Happy Sunday!

I swear eventually, I am going to hammer all of these out! I suppose the beauty of this new project is that I’m not adhering to such a strict posting schedule. Definitely more conducive to everyday whims. But on the other hand, I’d like to finish this outline for your behalf and then get it started! I’m very anxious to begin the actual project, especially since April is already halfway over. Eep! Okay, let’s do this.

PHASE FIVE: STRATEGIZE

True story: WordPress thinks “Srategize” isn’t a real word. Luckily, I disagree and so does dictionary.com. According to the dictionary to strategize is “to make up or determine strategy. To plan.” Heck yes!

See in PHASE FIVE we will have already build a pretty solid wardrobe. Pared down to only the best pieces, stored neatly and accessibly, compiled in digital form and with a foundation of quality pieces, ready and at my employ. So this is the part where we figure out out.

Every girl knows how to dress herself on a daily basis. Some better than others. But in this phase, I want to really look at some of the tips and tricks of planning a wardrobe. Any Susie Cupcake off the street can put together an outfit on the fly, but what I’m interested in is how much more can be gotten out of my clothes when I actually put time and effort into this process?

There are so many facets to this. In the age of style blogging, I’ve learned a lot about utilizing inspiration from a breadth of sources. We’ll look at some of the best places to get outfit ideas. Additionally, well look at how you take an idea from inspiration, such as another blog or a fashion magazine, and then make it one’s own? And how do you organize your inspiration. As someone who once kept a Blackberry file of outfit ideas, as well as a folder of magazine clippings, sticky notes on a white board and now a Pinterest file, I’m interested in streamlining this process. It turns out I’m such a fan of planning, that it’s all I ever do! I am a Jenny of ten plans and zero executions. I’m hoping PHASE FIVE will help me change that by discovering one solid system.

Ah but there’s more to strategizing than just borrowing outfit ideas off the interweb! In PHASE FIVE, I want to look at other techniques for getting all that I can out of my wardrobe. Some other things that I’m curious about are just your basic rotations to make sure each piece gets its due. I know a friend who specifically keeps her shirts at the front of the closet and then banishes them to the back after wear, so that the other shirts get a fair shake. I’m not sure if this practice would work for me or not, but I do think it’s worth experimenting with.

And what about seasonal rotations? I’ve never been one to swap out my winter things for summer things or vice versa. All my shit is just shoved in a closet space year round. But if we’re minimizing and streamlining, perhaps it’s time for me to start? PHASE FIVE will be all about trying new strategies and seeing what sticks.

Lastly, PHASE FIVE may be a good time to examine some Best Practices as generated by the fashion and style blogging community. We’ll look at remixing. What it means and how to make it work for us. (Because I still have no idea.) And 30 for 30 challenges. What’s the deal with those?

I’ve already touched on how hectic the original Closet365 schedule was, but the truth is that many of us have busy lives and sometimes putting together a cute outfit is low on the priority list. But I’d like to think there are ways around this. Is there merit in planning a week’s worth of outfits? How do we brainstorm on the go? I’m highly curious about the dressing habits of my readers. Does anyone still lay their clothing out the night before? Does it work? I want to know!

PHASE FIVE is about putting the wardrobe to work and hoping something fabulous comes out of it. Hooray!

Title courtesy of Mark Ronson – “Introducing The Business”