One Year Wear Count Project | November Update

November Wardrobe Count

You might remember that in October I embarked on my epitome of wardrobe geekiness of a project, called One Year Wear Count project. The basic idea was that I wrote down everything I wore every single day for a year, in an attempt to understand what are my most worn items, but also as a way of slowly documenting my wardrobe by stealth.

I had quite a few interesting comments when I launched the project (and thank you to all those of you who thought I am barking mad for not saying so!) so I think now it’s time, after two full months, to come back with an update. Strictly for statistical purposes, I will focus on November.

Disclaimer:  I have purchased or made all items featured in this post, but it may contain affiliate links, marked with *. Please read my Reader Disclosure Policy for what that means exactly.

What I will be covering in this post:

  • The numbers!
  • Key insights from this months and overall
  • My favourite outfits from November

Before we dig in, I’d like to offer a bit of context for my month. The weather was quite mild in the UK in November, so I could pretty much stick to my usual autumn wardrobe, with only small dips into deep winter items, like puffer jackets and warm boots and chunky jumpers.

In terms of activities, pretty much home-work-home, with a bit of travelling for work and a few festive occasions. I was off sick for a few days as well, where I did not get out of my pyjamas at all, and I had a few weekend days when I didn’t go out of the house, so I was just wearing my more casual clothes (none of which are me-mades).

The numbers

My most worn items

1| Oversized colour block coat: Me-made, I am Patterns Artemis | 22 times
2| Suede ankle boots: RTW, old, from *Office Shoes | 10 times
3| Black skinny jeans: RTW, old, from *Marks & Spencer | 5 times
3| Knitted turtleneck: RTW, old | 5 times
4| High waist twill trousers: RTW, old, *Marks & Spencer | 5 times
4| Suede knee boots: RTW, old, *Marks & Spencer | 4 times

Total individual items worn:  41

Total individual me-made items worn: 16

Me-made: 39%; Refashioned 2%; RTW: 59%

Days with no Me-made items: 3

Pyjama days: 2

Number of items worn only once: 24

[ctt template=”1″ link=”2b5B2″ via=”no” ]Have you considered doing a wardrobe count? Alex from Sewrendipity embarked on a one-year wardrobe count project and she is sharing her November analysis on the blog now. Did she wear more RTW or more self-made? Check out the blog to find out.[/ctt]
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Insights

Unsurprisingly, my new wool coat was the most worn item. The weather was quite mild, so I did not have to wear my puffer jacket too much, except for my trip to Denmark at the end of the month, where it’s much colder than here. This, of course, helped to limit my ‘no me-mades’ days, somewhat artificially, but I think it still counts as I do have other RTW winter-ish coats.

I also noticed that I tend to stick to 3 pairs of shoes, my ankle boots for everyday comfort, my knee-length boots (see below) for dresses and skirts and the flat winter boots for warmth. I am really pleased with how much wear I am getting out of these few pairs that I have had for a while. The ankle boots have a funny story too. I bought them two years ago and the heel cap fell off. Carl tried to fix them for me and he actually managed to sever a third of the heel. But my trusty cobbler managed to shave off the other one as well, and I actually much prefer this heel length than the original one. There is a lot to be said for the dying art of shoe repairs and how much the cobblers help us keep shoes alive instead of buying new ones!

In terms of types of items, tops were the number one, followed by outerwear, jumpers and dresses in a tie (based on the number of unique items). I guess this reflects the season, though I am surprised that I did wear so many dresses. I feel like I’m quite over them at the moment.

Key insight: Not surprising, the staples came up on top, with my coat, shoes and skinny black jeans being number one. My winter turtleneck is also a staple, but I was a bit surprised that the black twill trousers made it into the top 5. Also, the majority of items (59%) were worn only once, which means that I still have a lot of clothes to rotate!

Favourite November outfits

Look 1

This was my absolute favourite look this month! I wore it to work, of course, on one of the colder days. I know, it’s a lot of greys, but a bright red lipstick is always great for a bit of a colour pop!

