A review of the clothes I bought in 2019

The first half of this year was taken up by clinical rotations largely spent in a small capsule wardrobe of all the wards-appropriate clothes I own. June to November were spent in scrubs: one month of anesthesiology elective and four of orthopedic surgery rotations. Other than that, I've been schlepping around my apartment in loungewear and wearing the same three outfits to friends gatherings and dates just for fun. So, not much new added to the wardrobe this calendar year, but some key items like my black leather boots.

January to June

1. Frye black leather ankle boots - $112 - after years and years of thinking about buying black leather ankle boots, I finally did, and it was worth it. Is there more to say?
2. Red crop top - gift from roommate - birthday present from my roommate, who also wears crop tops in our mid-20s. It's pretty loud and bright for my skin tone, but I've found occasions to wear it out.
3. Black and white striped dress - secondhand, from roommate - cute little dress that I wore to many a summertime date. It was too short for my tall roommate, so she passed it along to me, and it fits me just right.

July to December

1. Leather saddle bag - vintage - $25 - I bought this purely on impulse when I was wandering around downtown Charlottesville. There is an abundance of cute vintage stores and could imagine myself living a cute life in that cute town. I even tried on a few dresses from the 1940s just for fun, chatted with the people working there, and definitely felt like I needed to buy something. So I did, and it barely fits my phone, wallet, keys, and small miscellany. But I got a lot of use out of this little bag and I'm glad I did buy it, even on impulse.
2. Asics running shoes - $60 - my old ones were wearing out badly, and I found a colorway I liked on discount on Amazon.
3. Muji green merino wool turtleneck sweater - $55 - actually, this was an impulse purchase, on sale. I've wanted a green turtleneck knit for a long time, and tried on all the ones offered by Uniqlo and Muji one day (they are very close to each other in Boston) and bought my favorite. I actually do feel guilty about this one because it was not well-planned.
4. ExOfficio underwear, 3 pairs - $28 - Black Friday deal. Am phasing out my shabby underwear and wanted to get some that were high quality, lightweight, and designed for handwashing and drying quickly.

Total 9 items

Total $280

My post-mortem of my 2019 purchases is that despite the relatively small number of items, some were poor decisions. The green sweater was an impulse purchase that stemmed directly from me wanting to dress my fantasy self, a more put-together, poised person than I actually am. The color drew me in! I tried on four different sweaters in that color at MUJI, but really, I don't think I needed it. The green blouse doesn't suit me at all, and now that I'll be mostly in scrubs, I don't need to have more blouses at all. I feel like I'm aging out of some of my clothes, and that I do need to reassess my wardrobe, but the unhealthy thought patterns and impulses are still there. I'll need to work on that.

I'm actually staying at my home program for residency, and staying in my apartment. I was kind of expecting to have to leave, and undergo a massive decluttering and cleanout of my belongings. Despite my staying put, that's a worthy endeavor and I'll use this quarantine time to do that.

By the way: I'm patting myself on the back for the underwear purchase since I now know I have another year of handwashing ahead of me!

A one-bag minimalist sprint for interview season

First of all, the itinerary:

• 1/9 AM - travel to NYC from by bus
• 1/9 PM - interview social for Hospital #1
• 1/10 PM - interview at Hospital #1
• 1/10 PM - travel to Boston by bus, sleep at home
• 1/11 AM - interview at Hospital #2
• 1/11 PM - interview social for Hospital #2, sleep at home
• 1/12 AM - travel to California by plane
• 1/12 PM - interview social for Hospital #3
• 1/13 AM - interview at Hospital #3
• 1/13 PM - travel to parents' house by car, sleep at home
• 1/14-15 - sleep at home
• 1/16 PM - travel to LA by plane
• 1/17 - Hospital #4 interview and interview social
• 1/18 AM - travel to NYC by plane
• 1/18 PM - interview social at Hospital #5
• 1/19 PM - interview at Hospital #5
• 1/20 AM - travel to ABQ by plane
• 1/21 PM - interview social for Hospital #6
• 1/22 AM - interview at Hospital #6
• 1/23 - sleep all day in ABQ
• 1/24 AM - travel to PHX by plane
• 1/24 PM - interview social for Hospital #7
• 1/25 AM - interview at Hospital #7
• 1/25 PM - red eye flight back to Boston

