The cull diary - the BIG shoe cull (Part 2 - the results)

It took the whole day, with a bike ride and cooking dinner in between to break things up a little, but I got there in the end and finished my shoe cull!

Here is a picture of the CULLED shoes:

The culled shoes - 27 pairs!

The reasons for culling each pair of shoes varies... too small, too big, too unstable, worn out or out of style - are the common reasons, but one pair of shoes I culled because I fell down the stairs in them. As a result I'm a little hesitant when I wear them now - I probably should just get rid of them.

Here is what my shoe collection looks like after the big shoe cull:

All my shoes - AFTER shot

Having undertaken this exercise I am considering not keeping my designer shoes in their original boxes.  I think that there is more potential that the shoes will be worn more often if they are out in the open.

Here are the close up shots of each of the bookcases:

Post-cull contents of bookcase No. 1 - shoe count: 8 pairs

Post-cull contents of bookcase No. 2 - shoe count: 17 pairs

Post cull contents of bookcase No. 3 - shoe count: 19 pairs

I have manged to whittle down my shoes from 71 pairs down to 44 pairs, noting that there is a pair on their way to me from Net-a-Porter that I purchased last night - which will take my shoe tally to 45 pairs.

ETA: plus my Country Road biker boots... which are on their last legs, which will take my shoe tally to 46 pairs.

The Twilight Zone

Potential future cull candidates - colour coded!

There are a number of pairs which survived this particular cull... but they are future cull candidates - either not worn often enough or needing replacement soon.

RED - too high (I'm eager to try Insolia Inserts to see whether they will make these shoes more wearable).

BLUE - whether these shoes stay or go depends on how often I wear them over the coming months.  The brown and grey boots were purchased for a good price at the end of last Winter - they remain untested! 

YELLOW - slightly too small. Most probably the brown wedges I will give to my Mum when I find a suitable replacement. My silver MJ Maddies I will keep because I like looking at them and they are my first ever designer shoe purchase.

GREEN - these shoes are well worn and most likely to be replaced in the coming year... hopefully if I am lucky I will find some nice pairs in the US!

Cull tally since starting this blog: 108 items!

The cull diary - the BIG shoe cull and I ask the question "just how many pairs of shoes does one woman need"? (Part 1)

Just how many pairs of shoes does one woman need?

According to some online resources, a woman could get by with as little as three pairs, but there are a vast array of sites which are more generous in their offerings listing the 5 or even 10 pairs of shoes every woman needs or must own.  The contents of some of these lists however is a little dubious, with one list taking up 2 out of the 5 precious spots with one pair of sneakers and one pair of hiking boots!  The two could be combined if you ask me...  Another site which lists 10 pairs every woman must own includes one pair of black flats and one pair of ballet flats - again I think the two can be combined, leaving a spot free for a different style for greater variety.

If it were up to me to to come up with the ultimate list of shoes each and every woman must own it would look like this (be prepared to die of boredom):

1. Sneakers
2. Ballet flats
3. Sandals
4. Ankle boots
5. Tall boots
6. Dress/work shoes
7. Evening shoes

Note that I have not specified heel types or colours, as I think that these specifications would depend on the woman's height and also on the contents of the woman's closet.  

So what's in my current collection I hear you ask?

This (not including my workout sneakers, flip flops and house slippers):

All my shoes - the BEFORE shot

Yes I know, I own a lot of shoes... but I wasn't born yesterday! This is a result of many years of shoe shopping and recycling (selling my shoes on eBay only to buy new shoes). Many of the shoes have not been worn in a long time and others are really on their last legs - hence a big shoe cull beckons.

Here are some close up shots of each one my IKEA Billy bookcases (in case you were wondering what I store my shoes in). Note that all my designer shoes are ordinarily stored in their original boxes and shoe bags and the long boots live in the hallway closet, but for the purpose of this exercise I have displayed them in the one spot out of their boxes.

Contents of IKEA Billy bookcase No. 1 - shoe count: 19 pairs

Contents of IKEA Billy bookcase No.2 - shoe count: 24 pairs

Contents of IKEA Billy bookcase No.3 - shoe count: 24 pairs

I have not photographed 3 pairs that have been residing in a green bag since we moved into our place (clearly the first cull candidates), which means that the grand total of shoes that I own before the cull is 70 pairs... a nice even number... hmmm.

Stay tuned for the results of my shoe cull and the AFTER shots.

ETA: make that 71 pairs... I found a pair hiding under the bed.
ETA: make that 72 pairs... I forgot about my Country Road biker boots which were hiding in my boyfriend's side of the closet.

Found! The perfect breton top which won't break the bank...