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I’ve had this poncho for more than 10 years and I don’t wear it very often, but I love to layer it over a crisp shirt or a turtleneck. I really enjoy the way that the very wide neckline showcases the shirt collar and the pop of white. As to the bottom, these culottes are some of my favourite makes, as they are stylish, yet warm and comfortable. And they go great with these boots, that are my go-to dressy footwear for winter, again very comfortable.

November wear count -Day outfit with culottes, white button down shirt and grey wool poncho

November wear count -Day outfit with culottes, white button down shirt and grey wool poncho

November wear count -Day outfit with culottes, white button down shirt and grey wool poncho

I’m wearing: 

WOOL CULOTTESme-made | RTW SHIRT – *Marks & Spencer (old) | RTW PONCHO – Old | SUEDE BOOTS – *Marks & Spencer  (old) | DISCO BALL EARRINGS – V&A Museum

LOOK 2

You won’t believe this, but this was a Christmas party outfit! Yeah, I know, in November *rolls eyes*! Turns out that nobody is available for Christmas parties in December anymore! So I opted for the festive green rather than red, as it was on a Friday and I went straight from work.

Again, one of my favourite makes, this dress really has seen me through all occasions. I wear it to work, going out and everything in between. It’s cosy and warm in winter, especially with a slip underneath. You can’t see it in the pics, but the zipper on the shoulder seam is a really cute touch!

Also, a word about the boots. You might have seen them on the blog before, they really are my favourite shoes, not the least because I got them reduced years ago from £70 to £12.99! They are super comfortable for high heels, 100% real leather, and I can actually walk to work in them and last to go out afterwards as well!

Also, I was wearing gold accessories on the night, but I completely forgot to put them on when I took the pics and only just realised when I was editing them!

November wear count - Dreen ribbed sheath dress with green tights and wood platform leather boots

November wear count - Dreen ribbed sheath dress with green tights and wood platform leather boots

November wear count - Dreen ribbed sheath dress with green tights and wood platform leather boots

I’m wearing:

GREEN SHEATH RIBBED DRESSMe-made | GREEN TIGHTS*Marks & Spencer | WOOD PLATFORM BOOTS – Zara, old

Look 3

Ok, you won’t believe this, but here is another Christmas dinner outfit, from November! Our other group of friends with whom we usually have Christmas dinner also could only do November. So we met in a pub and they lay out the turkey for us, including Christmas crackers!

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As it was a Saturday night in a pub, I wanted to strike the right balance between festive, comfortable and not overdressed. So I went for yet another wardrobe glam staple, my Elmira ballet Wrap top from Seamwork. With a cami underneath of course, for modesty. I wore it with high waist trousers, which I think is a cracking combo for not showing your muffin tops.

Needless to say, I wore trainers on my way there and switched to these awesome v-front slingbacks with a block heel that I don’t wear enough!

November Wardrobe Count - Red ballet wrap top with high waist trousers and block heel sling back sandals

I’m wearing:

BALLET WRAP TOP IN RED PONTEMe-made | CAMISOLE – old | HIGH WAIST TWILL TROUSERS – *Marks & Spencer, old | V-FRONT BLOCK HEEL SLING BACK SANDALS – *Marks & Spencer, old | CROCHET EARRINGS – V&A museum

Look 4

As I mentioned before, it was a month with a lot of travel for work (early morning train rides to Yorkshire do not call for a lot of sartorial aplomb, I’m afraid). So I needed to find something both warm and comfortable and a bit funky as well. Enter pleather sleeves!

You might have noticed I have a bit of a habit of putting pleather sleeves on just about anything, and this was no exception. It’s an old RTW jumper that I ‘refashioned’ by adding a bit of a twist. I really love the outcome and it’s really one of my winter staples.

I’m wearing it with my trusty black skinny jeans, the suede ankle boots from my top 5 above and a little black bag that I take with me when travelling so that I don’t have to dip into my laptop backpack all the time for my phone and wallet.

