Drawing My Entire Closet
“I like my money right where I can see it... hanging in my closet.”
Some people organize their closet in-person. I do it remotely, and digitally, I guess?
For my first quarantine art project, I decided to catalog my entire wardrobe. I started these drawings a month ago, where I drew some of the items I’d purchased recently. But with all this newly acquired free time I have and no one to judge my stay-at-home hobbies, I decided to embrace my love for drawing, fashion, and cataloging things, and set out on this journey to create a visual database of every single piece of clothing I own.
I love making lists and analyzing trends. This past week I’ve stayed up late every night hand-drawing item by item with Netflix on in the background. I am currently staying at my parents’ house with a handful of lounge clothes, so I can’t even reference my actual clothes. It was a test of my memory trying to remember everything I bought this past year based on order confirmations emails and iPhone photos. But it was so much fun!
Through this process I actually learned a lot just seeing all my clothing items organized by category. As I colored things in I reflected on where I got the item, how much I wear it, and if/when I’ll get rid of it.
Apple Pencil + Procreate is how the magic happens.
Things I learned
I really love drawing fashion. I’m obsessed with clothes and drawing them feels like buying them all over again. What a rush. Drawing helps you focus on the garment you’re depicting - the drape, and print, the cut - and it feels like I’m truly paying attention to my clothing pieces when trying to capture the essence of a garment in a few strokes. It’s also a great stress reliever during these uncertain times. Drawing is my way of coping.
Most of my closet are pieces I acquired this last year. And I love so many of them because I’ve made it a point to buy quality wardrobe essentials over quantity. Although my style is ever-evolving I always find myself drawn to classic shapes, cuts, and colors.
I need to get rid of cheap polyester things that don’t stretch. Sure they may look cute but I never reach for them when I get dressed in the mornings. I want stretch, I want breathable, I want fabrics that flow nicely.
I need to evaluate color when I buy a one-off colored item. I dress like the French; I love black, white, and neutrals. I need to think twice before I introduce a color like mint green or off yellow into my wardrobe. Even patterned items should be things like neutral tweeds that are more easy to mix and match rather than bright geometric prints.
Growing up in LA, I experienced real summers. I learned to love summer clothes. But I’ve finally come to the sad realization that I can’t wear them much in the foggy Bay Area, so I need to stop buying them.
Loving your clothes is so much more sustainable than buying sustainable. Yes, shopping sustainably is amazing, but truly loving the items you own, wearing them a lot, and keeping them in your closet for a long time is even better than shopping lots of secondhand.
After categorizing all my clothing into tops, bottoms, dresses, sweaters, outerwear, and gym clothes, I arranged them into outfits. This is the equivalent of dress-up sessions at home where I try to create as many outfit combinations as possible. Here’s the result of my virtual digital outfit planning.
Tried-and-Trues
These are no-brainer outfits I’ll repeat until the end of time. They work. High-waisted black skinny jeans, you just get me.
Work
Work makes up the the bulk of what I dress up for. Because I work in tech, I dress relatively casual. But also because I work in fashion with other women, I want get to dress up a little while still maintaining that nonchalant California vibe.
Weekend
Here’s where I get try fun styles a little bit too flashy for work. Honestly these would all be Reformation pieces if I could afford the splurge.
Gym
I hate athleisure. I only have these clothes because I need something stretchy enough to kick ass in at the gym. I own one Nike shoe and one hoodie that doubles as a sweat towel.
Working from Home
Ha, as if I change out of my PJs to WFH. But on those lazy days where I literally have to put on something just to go see the dentist or get an oil change, here’s what I’d wear. Obviously everything is centered around sneakers and espadrilles, my lazy shoes.
Dressy occasions
Okay I’ll admit I have more special occasion items than these two dresses, but those are all old things from college that probably don’t fit me anymore. So these are the ones I like. Drawing the prints were very fun.
Vacation/summer
Colors! Hats! Sandals! Cute instagrammable pieces that fit into the slinky midriff-baring influencer aesthetic of social media. Traveling allows you to assume a different temporary identity, so why not try some crazy ruffles and impractically large hats in a tropical destination?
Potpourri
Last but not least, I thought I’d challenge myself to get creative with some more outfits and step out of my comfort zone a little. Mixing and matching professional with casual? Wearing gym tops with work pants? I want to push the potential of every piece I own.
This exercise definitely helped me evaluate how versatile my pieces are. If there aren’t more than two ways to wear something, I likely won’t get much wear out of it. It’s a good rule to follow when shopping.
This project has also helped me find gaps in my wardrobe. I need a couple more staple pieces that’ll significantly increase the number of outfit permutations. Any recommendations for light wash straight leg jeans?
Defining your personal style is a big undertaking and a long journey, but doing all this work makes me happy knowing I own clothes I really love. Clothes that make my days a little brighter and allow me to express myself and my creativity to the world.
Thanks for getting this far down the page. I’m sure you mostly likely don’t care about what’s in my closet. But in the off chance you’re a clothing brand or trend-setting celebrity looking for someone to painstakingly draw every item in your closet, hit me up.
