Welcome to week two of the Clockwise Dressing Challenge — over the next month I’m going to be working my way through my closet and wearing what I own to try to determine what to keep, toss, or reconsider. Follow along with me as I try to wear more than the infamous 20 percent of my wardrobe. Shout out to Mrs. Solomon for the idea!
If you’re new to this challenge, welcome and if you’re not, welcome back! No matter which camp you fall into, a refresher on the challenge is likely helpful. Here’s my definition, as outlined in my post from week one:
“Clockwise dressing is a concept invented by writer and creator
, where you pull and wear each item your closet in a clockwise direction, grabbing items from left (I think) to right (sure) until you’ve worn every piece. Solomon notes that if you live somewhere with seasonal weather, you should remove any pieces that don’t make sense — which is currently not really an issue for me. If you find yourself really not wanting to wear something and decide to skip it when you arrive to it, it’s probably a good indication you don’t need to own that piece any more. You can then place that item in a donate pile. You may also wear something and realize it requires a bit more love (like dry cleaning or tailoring) in order to reach for it again. If so, you place that item in a different pile to drop off at the cleaners or tailors. You can also skip your “go-to” pieces that you wear often because you already know those are keepers. I have a fairly small wardrobe and chose to wear my go-tos as they came up, but forced myself to style them differently than I normally would.The goal of the challenge is to get an accurate inventory of your closet and a better understanding of what you wear.
This past week was a little less seamless than the first. I found myself making some updates to the rules out of necessity, as not everything that was physically next in my closet made sense to wear for the day. The way my (very tiny) closet is arranged is by category, color, and size. That means, pants and dresses are to the far left, then sweaters and blouses are in the middle and tees and tanks live to the far right. Oh, and when I say pants, I mean anything but jeans. I have about four jeans I wear on repeat, so it wasn’t really worth including them in this challenge, unless it was to supplement a top. Anyways…
Because of my closet layout, I moved through my dresses, skirts, and pants fairly quickly and landed on my lightweight sweaters and long sleeve-blouses on day 10.
does tell you to remove any non-seasonal pieces from your wardrobe before starting the challenge, but these pieces actually are what I consider seasonal for spring and summer. Unfortunately, the weather was hitting 90 nearly everyday in Austin this past week, so even a lightweight sweater or breezy long-sleeve blouse was not going to happen.What I did instead was switch the direction of my challenge on day 10 (this is now the counterclockwise challenge I suppose) so that I could focus on my tank tops and tees. Perhaps by the end of these 30 days, the weather will have cooled enough to try for the lightweight sweaters and blouses again — a girl can dream.
Without further ado, here are the looks from week two.
Disclaimer: I do not have a great full length mirror, so please excuse my awkward outfit selfies.
Day 8
The Piece: Ecote Poplin Tiered Midi Skirt (sold out, similar style here)
The Verdict: I bought this skirt last year from Urban Outfitters and wear it a lot. Honestly, coming off a long weekend, I was excited to have pulled something that felt like me and didn’t require a ton of creative juice to style. I thought adding the hat was a nice touch — both aesthetically and because I needed to wash my hair. 🙃
Keep or Donate: Keep
Day 9
On day nine, I pulled the H&M striped dress above and couldn’t think of anything I wanted to wear less. I’ve been toying with the idea of getting rid of this dress for a while — it was a 2020 impulse purchase and I think I just liked that it was flowy and easy to throw on and go during a time that was not easy or throw and go. Ironically, these are the exact reasons I don’t love it now. It’s a touch too preppy, girly, and — not to mention — pretty see-through. I have no idea how to style it without feeling like its wearing me. I finally had my first “toss” under my belt.
The Zara crochet dress on the right is a keep but a no for the day because it just didn’t feel work appropriate — it’s curve-hugging and slightly see-through thanks to the crochet holes. I realized I’ll probably have a lot more “weekend” looks in my closet I’ll have to skip over for this challenge if they fall on a weekday, but it is a good practice for me to pull them out, look at them, and see if I want to keep them even for the weekend’s sake. Here’s what I pulled next.
The Piece: En Saison Brielle Dress Brielle Dress (sold out, similar style here)
The Verdict: I bought this dress to wear in Italy for my honeymoon last year and I love the ruched detailing and balloon sleeves (certainly seeing a pattern with my dress choices). Usually, I’ll wear it piled high with gold jewelry, but I felt like keeping things understated this day, so I just added basic black Mary Janes and threw my hair back in a slick low bun. Chic or boring?