And now, what I packed:

• Suit
• Blouse
• Grey dress
• Black wool shirt
• Grey Uniqlo heat-tech shirt
• Grey t-shirt
• Black gym shorts
• Black tights
• Nude tights
• Heels
• Black ankle boots
• Navy blue Uniqlo ultra-light puffy jacket
• Watch
• Black Fossil handbag

...and necessaries like underwear, computer, Kindle, chargers, toiletries, chocolate. Surprisingly everything fit comfortably and the bag was always accepted for United Basic Economy, whose luggage restrictions are one single item that can fit under the seat in front. I am very proud of being able to make the trip with such lean, lightweight luggage. In fact, I think such a trip would have been bearable only with such little burden.

Why did I do this to begin with? Mostly to save money and save the hassle of keeping track of all my stuff, at the cost of having a perpetually wrinkled suit. Some of it was a challenge in seeing if I could do it, kind of prideful, I admit. The bottom line: I did it, and it was convenient. And now it's done. This two weeks of travel coincided with a nasty upper (eventually lower) respiratory infection for the same duration, complicated by sore throat and very diminished voice in the beginning.

And now it's done, and I get to rest and agonize over my future.

I wrote this post in February and it stewed in my drafts for all this time. I matched into orthopedic surgery! I'm going to be an orthopedic surgeon! I'll find out where on Friday, but for now, I'm just happy happy happy that I've fulfilled a dream of almost eight years. More coming soon!

A review of my 2018 clothing purchases

Better late than never!

2018 was the transition from second to third year of medical school and all the responsibilities and growth and worry and challenges and accomplishments that go along with that. I did not, in fact, carefully develop and curate a professional wardrobe for the wards, but instead kind of just trundled along faking it with clothes that I already owned. I think I'm okay with that.

There are a lot of other things that happened in 2018, but as always, here is a roundup of the clothes that I bought. This is a practice to keep myself accountable, but also help forecast what I will need and want to buy in 2019. I think there has been a shift away from listing and counting in minimalism, but that kind of thing is in my nature.

January to June

1. Calypso St. Barth green silk embroidered dress - secondhand, Poshmark - $46 - this was a dress I had saved to a Pinterest board sometime early in college, and I found it on Poshmark and bought it with two friends' weddings in mind
2. Grey wool trousers - secondhand, gifted - $0 - my sibling bought these trousers from some thrift store and gave them to me. I didn't think I would wear them as much as I do.
3. Uniqlo blue striped linen shorts - $20 - nailed it with these shorts, wore them all summer
4. Eileen Fisher black silk t-shirt - secondhand, Poshmark - $30 - not a lot to say about this, other than I wear it weekly and hand wash it

July to December

1. Uniqlo black ponte dress - $30 - bought after our cat died, a bit too short for some clinical situations, but I do wear it to didactics
2. Uniqlo blue down puffy - $70 - as mentioned in this post

Total - 6 items, $196

Reflecting on this: it's not a lot, and I do see many flaws in my wardrobe pertaining to not enough. I am wearing through my hardworking black ballerina flats. A lot of my undergarments and socks are either falling apart or have undergone repairs - by the way, I'm pretty happy about increasing my skills in mending clothes! But I still anticipate replacing many things soon. While I don't think I look shabby, I do think I have room to improve my professional appearance. Ultimately, I'll be in a specialty that is in scrubs the vast majority of the time, so maybe I'm holding out on buying professional clothes to really nail in the quality over quantity point.

My last point of reflection is really about minimalism, and also about materialism. I think I understood this year that I actually am pretty materialistic in the sense that I have very strong, emotional attachments to my belongings, which makes decluttering hard. On the flip side, I really do subscribe to minimalism and hate excess in my life, so I restrict myself in owning things because I don't like to part with them. Somewhere, there is a balance between (1) being detached from earthly possessions and not letting them possess you, and (2) being attached to your stuff and in turn treating them with respect and care. Some intersection of the two is the basis of rejecting our modern disposable culture, and the basis for a ton of William Morris quotes/wardrobe curation/simple living and slow fashion/ethical consumption. Something something no ethical consumption under capitalism, but also, I don't know how I feel about influencers in this sphere. Greenwashing, too.

