My inspiration board is overflowing with, well...inspiration. It was still a little tough to discern through my personal style when I seemed to like so many different things across the board. And since I can't BUY.ALL.THE.THINGS, I needed to start to whittle down what will really work for me. This wasn't necessarily about what's trendy, or what others are wearing. This was more about finding what works for me.
So, today, let's think about our lifestyle. There are undoubtedly things on your board and in your taste that are absolutely beautiful, but will absolutely NOT fit into your regular day-to-day activities. Though you may like wearing heels and blazers and silk blouses, if you are a stay-at-home-mama, like me, you will be in trouble if your entire wardrobe is filled with heels and blazers and silk. Try cleaning up your toddler's poopy diapers in that! Am I right?!
So, stop and think a bit. In a month's time, what things or activities do you find yourself doing? Where are you spending your time? Your wardrobe should reflect these parts of your life.
My lifestyle + my unique tastes = my personal style.
It was helpful for me to think of my lifestyle in terms of percentages, all within a month's time.
Since I am a stay-home-mama with two kids under two, my life is very home-based. In 30 days, I spend...
3 Sundays/church + 1 date/holiday = about 13% dress up clothing
7 outings (errands, coffee with friends, church activities, etc. = about 23% cute, casual clothing
25+ days at home and outside play = about 83% lounge and active wear
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Now, this all adds up to 119%, which is silly, but this is mostly because several days, like a Sunday, include two outfits... Dress up for church, come home and put on lounge wear...
To fudge things a bit, I am planning my wardrobe around about 10% dress up, 20% cute and casual, and 70%+ for lounge/active.
(Keep in mind several pieces will do double duty. For example, I wear black yoga leggings as lounge wear, and also under dresses as dress up clothing. I also wear plain v-necks as lounge wear, but pair them with scarves or cardigans for cute & casual clothing.)
The point isn't to get too hung up on exact percentages. Just let the percentages give you an overarching idea of your regular, everyday lifestyle and how your wardrobe should reflect it.
My overarching takeaways are that the vast majority of my wardrobe should be crazy comfortable, if not active/workout wear. I need to sprinkle in some "cute" pieces and some layers to help pieces do double duty in different categories.
From here, I went back to my Pinterest board to notice outfits and pieces that would actually fit into my lifestyle. If you wanted, you could even delete the pins that, in your process of discernment, you find don't fit into your regular life.
In the meantime, use what you've learned about your lifestyle to influence additions to your inspiration board. I have been pinning lots and lots of outfits that include t-shirts and sneakers lately!
"Don't put this off any longer, Kelsey!" she says to herself as she jams another pair of jeans that don't really fit into her overflowing drawer.
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