The Wardrobe Project: T-Shirts and Sweaters and Blouses! Part 1

Oh My! (Sorry I couldn't resist) Guess what I edited after Dresses?

I couldn't stop myself last night. I got through all three.

As I mentioned in my last post, I started with T-shirts last night as I thought they might be easier to edit.

Here's what I started with. This is the pile which resulted in me dumping the drawer of tank tops and camis onto the floor:

This is every single t-shirt I own. I included anything that was a jersey knit, be it printed or even embellished.

You might be asking yourself "What is in that blue bag at the end of the rack Lisa?". It's a bag of worn, maybe stained, maybe bleached out tee-shirts I own that I was planning to dye (like this blazer) someday. I decided to include them. They are part of my wardrobe. I am keeping them around so I can do something with them (which I haven't). Sigh.

Oh! And as I was gathering all of the tees I forgot about the one I was wearing!

Hello!!

So here are the numbers:

Total Number of T-Shirts: 37

(including long sleeved, and the one I'm wearing and any embellished tees)

Total Number of Tank Tops: 7

(I consider these the ones with thicker straps)

Total Number of Camisoles: 16

(I use these for layering)

Grand Total: 48

I actually thought there would be more. But just under 50 is a lot. I know...

At any rate, I started to edit. I tried a different approach than last time.

On the first pass I separated the for sure "keeps" and the for sure "gives" and the "maybes"

On the second pass I compared the "maybes" with the "keeps" to see if there was any overlap (like 2 black t-shirts for instance) and then I kept the best one.

This seemed to be working!!!

I was totally brutal this time! Maybe it's because t-shirts are much more disposable than say...dresses!

I was still hoarding tees though. Like this one. The colour in the collar is leached out and become faded and I still kept it! (Shame on you Old Navy, this happened shortly after I bought it, last fall. ugh.)

Things like this tank, I have kept because I love the punchy colour and I just LOVE the flower detail on the strap. But, it's WAY to short on me now.
Solution? Remove the flowers and find myself a new tank top. Or use them for some other project.
So that's what I did.

Or, I was finding several instances of situations like this as I edited. When I find a t-shirt I like, I usually buy one in every colour. Like these. Smart Set: 6 years ago (they have washed SO well! Go Smart Set!). I've worn them a lot. I think it's time they go. So they did. (Go Lisa!)

So how did I do?

SO GOOD! (happy dance ensued!)

Here are the results:

Total Number of Tees Remaining: 15 (from 37)
(This includes the one I'm wearing, 2 band tees I can't say good-bye to yet and a vintage knit that my grandma gave me)

Total Number of Tanks Remaining: 3 (from 7)

Total Number of Camis Remaining: 5 (from 16)
(2 were relegated to pjs. We'll see how that goes when I sort them. They're days may be numbered)

Remaining Grand Total: 21! (from 48)

Here are the shots of the keepers for your viewing pleasure(scroll back up for a reminder of the befores!):

Please don't get me wrong. This was VERY hard for me to do. It made me nervous. It made my heart pound. I had to take many deep breaths.

I only kept those things in heavy rotation and got rid of anything that was not in perfect condition.

This has left some SERIOUS holes in my t-shirt wardrobe.

I am Missing:

Basic Crew Neck Long Sleeve Tees - 1 in Black, 1 in White
Basic Crew Neck Short Sleeve Tees - 1 in Black, 1 in White, 1 in Grey
Basic Tank Tops - 1 in Black, 1 in White.

I'm starting a list so I'm prepared when I start shopping!

Stay Tuned for Part 2! T-Shirts were such a success that I couldn't help but do a few more last night!

Lisa.xo