How do I plan an Outfit? Friend Friday

I have been meaning to do a post about this topic for awhile now, so I was excited to see the questions appear in my email this week! Please email me if you have any questions about some of the ideas below.

1. How do you determine what you will wear that day?

There are many different answers to this question. Recently I have let the laziness that comes with winter hibernation come over me, and I have spent more time baking and reading than I normally would on outfit planning. I always start with what my day will consist of and what the weather will look like. If I am unplanned and am picking the outfit out in the morning, I like to turn to my inspiration binder to help me pull ideas many mornings. Whenever I see an outfit I like on a blog, or in a magazine I print it out, give it 3 holes and add it to my pink binder. I keep the binder near my closet so in the mornings as I'm getting ready I can flip through and look for a bit of inspiration. On good weeks, I like to take some time and pull outfits out for a few days. I than lay out the outfit complete with accessories and shoes on our guest bed. I need to do this more often as it makes getting dressed in the morning so much easier!

2. Do you plan outfits out in advance for a whole week, month,
weekend?

A number of months ago, I would find that I can become inspired at any moment, and was jotting down future outfits ideas on all sorts of scrap paper. I would often come home from work with lists on small memo pads of outfit combinations to try out. To help streamline my thoughts, I found an image via google of a little naked lady, and printed out her image. Than, as I am catching up on reality televisions, I break out my trusty colored pencils and dress the little naked lady with new outfit ideas! ( see the image above) Than when it comes time to get dressed in the morning, I can simply pick out an outfit I already have pre-planned! When I complete a page with a drawn outfit and details, it also gets 3 holes and gets put into the same inspiration binder. One section of the binder is for my drawings and notes, and the second section is for inspiration outfits.
My mother is an amazing listener and knew that I had been doodling on these printed girls. For my Birthday this past November she got me a whole collection of Fashion Sketchbooks! The sketchbooks come with stencils ( though I haven't been using them) and pages and pages of naked girls! Along with the girls ready for dressing, I also received an accessory specific sketchbook, and a shoe specific sketchbook. Now that the holiday season has settled down I am excited to bring outfit sketching back into my weekly routine! It really helps my creative juices flow, and has helped me put together some great looks.

( My mother purchased these books at Toys R' Us. I recently saw the Project Runway Wedding Design Sketchbook at my local Wal-mart. Amazon also carried a full collection of these items)

3. Do you have any specific way of tracking outfits and items already
worn so you don't repeat?

Not at all. Besides this blog, I don't have any way of listing what I have already worn. I don't worry about repeating. If an outfit is good enough to want to wear again, than you should! I can confidently say however that I have not repeated more than one outfit in 2010. I just enjoy finding new ways to wear what I own and that leads to a lot of new outfit ideas.

4. How do you discover new combinations of items in your closet?
(Trial try-ons? Hanging items together?)

Occasionally, when time allows I can get a great dress-up session in. I love to put on one item and try different items with it until I get some perfect combination ideas. Mainly, I just make sure I know what is in my closet. Knowing what I have clean, and how everything fits means I often put together outfits in my head. Than I try to hang them together before wearing so I don't forget!

5. To streamline the process for 2011 what is one new thing you can do
to cut down your dressing time?

I want to get back into my outfit sketching. December and the beginning of January I have had a hard time getting back into it. Keeping my inspiration binder constantly updated means I can spend less time preparing to get dressed and more time actually being dressed!