared down, for reasons explained in great detail over the last few posts (and I won't get into them again). The funny thing is that I've found myself pretty much set up for the colder weather with hardly worn purchases from last year, which I guess is testament to the fact that I probably overspend on clothing.

I work mostly from home these days in a pseudo-hermetic state, trying to write up my dissertation papers whilst clad in jammy pants, moisture-wicking t-shirts and fuzzy socks. It's gotten so bad that I sometimes feel terribly apologetic when the mailman comes around with a package for me to sign and I look like some post-apocalyptic madwoman. Either way, being at home so often has had some ill-effect on me - I'm getting less exercise AND getting so complacent such that I'm putting more emphasis on comfort and convenience when I do eventually have to go out. I'm not at the point of sweatpants and Minnetonka slip-ons... yet. And not that I would ever allow (or forgive) myself to roll out of the house looking like a wad of disastrous bedding, but I'm starting to think that maybe baggy wool pants and some fleece pullovers isn't necessarily a bad thing or a completely inappropriate attire for the Pacific Northwest. I mean, most of the people I know bike to school, wear trail shoes/clogs and neon raincoats, and by default, every single one of them lists their favorite activity as hiking.

My outfit for work these days has been a pair of extra slouchy pants and a boxy t-shirt. I rotate through a lot of Hope tops and a few other breton tees, and I have several pairs of J.Crew wool Elan trousers that I stockpiled from last year. Suiting is one of the few things J.Crew gets right. Also, mostly because I'm lazy and detest ironing, lately I find myself reaching for shirts a lot less. The tee and trousers combination makes me little bit more workplace appropriate - not overdressed but not sloppy either. It's extremely comfortable, and I think that when it gets into chillier weather, I'll just throw on a scarf and fleece jacket and call it a day.

I don't particularly have a wishlist/purchase list anymore because let's face it - I don't do a very good job sticking to it (and the list seems to multiply every time I surf the internet), but I've added a pair of black Church's loafers to the shoe closet, after receiving a Net-a-Porter gift card for the wedding. I'm dithering about buying a Primoeza sweater over at Anaise but other than that I'll see if I can reduce and reuse and hopefully save enough to make a trip to Barcelona next year (or for retirement, dogs etc., etc.). I'd be interested to read how everyone else's wardrobe preparation/purchases are coming along!

P/S: Man, I really need to get back into swing of blogging because I've realized that I'm incoherently stringing wordstogether that run off in long winding sentences and don't have any structure. Like this. For example, this is the third iteration of this post. Apologies for nonsensical grammar, hopefully I haven't gotten any spelling wrong. I did win a spelling bee competition when I was nine, after all.