Anyways, that's it. Happy (belated) New Year to all!

Four years later, I finally bought a pair of black ankle boots! More on them later.

Ten item summer clinic capsule wardrobe - Family Medicine, Radiology

Clothes, hand washed, drying

This is more of a capsule wardrobe by circumstance, not deliberate curation. A bit about the status of my personal style and wardrobe now: I was building my professional wardrobe slowly over the past two years, and have settled on an equilibrium that I am happy with. I also moved to an apartment with much more limited storage, and am content being confined by space and eye-stress from clutter, if that makes sense. We also don't have a laundry in the building, so I am hand washing for the most part, and dragging my stuff to the laundromat less frequently.

I had my Family Medicine rotation - primary care, outpatient, plus a train commute - for six weeks, and it's over. The weather is slowly changing, but still swelteringly hot into the 90sF some days. I'm on Radiology nowadays and though nobody is really going to pay attention to what I'm wearing in a dark radiology reading room, we are in the hospital and I do feel obligated to dress better than I did in FM (+ no commute).

Here are my pieces:

Tops

1. Dark red sleeveless blouse - $20 - bought this for my medical school interviews and wore it to each one, looked very smart and professional under the suit that I babied it a lot. Now it's shown its nature as a cheaply made, fast fashion item and as nice as the color looks against my skin, I will definitely be spending more on my residency interview blouse
2. Purple flutter sleeve blouse - $15 - bought in 2010 for my high school job. It's very airy and breezy in hot weather, but that hardly matters if I have to wear a white coat. Unfortunately, it's showing its age and the fabric looks pretty worn (100% polyester), but I like the cut and the way it looks on me. I would not choose this color for myself again, though
3. Navy linen sleeveless shirt - $20 - this is a Uniqlo shirt that I wear usually for casual occasions, but it works in a pinch for the hottest of summer days. Very wrinkled, as expected of linen. I don't really want to buy more Uniqlo, but I am considering getting one of their rayon blouses
4. Black silk t-shirt - $25 - secondhand Eileen Fisher from Poshmark. Really good-looking shirt and fabric. With some of the above blouses nearing the end of their useful lifetime, I am definitely looking at buying secondhand, higher quality silk blouses for clinic purposes
5. Dark red mock neck shirt - $6 - from Uniqlo. This cheap little shirt is just barely appropriate for a casual primary care clinic, but I would not dare to wear this in the main hospital campus, even in the cover of darkness (again, Radiology). However, I did rely on it quite a few times in FM when it wasn't disgustingly hot
6. Blue and white psychadelic dress - $14 - this one again. It's 100% polyester too, but the movement makes it comfortable for the summer. I don't wear it too often

Bottoms

1. Black polyester A-line skirt - ??? - bought in 2010. Hardworking little skirt. I love it a lot, very versatile. I took in the waist and shortened (!!!) it to make it more professional, less witchy. It moves very well, and despite the 100% polyester, the cut is very breezy and comfortable in the hot, hot summer. I wear this about three times a week and hand wash on the weekends
2. Navy trousers - $9 - from H&M in 2011, a bit too casual for the hospital, but when there were FM attendings literally wearing leggings in clinic, I didn't care. I feel like this is okay for Radiology, but I have more professional trousers waiting for cooler weather

Shoes

1. Black flats - ??? - Lucky Brand flats dug up from my closet in high school. Don't remember ever buying them, and I never was a flats wearer until this year. I didn't want to tear up my pumps wearing them every day, and they were too formal for FM clinic anyways. These little flats are clear staples in my wardrobe now.
2. Sperry boat shoes - $95 - I don't remember exactly how much I got these for, but they are my default casual shoe and work when I'm wearing the trousers. Not sure I can pull these off once cooler weather hits, with darker trousers. Wouldn't dare wear them on Surgery, though

Looking back at this, ten items is a bit...Spartan. But I do promise you I'm handwashing very diligently. I'm not always comfortable with the "minimalism" game, but I feel pretty good about this. I am still actively pre-buying, that is, browsing Poshmark and keeping track of items I would want to buy. The plan is to replace the purple blouse with one of a similar cut, and buy another one. Professional shoes, too, for the cooler weather. 

