Hi, I’m trying to find clothes that fit, last, and flatter my body. I’m about 5’3” and I’ve been struggling for a long time with learning how to dress myself. This blog documents my journey.

My clothing struggles:

• I don’t have an established style or real sense of how I’d like to dress overall
• I’m short with a relatively curvy figure (my hips are a lot wider than my waist) so I struggle to find pants where both the hips and waist fit. Either the waist measurement is good, but my thighs don’t fit, or my legs fit, but there’s a large gap at my waist
• Everything is too long on me. Pants drag on the floor and sleeves envelop my hands
• The distance from my crotch to the narrowest point of my waist is very long so it’s hard to find things that are actually high rise on me
• I’m not sure exactly what my color season or kibbe body type or anything like that is or how I could use that to assist in finding clothes that flatter me. I think I’m a Winter according to the StyleDNA app?

My clothing goals:

• Collect articles of clothing over time that are comfortable to wear (physically and mentally), easy to care for, and are high quality
• Exercise frugality where it makes sense to. Invest in high quality pieces that can be worn for a long time, avoid trendy pieces which will go out of style quickly, and mend and alter what I can
• Learn more about various types of garment construction, fabrics, how to tell what a high quality vs low quality garment looks like, how to tell which fabrics are good to avoid pilling, etc.
• Learn to be a patient shopper. Know where to source what I’m looking for and develop a sense for what things are worth and what a good “deal” looks like. Avoid getting caught by fake limited time promotions and FOMO when I’m feeling sad and desperate

My shoe struggles:

• My lifestyle involves a lot of standing and walking. If I can’t stand and walk in them for long periods while wearing then, they don’t fit into my life
• My toes are somewhat wide and my heels are somewhat narrow. Any flats, pumps, or loafers I try are either way too tight in the toes or my heel slips out when I try to take a step
• I hate tying my shoes or taking a long time to put my shoes on. I spent a few years wearing hiking boots and I’ve never felt so much social anxiety as when everyone gets up to go somewhere and they’re all walking away without me as I’m frantically trying to lace up my boots

The purpose of this blog:

• create a database of clothes and shoes as I try them on and find pieces and brands that work with my body
• document the durability and comfort of the clothes I own/purchase so I know which fabrics/weaves/brands are more reliable and high quality
• find clothes that are easy to care for, travel well, and protect from UV rays