Keep or Donate: Keep
Day 10
If you made it through the saga above, you know day 10 is when I decided to switch the direction of the challenge out of necessity. What I failed to mention above is that before I switched directions, I had one more skirt to try on. It was a polka dot silk midi-skirt from the Loft (picture this but with tighter dots) that I bought for an interview in 2019, but actually wore a lot up until 2021. I tried it on and it was wayyy too tight and uncomfortable.
This is the first piece in my closet I’ve tried on that hasn’t fit (I thought I’d cleared most of those out, but I guess not) and I was at a bit of a loss of what to do. I’m currently working on a Substack about my weight loss journey and if it’s okay to lose weight to fit back into the pieces you love (not to spoil too much of it, but I gained 30 pounds from 2020-2023 due to health issues and other factors and I’m working to get back to a size I feel comfortable at). I have a pile of clothes sitting my guest room closet that I’d love to be able to wear again, but I’m not sure this skirt is one of them. I placed it in a “maybe” pile for now.
The Piece I actually wore: Madewell Embroidered Ruffle Trim Sleeveless Top (sold out, similar style here)
The Verdict: Okay, this kinda feels like cheating because I wear this top so much, but it was first-up upon switching directions, so a win is a win. It also gave me an excuse to wear my new barrel jeans (that I lament about in this no-buy post). Despite how it seems, this look was not sponsored by Madewell.
Keep or Donate: Keep
Day 11
Another skip — I have a feeling weekends will be tough for me to just pull and go. I usually have a specific activity in mind (this time a day out with friends to watch the UT football game) which requires a bit more planning. I wore a white tank, my barrel jeans above, and my Samba sneakers but forgot to snap a pic. The ’fit was basic enough, you get the gist.
Day 12
The Piece: Zara Crochet Dress (sold out, similar style here)
The Verdict: I decided to go back and wear this dress for Sunday brunch with my husband and I’m glad I did. I got three compliments on it and it was the perfect look for a day spent brunching, shopping, reading, and napping (surprisingly comfortable for a quick doze off on the couch).
Keep or Donate: Keep
Day 13
On day 13 I pulled this ruched peplum top from Zara circa 2020 that felt a bit too summer-y for the fall weather we’re finally experiencing in Austin — and by that I mean the 80 degree weather we’re experiencing. Even when this top did feel seasonally appropriate, I struggled to wear it. It’s a pretty color and I love the baby doll silhouette, but it’s a bit big and sort of makes me feel like I’m wearing a tent. Since I bought it for $39, I’m not sure I want to invest the money to get it tailored, but I also don’t feel like donating it just yet. For now it’s sitting in my “maybe” pile.
The Piece I actually wore: Zara High-Neck Knit Top (sold out, similar style here)
The Verdict: This top gets a lot of use, despite having a tiny hole in the armpit that I need to mend. I wore it with my Mango denim skirt, my very worn-out faux leather western belt from Nasty Gal, my trusty Zara suede booties, and my husband’s baseball hat to cover my unwashed hair. I personally love brown and black together, so this outfit felt like me — and honestly, I’m surprised I’ve never styled these pieces in this way before.
Keep or Donate: Keep
Day 14
The Piece I wore: Reformation Spritz Linen Top (sold out in aquamarine, other colors here)
The Verdict: I bought this top back in July for a beach trip that proved to be unseasonably cold. The top never made it out of my suitcase. If I hadn’t been doing this challenge, I likely wouldn’t have pulled the top out again until next summer, but as it was next in my closet, I gave it a go. This look is a bit more summer-y then I’d like for September 10th, but I did try to make it feel more transitional with a sweater tied overtop, closed-toe shoes, and a muskier perfume that I’d usually wear when it’s colder. (If it wasn’t 90 degree today, I’d have styled the top with jeans as well.)
We often talk about ways to transition warm weather clothes for fall by blending colder weather elements like textures, colors, and layers — but as someone who wears more floral scents in the summer, I think leaning into perfume that feels muskier and woodsier is also a great way to create balance during the in-between season. Speaking of creating balance,
wrote a great Substack about leaning into fall when you identify more with a summer color palette. Check it out here.Keep or Donate: Keep
As someone who is also living in an 80+ degree humid “fall”, (shoutout to my mid Atlantic babes!), I kinda love wearing summery stuff (white, linen, dresses that don’t touch my body) for as long into “autumn” as possible. I’ll be missing them soon enough 🙏
I’m considering doing this challenge because I have so many clothes and I don’t wear a lot of them. I need to figure out what I don’t wear because I don’t like it/it’s dated or because I just haven’t gotten creative with styling it. But I think I might go really slow and do it one day a week like every Monday I’ll do the clockwise challenge and other days of the week where what I want.
Also wanted to shout-out for Carhartt baseball caps. They fit my tiny head perfectly