Monthly Summary:
- 59% of the clothing in my wardrobe was worn this month (-3% from previous month)
- 5 pieces were purchased (+25% from previous month)
- 3 pieces were retired (+100%) and lasted an average of 2.5 years before retirement
- 77% of clothing worn was black, excluding outerwear (-5%)
- 52% of my outfits were rated a 5/5 by me with a spike occurring after I purchased 4 new pieces (+6%)
Key Observation:
I got the most excited about outfits that included a new piece or a combination that I hadn't worn before. Near the end of the month I purchased four new pieces and found that even the addition of one item (in this case a pair of gold hoop earrings) made me see my older clothing in a new light. I think it's good to introduce new pieces (whether swapped with friends or purchased new if they fit your standards) to keep yourself sharp and continually improving.
Click the images above to view a summary of what I wore during February.
Week 1: How comfortable were my shoes based on miles walked?
I was excited about this metric before tracking it, but after looking at the data, it was a bit disappointing as there doesn't seem to be too much of a relationship between the two features.
So, let's just talk about shoes and walking in general instead and see if there are any insights to be gained!
I walk a between 3 to 4 miles everyday during the work week and, depending on the weather outside, between 5 to 8 on the weekends. For commuting, I typically wear comfortable sneakers and (usually) change into nicer shoes for the office. However, sometimes I get too ambitious? lazy? optimistic? not sure what the right word is, but sometimes I wear shoes that are not meant for walking for long distances and get blisters that take several days to heal and restrict me to wearing only my most comfortable shoes. Well, that's what happened this week when I tracked that metric. I had sore feet and didn't really travel that far since it was really cold. In short, there just wasn't enough data to draw any conclusions, so I'll bring this metric back when the weather is better (and hopefully I'm walking more) and for a longer period of time.
Week 2: How often did I want to go shopping this week?
This is going to be a new permanent metric. I found it so interesting because before tracking it, I was certain that I didn't think about shopping.
Well that's just not right and here's why:
The majority of my wardrobe is 2 years old, which means that a lot of it is starting to show some wear and tear or just isn't my style anymore.
This data reveals exactly how long I think about buying something new before I pull the trigger.
The reality behind this graph is that I knew I needed a new pair of shoes because a pair of flats that I rely on for work and dressier events was falling apart and unfortunately not able to be repaired. Additionally, I was down another black dress, which I also rely on for my work uniform.
At first, there was a pair of bright red boots that I had my eye on for most of the month. I went to look at them a few times after work and almost pulled the trigger, but didn't because the quality and price just didn't align. I spent a lot of time thinking this month about what made sense for me, my style, and goals. If you look at the data you can see a clear increase in desire to go shopping leading up to Feb 24. I purchased four pieces in one day after my birthday brunch with a good friend. It might have seemed like I bought a lot of stuff on a whim, but thought had gone into it before walking into the store.
Week 3: How often did I cause wear & tear to my outfit?
I couldn't even visualize this data because there was hardly anything there. One day, I got a deodorant mark on my black shirt and another day I spilled some spaghetti sauce on myself during lunch. Both stains were taken care of immediately. That being said, I'm still tracking this metric to see if anything interesting insights come to light.
Week 4: Was I rushed to get dressed?
I'm lucky in that I usually don't have to get to work too early and during the week, I wear my self-created work uniform so it doesn't take too long anyway.
The one day I did have to rush was when I had a really early morning presentation at work.
I'm still surprised when I can't figure out to wear because my wardrobe is small and I love so many of the pieces. I think it's the lack of novelty and the pressure we put on ourselves for occasions that brings it on. I'm really interested in participating in some swap events either with friends or my community because I think our brains crave change, fun, a challenge, or whatever magic that new clothing has.
What is Wardrobe Science?
This year, I'm tracking what I wear so I can build a dataset of real-world capsule wardrobe data to analyze. I was inspired to start this project after reading an article by Torrence Boone from Google, that tracked fashion trends by Google searches. Read his article here.
Want more? Check out Michelle Wan's wardrobe project, here.