November Wear Count - Skinny black jeans with chunky beige jumper with leather sleeves, small bag and black suede ankle boots

November Wear Count - Skinny black jeans with chunky beige jumper with leather sleeves, small bag and black suede ankle boots

November Wear Count - Skinny black jeans with chunky beige jumper with leather sleeves, small bag and black suede ankle boots

November Wear Count - Skinny black jeans with chunky beige jumper with leather sleeves, small bag and black suede ankle boots

I”m wearing:

REFASHIONED JUMPER | SKINNY JEANS | SUEDE ANKLE BOOTS -*Office Shoes, old | CROSS OVER BAG – *H&M | MISSMATCHED GOLDEN EARRINGS *Marks & Spencer,old 

 


 

So here we are with the counting for November. I must admit, it’s actually more complicated and time consuming that I originally anticipated, but I am nothing if not determined and anal in equal measures, so I might have to think of a different approach over Christmas, but this does not end here! Stay tuned for more updates in early January.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE OUTFITS OF THE LOT? AND WHAT IS YOUR BEST ADVICE FOR COLD WEATHER STYLING, ESPECIALLY YOUR SELF-MADES? PLEASE TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

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9 Comments

  1. Elaine Marsh
    7 December 2018 / 9:10 PM

    Can’t possibly choose between the outfits they all look great on you and very goto and versatile. Winter is not my best season as I tend to go for warmth over glamour. I’ve found people don’t dress up anymore, certainly not for pub festivities. If it’s glamour you are after at this time of year you either have to go to an hotel or a private event or both. I love dresses but feel over-dressed and cold, moderate evening glamour for me now is something black and warm on top and a leather skirt or velvet trousers for bottoms, and a new pair of black velvet medium heeled courts on my feet. They are comfortable and I can tolerate them for the whole evening. I’ve got a velvet thing going on at the moment, but I love the fabric.I live in a rural place and therefore all travel is usually by car, so shoes rather than boots for me for this type of event.
    I have made the effort this year to make most of rotating and mixing up the clothes I have out for my winter wardrobe and come up with a lot of reasonable variations plus lots of scarves.

    • sewrendipityalex
      Author
      9 December 2018 / 7:53 PM

      Velvet does sound yummy for winter, Elaine! And I really love leather too. Unfortunately, in London, winter or summer, it’s the tube for me, so I have to be very strategic in terms of footwear!

  2. 8 December 2018 / 8:02 AM

    Very cool idea and appeals to my geeky 🤓 side too!! Loved day 3 outfit!

    • sewrendipityalex
      Author
      9 December 2018 / 7:53 PM

      Thank you! Have you tried something like this yourself?

  3. Sydney
    8 December 2018 / 2:47 PM

    Well, you look wonderful in all of them, but if I had to choose, it would be day 3. Thanks for doing this – it is really interesting.

    • sewrendipityalex
      Author
      9 December 2018 / 7:54 PM

      Thank you, so glad you’re finding this interesting! I love doing it, but it’s good to know other people are also enjoying it.

  4. Pam Archer
    8 December 2018 / 3:45 PM

    Thank you. I find your posts inspirational and while I just recently took up tracking what I’m wearing (me-made and RTW), it’s apparent that the accessories need to be added to the tally . You look great in all and I so appreciate you sharing your findings! Looking forward to more. Happy holidays to you!

    • sewrendipityalex
      Author
      9 December 2018 / 8:02 PM

      Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment! I had initially started tracking accessories at well, but in winter I tend to wear my cashmere scarf almost every day, as it’s my favourite (and one of the few) winter staple. So it felt that it wasn’t particularly representative. In the spring/summer, scarves and belts and stuff are more like true accessories that complete outfits, rather than necessity.

  5. 10 December 2018 / 8:00 PM

    I love all of these outfits, Alex, but Look 3 stands out because you look so great in red. Off to copy everything I can! LOL.

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