Tracey
01-10-2005, 01:04 PM
Ok, now that Ava’s cold weather wardrobe is done, any new purchases will be for warm weather. I went through her closet and drawers and inventoried her wardrobe (listed below). I went into this little project trying to learn a few things: 1. Just how much have I overbought? 2. What is she actually wearing and what is she not wearing? I am hoping this will help me make better decisions when buying next year’s winter wardrobe.
Here are the things I found out that are good: 1. I absolutely love 90% of what I bought for her. 2. She has a wide variety of styles and colors to choose from.
Here are the things I found out that are bad: 1. Ava has a ridiculous, un-wearable amount of clothing. 2. 19 outfits have never been worn---including a full 1/3 of her Gymboree. This means she has only worn about 60% of her clothing and much of that 60% has only seen one wearing.
The conclusion: I need to do a clothing roster :(. From looking at what she actually wears, for the most part, I prefer the soft knit and easy to move in outfits from Baby Lulu, Indygo, Chez Ami, Hanna, Sweet Potatoes, Painting Red Rhinos, and Gymboree. Some of her most beautiful things have not been worn because either they don’t fit, or the weather hasn’t been cold enough, they just aren’t that practical, or just the sheer volume of things to choose from. Our winters are very mild and I just don’t need this much stuff. I feel very guilty looking at the numbers because it is wasteful. I do console myself with the fact that I can afford what I have bought. However, I do not like to throw away money and there are PLENTY of other things I could spend this money on (or save for). I need to do better. I will also re-sell most of it and get a great deal of my money back.
I think having a little girl just makes it hard to pass up sweet little outfits. I mean, before you know it she will be too old for little peter pan collars and sweet little overalls. I need to be more practical and buy things that are both beautiful and wearable. I must limit myself to a manageable number of lovely, yet impractical outfits. Lastly, be careful about Gymboree. I haven’t bought much from any one line and have skipped many. I still have more of it than I want because they crank out so many lines. Of her 15 outfits, 7 see enough wear to justify their purchase.
Thanks for listening and for the posts that have made me think more about these things.
Brands and number of complete outfits from that brand:
APRIL CORNELL 1
ANAVINI 2
BABY LULU 3
BEAUX ET BELLES 3
BEETS N SNIPS 2
CAKEWALK 1
CHEZ AMI 4
CUSTOM/HANDMADE 4
GAP 2
GYMBOREE 15
(GYMBO BREAKDOWN: SF (2) EH (3) DTC (1) CAAB (3) AS (1) WITW (1) CS(1) TIGER (1) GIRAFFE (1) GF (1) )
HANNA 2
INDYGO 1
ISABEL GARRETON 1
JACADI 1
JANIE AND JACK 1
LE TOP 1
LULLABY SET 1
MOLLIE AND MILLIE 1
MULBERRY ST. 1
NARTJIE 1
ORIENT EXPRESSED 1
PAINTING RED RHINOS 3
PICTURE ME 1
PIECES BY TAM 1
PINGORAMA 1
PLANTATION SHOP 1
RALPH LAUREN 1
SWEET POTATOES 3
TARGET 2
TRALALA 1
TRISH SCULLY 2
VIVE LA FETE 1
SWEATERS NOT PART OF OUTFITS:
SAM’S FRIEND
RL PINK CABLE CARDIGAN
APRIL CORNELL IVORY CARDIGAN
GYMBO WHITE CARDIGAN
COATS:
LAND’S END SQUALL
SARAH LOUISE DRESS COAT
SLEEPWEAR:
1 HANDMADE GOWN
3 HANNA ZIPPERS
ETA: I left a column off counting the number of outfits...skews my numbers a little bit, but you get the idea
Here are the things I found out that are good: 1. I absolutely love 90% of what I bought for her. 2. She has a wide variety of styles and colors to choose from.
Here are the things I found out that are bad: 1. Ava has a ridiculous, un-wearable amount of clothing. 2. 19 outfits have never been worn---including a full 1/3 of her Gymboree. This means she has only worn about 60% of her clothing and much of that 60% has only seen one wearing.
The conclusion: I need to do a clothing roster :(. From looking at what she actually wears, for the most part, I prefer the soft knit and easy to move in outfits from Baby Lulu, Indygo, Chez Ami, Hanna, Sweet Potatoes, Painting Red Rhinos, and Gymboree. Some of her most beautiful things have not been worn because either they don’t fit, or the weather hasn’t been cold enough, they just aren’t that practical, or just the sheer volume of things to choose from. Our winters are very mild and I just don’t need this much stuff. I feel very guilty looking at the numbers because it is wasteful. I do console myself with the fact that I can afford what I have bought. However, I do not like to throw away money and there are PLENTY of other things I could spend this money on (or save for). I need to do better. I will also re-sell most of it and get a great deal of my money back.
I think having a little girl just makes it hard to pass up sweet little outfits. I mean, before you know it she will be too old for little peter pan collars and sweet little overalls. I need to be more practical and buy things that are both beautiful and wearable. I must limit myself to a manageable number of lovely, yet impractical outfits. Lastly, be careful about Gymboree. I haven’t bought much from any one line and have skipped many. I still have more of it than I want because they crank out so many lines. Of her 15 outfits, 7 see enough wear to justify their purchase.
Thanks for listening and for the posts that have made me think more about these things.
Brands and number of complete outfits from that brand:
APRIL CORNELL 1
ANAVINI 2
BABY LULU 3
BEAUX ET BELLES 3
BEETS N SNIPS 2
CAKEWALK 1
CHEZ AMI 4
CUSTOM/HANDMADE 4
GAP 2
GYMBOREE 15
(GYMBO BREAKDOWN: SF (2) EH (3) DTC (1) CAAB (3) AS (1) WITW (1) CS(1) TIGER (1) GIRAFFE (1) GF (1) )
HANNA 2
INDYGO 1
ISABEL GARRETON 1
JACADI 1
JANIE AND JACK 1
LE TOP 1
LULLABY SET 1
MOLLIE AND MILLIE 1
MULBERRY ST. 1
NARTJIE 1
ORIENT EXPRESSED 1
PAINTING RED RHINOS 3
PICTURE ME 1
PIECES BY TAM 1
PINGORAMA 1
PLANTATION SHOP 1
RALPH LAUREN 1
SWEET POTATOES 3
TARGET 2
TRALALA 1
TRISH SCULLY 2
VIVE LA FETE 1
SWEATERS NOT PART OF OUTFITS:
SAM’S FRIEND
RL PINK CABLE CARDIGAN
APRIL CORNELL IVORY CARDIGAN
GYMBO WHITE CARDIGAN
COATS:
LAND’S END SQUALL
SARAH LOUISE DRESS COAT
SLEEPWEAR:
1 HANDMADE GOWN
3 HANNA ZIPPERS
ETA: I left a column off counting the number of outfits...skews my numbers a little bit, but you get the idea