The next post may be a roundup of outfits, and the one after that will be wardrobe planning for the autumn and winter. These are the kind of posts suitable for microblogging about minimalism in 2018.

S/S 2018 | Wardrobe Planning

I'm back from Step 1 hell, and from my Grand Canyon hiking trip. More on that later, but it was the most fun, challenging, and fulfilling great outdoors adventure I've had. I'm glad I shared the experience with my dad, and I hope to do a lot more hiking/camping/backpacking in the future.

It's kind of late for me to do a wardrobe planning post for this spring and summer, but the context is that I'm starting clinical rotations in a week and need enough clinic-appropriate clothes to dress up in. Currently, I own two 'nice' blouses, two potentially clinic-appropriate shirts, one dress, four pairs of trousers, and a skirt. For shoes, it's a pair of pumps a pair of flats. Looking at this, the only things I really 'need' to get are blouses -- everything else I have enough of, at least to get me started. I'll think about adding to my shoe collection when autumn comes around, or if suddenly during my first rotation (OB/Gyn) I realize I need clogs or something. I'll survive OB/Gyn OR with sneakers and maybe my very waterproof snow boots for the time being (only sort of joking).

Anyhow, here are my ideas for adding to my spring/summer wardrobe:

1. Short sleeved Eileen Fisher blouse, silk -- I've actually bought one of these secondhand from Poshmark, and may be gambling a bit on the sizing. I would prefer a looser fit, but the measurements may suggest otherwise. I wanted high quality pieces for a lower price and environmental impact, so secondhand I go
2. Eileen Fisher tank, silk -- there's another one of these on Poshmark that I want to buy. Both would be black, but it's hard for me to find colors that I want to wear (that are not navy, as I've temporarily banned myself from buying navy anything)
3. Muji dress, linen -- last year I sort of fell in love with a linen dress with 3/4 sleeves from Muji, took a great picture of myself in it, and never bought it. I don't know if I'll buy this year's version, but this marketing image with Honey and Silk was so captivating, and exactly evocative of how I want to be when I wear a linen dress (thanks, advertising)
4. Uniqlo shorts, linen -- well, I already bought these and they are great

Lastly, I'm actively trying to suppress my memory of Step 1. It was awful, I felt awful during and after the exam, and I don't think I did well. My dream specialty may be out of reach -- I'm almost certain of it. So I'll strike any mention of Step 1 from here. Grand Canyon post coming shortly, hopefully.

As a final aside, Eileen Fisher is a brand I have only heard of/had any desire to buy from thanks to the blog world. So many people I read wear Eileen Fisher. But, I love linen, and I love silk (of which I own...one garment so far). The consumerist web has nabbed me on this one!

A review of my 2017 clothing purchases

Left: my jeans | Right: a crazy Monstera deliciosa trying its best to survive in the hospital

As always, to keep myself accountable. I don't like doing too many clothing or consumption related posts in a row, but my updates in general have been pretty sparse.

Call it what you will, I'm trying to have a more intentional and critical approach to my wardrobe. Shopping as an activity to do out and about is loathsome to me, but that doesn't capture how much time I burn thinking about clothes, researching them, looking at them on the internet, or even going into a store and trying things on without buying anything. With that in mind, I'm listing my purchases and acquisitions in chronological order, +/- $5.

January to March

1. Uniqlo men's selvedge denim jeans - $50 - my winter jeans. I will write a long post about just these jeans sometime soon
2. Uniqlo dress - $20 - a really good purchase. I love this dress and wear it as often as I can. It looks professional and suits my body shape

April to June

1. School group tank tops (2) - $28 - unfortunately, I didn't have a choice in buying these or not. One was to wear to Boston Pride, the other was because I was a hiking group leader for the first year orientation hike. I bought the first one by choice, second one because I felt like I had to. I need to be more vigilant, but these serve me fine at the gym
2. Uniqlo linen sleeveless shirt - $20 - so important in the muggy humidity of an East Coast summer
3. Uniqlo mock turtleneck shirt - $5.90 - my replacement for the Red Polo of my youth. I like the cut of this shirt a lot, but noticed that the color has faded. Additionally, I find that Uniqlo tops are sometimes just too short for me
4. Scrubs (3 pairs) - free - a very, very kind chief resident in orthopedic surgery gave me three pairs of scrubs (exchanged for new from the hospital scrub machine) when I told her my scrubs were from Goodwill, and that students don't get scrub cards. She was such a darling, and absolutely radiated warmth and authority both. She taught me a lot and I am so grateful to have found a female role model, if only for the summer.