Whilst wandering around Myer on Friday night (aimlessly looking around for a housewarming and Christmas gifts), a breton top caught my eye from afar.  I tentatively approached, expecting to see a hideous print on the front, an odd repugnant ruffle or a beastly spotted bow hanging off one side (as has been the case in my search for a breton top which is plain and simple). But no... I was pleasantly surprised.  What I saw was exactly what I have been looking for: thick cotton/elastane blend fabric, boat neck, 3/4 sleeves and the perfect length to boot.  My only criticism - it only comes in one colour way being navy and off-white! I have been wearing the top all weekend like so:

Breton top - Weekend by Jane Lamerton ($49.95) (own image)

Pants - J.Crew

Bag - SABA

Boots - Isabel Marant 'Dickers'

Earrings - Mimco

I enjoyed wearing it so much on Saturday, that when I saw that Jane Lamerton was on sale this weekend (30% off), I bought another one for myself and one for my Mum as a Christmas gift. Greedy much? The first time in a long time that I have bought multiples of something.  I should add that I was with my boyfriend and whilst paying for the tops he was muttering "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist shopping until we arrived in NYC..." Haha, he knows me too well.

Images source: Net-a-Porter, SABA, Mimco

Set yourself a goal...

If you are like me (whereby you can only save money to spend money) - I think that there is nothing more effective than booking a holiday (or buying a new car... or saving a deposit for a home... or renovating a house) in order to get one's butt into gear to start scrimping and saving.

In exactly 3 months time I will be in the United States.  My first stop is New York City!

I have never been, so just writing these words makes me all giddy.  Of course the thing that makes me more excited is that I plan to shop till I drop... but for the time being I need to STOP shopping.  I keep telling myself that every dollar saved now is an extra dollar that I can spend in the US (sorry Aussie economy).

Over the next three months I plan to do a lot of wardrobe planning to best prepare myself for the biggest shopping spree of my life.  Hopefully I can also find the time to document events on my blog.

My wardrobe planning will involve:

• Completion of my wardrobe culling and cull diary. I am eager to see at the end how many items I have eradicated.  Like I said in my last post - I have a long way to go...
• Creatation of my wardrobe inventory list (a complete list of the items in my wardrobe). Ideally I would like this to be both a written and visual record. In doing so I also plan to critically analyse each item in my wardrobe in terms of frequency of use, adaptability for all seasons and occasions and each item's cohesiveness in terms of the other pieces in my wardrobe. I would like to do this to better understand the types of clothes I should be buying over those that I buy because they just look great, but then don't get worn. I'm interested to see how many pieces I own.
• Determine exactly what it is that I want my ideal wardrobe to contain. The missing items will comprise my US shopping list (again, just writing the words "US shopping list" gets me all excited). I want to shop smart and not like a shopaholic maniac.
• Creation of the perfect travel wardrobe, for travel across the US in March... I gather layering is the key?  I also need to keep in mind that I will need lots of space for my shopping! 

Image source: myfdb

The cull diary - the big pre-Summer cull

A few weeks ago I wrote that I had spent an entire day culling. I basically emptied the entire contents of my wardrobe and then tried each item on to determine whether it was staying or going.  I'm far from finished as that weekend I only managed to sort through my wardrobe.  When I get around to the culling AND the writing, I will document the items culled from my shoe closet (IKEA Billy bookcases), chest of drawers and tall boy.

That weekend I culled:

• 1 black skirt (chain store bargain)
• 5 pairs of pants
• 15 dresses (mostly Summer party dresses, but a few well worn workhorses too). 

Number of pieces culled that weekend: 21

Cull tally since starting this blog: 81

I ashamedly admit that many of the items that I culled are now too small on me presently, albeit most were well worn *phew*.  I did notice however that out of the six bottoms I culled, only two pairs of pants could be classed as "pre-loved", the other three pairs of pants hardly worn (read: two pairs of pants were NEVER worn).  The skirt was an impulse purchase off a Witchery sale rack.  I remember that I forced myself to wear it a few times last Summer, only to discover that - yes, there was a reason why the whole range of sizes was still available even though the skirt was 80% off RRP...

The Twilight Zone

Upon finishing my cull I had a few pieces floating around in what I will refer to as "the twilight zone". I was very undecided about whether or not to officially throw the items on the cull pile:

• Kate Sylvester black military detail linen dress
• Veronika Maine cream shift dress
• Witchery grey linen blend pants
• T.L. Wood black silk shift dress
• T.L. Wood khaki linen 'safari' suit

The reasons why these items survived the cull is because these pieces totally represent my style... (unfussed and easy to wear) but the only thing stopping me from wearing these pieces tomorrow - are my giant hips! I hope that one day (I give myself until 1 March 2012) I can fit into these items again.  After all, without hope, we have nothing...

I also decide to "archive" a few pieces (I mentioned this in my last post about how I plan to organise my wardrobe).  These are the pieces which hold sentimental value to me. A separate post me thinks!