september things

Not quite fall, not summer anymore. Just September. Sidenote, does anyone remember Self-Stitched September? Like Me-Made May, except at a time when I feel more like taking pictures of what I wear (totally honest, once I'm home after finals, all I want to wear for like two weeks is my pajamas). I wanted to do it this year, and then I realized that no one apparently did it anymore.

• Lots of North and South. Early Victorian period drama with complex characters and social justice. Bestill my beating heart.
• Kinda the same note, but I procrastinated studied while watching TV last night and the TV shows coming out this fall was unimpressive. Every single character just felt like a flat trope, and dialogue seemed canned.
• Sketching from original Godey's Lady's Book fashion plates for my costume design and history class. AKA the best. 
• Loving fall -- sweaters and boots weather will always be my favorite! (Specifically, this sweater and a pair of brown lace-up boots; I've been feeling rather rustic and cozy in my style.)
• Figuring out how to grocery shop/cook for one person. And then there's the two days before grocery day when I eat peanut butter, and I pretend that's okay. Um, so basically that's tonight. 

A little bit of inspiration from around the web:

• This recipe for black bean soup. Yay for long lasting shelf stables!
• And this recipe for roasted garbanzos. And then after that, this recipe for cinnamon sugar ones. And 'cos it's all garbanzo beans and protein, you pretend it's all healthy.
• But maybe my questionable food habits will get better, because I really want to cook more like Kate's supper suggestions here. (Sidenote: I love her blog so much. Might be a little excessive.)
• I love winged black eyeliner. It's probably that dance life. So obviously, I loved these tips for making a better cat eye!
• I'm still slowly chipping away at this bag. I always forget how long sewing takes when I'm doing it all by hand. But never fear junk around my room! It will get done. Just...eventually. 
• Also, I'm super excited for pumpkin baking season. Pumpkin spice lattes are okay. But pumpkin bread is where it's at, folks. Just need to go buy some pumpkin!

I hope you're having a great start to fall! Go have some spiced chai or the requisite not pumpkin-pumpkin spice latte or cider or whatever your favorite fall beverage is.

thoughts on style: a color palette

I find exercises in minimalism and thoughtful consumption fascinating, but it's not really something I need to do in this season in my life. Much as I may love capsule wardrobes, I'm a broke college student with less than 50 items of clothing, not counting dancewear or shoes or things like that. If I "cull my closet" much more, I won't make it through my 2 week laundry cycle. And who has time to do laundry every week?

No, my problem is more that as my life shifts from being a college girl to a full-time teacher, I need my closet to also shift from "neatly dressed student" to "professional-looking adult." But basically what the Wardrobe Architect series and 30x30 remixes and capsule wardrobes try to achieve is a thoughtful analysis of what you have in your closet and what you use and how, and that's something anyone can use, especially to plan what comes next. I'm a college student - analysis is what I do, and planning out this next wardrobe shift sounds like a better idea than making/buying willy-nilly.

I tried out the color palette exercise in the Wardrobe Architect and this is what I came up with. The last four colors are ones I have in my wardrobe for one reason or another and really like in theory but don't always love in practice (actually this sweater and this sweater are what I'm thinking of). I really like the top two rows of colors though, especially those neutrals and dusty blue, which is kind of a neutral. Sometimes, I just want to have a closet of neutrals, a lot like Caroline from Unfancy. And then I remember dark reds. It's always the dark reds that get me.

My goal is to sew and knit and, if I have to, buy clothes within an intentional color scheme. That way things will go together nicely

Do you ever get analytical about what you wear and your closet? What are your thoughts on those minimalist experiments?