Last week, I started a new series in which I share some of the entries from my outfit journal.   The first installment elicited quite a few comments and seemed to be popular with readers, so I’m going to dive in to another post in the series today.   This time, I will be focusing on a theme, pants/jeans outfits with coats.   I was basically happy with three out of the four looks I feature below, but there were still things I would change about each outfit.

Do you keep an outfit journal and/or photograph what you wear? 

Keeping my outfit journal is helping me to fine-tune all of my ensembles and I’m happier with more of what I’m wearing as a result.   It’s very rare that I rate anything I wear below an “8” on a scale of one to ten these days, but my standards are also increasing.  I am no longer willing to settle for ill-fitting or uncomfortable clothing, especially since I now know that I can get by with much less.  If I don’t love – or at least strongly like – what I’m wearing, I’m perfectly happy to pass it on to someone else.

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Before I delve into the topic of today’s post, I’d like to say a few things about my last article, “Putting Together a Dressy Wardrobe Capsule.”  Judging from some of the comments I received, I realize that I wasn’t clear enough about some aspects of that post.   I had originally intended to put together a true formal wardrobe capsule, but then I realized two things:  I own very few true formal items and I rarely attend those types of events.   So instead, I put together wardrobe options for the occasions when I get more dressed up than usual.

Some of you wrote that most of my outfits in the post would be things you’d wear to work.   If I worked in an office, I would very likely wear such outfits to work, too.   However, I live in a very casual community in Southern California where t-shirts, jeans, and flip-flops reign supreme.  Thus, what’s considered dressy around here may not mesh with that description in your part of the world.   Even if our environments and lifestyles are widely divergent, I still hope that my “dressy” wardrobe example was useful for you.

If what you will need for more dressed-up or formal events is different from what I showed, you should definitely compile your dressy capsule in line with those considerations.   If you are interested in writing a guest post depicting a true formal wardrobe capsule, please contact me, as I would welcome such a post!

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