July to September

1. Mizuno running shoes - $60 - my old pair had a hole, which I discovered after my sock got soaked with blood in the OR
2. Maggy London black silk dress - secondhand - $45 - 100% an impulse purchase off of Poshmark. It's a gorgeous dress that I would wear to any evening occasion, though it's a bit too big. My first foray into the online secondhand market

October to December

1. Volunteering event t-shirt - free - I didn't have a choice here
2. L.L. Bean flannel - $30 - not as stoked about the black Stewart colorway, and I also think this one fits boxier than the same flannel I got last year. This was purchased on steep discount
3. Old Navy pixie pants - $18 - for my growing professional wardrobe. Bought on Black Friday
4. Old Navy underwear (4) - $20 - also bought on Black Friday. Not a huge fan of them, and I wouldn't have bought them had I known my mother would force me to get red underwear for my zodiac year (my other Chinese-American friends warned me, I didn't listen)
5. Uniqlo heat tech thermal - free - Uniqlo had a code for a free thermal and I absolutely got it on impulse because it is so fucking cold in Boston - at the time of writing, it is 10*F
6. Calvin Klein underwear (5) - free - a 23rd birthday gift from my mother, per Chinese tradition. It's the year of the Dog next year so naturally I must have plenty of red underwear to ward off bad luck

Total amount spent on clothing in 2017 - $296.90

Total number of items purchased in 2017 - 27

Excluding the scrubs and underwear, that number comes to 12 items purchased in 2017, which I am quite happy with. I'm still in the process of building a professional wardrobe in time for third year rotations, and I'm still in the process of building a casual wardrobe fit for a young woman. Where I see a "lack" is definitely in the professional clothes category, to which I hope to add at least two more blouses and another pair of trousers, as well as a pair of black ankle boots that I still haven't bought.

Overall, I don't know if I'm any closer to developing a coherent personal style or not. Lots of Uniqlo here, but I think I've realized I'm not so suited to Uniqlo anymore.

Late autumn updates

Do I even live in New England if I don't post pictures of the foliage? Autumn came and is on its way out. We got a tiny moment of snow last night. It is starting to get cold. We're making another turn around the sun.

Clothing, cosmetics, personal finance, and minimalism

Clothing

I bought another flannel from L.L. Bean, and plan on revisiting my review of it from last year, now that I have a brand new one to compare to a year-old one. I have plans to buy another pair of professional-looking trousers, but am waiting for sales. I also have some socks and underwear to replace. This means Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping, which I have deliberately avoided for years. I am possibly also deferring my black leather shoe (or boot) purchase for another year. I just haven't found one that I really like.

How do I build my professional wardrobe while keeping consumerism in check? As much as I try to limit myself in how much money I spend or how many items I buy, it's also important to limit how much time I spend thinking about or planning what I'm going to buy. On the other hand, isn't having a plan better than not having one? Either way, I am not satisfied with the amount of mental space I routinely use thinking about purchasing stuff. There's got to be some kind of a balance (obviously I haven't found it yet).

I also finally (finally) washed my jeans that I bought in January. It sounds disgusting, but I wore them only in <50F weather, freeze them on the weekends, and they held up well. Raw denim cult, my friends. I'll write something about them soon.

So here's something a little disappointing: my friend group talks about shopping a lot. They really love Uniqlo, and as someone who owns a lot of Uniqlo clothing, this normally doesn't bother me. And it really is a minor annoyance, but they incessantly talk about sales at Uniqlo, make multiple orders a month on Uniqlo, and joke about lacking self-control from buying at Uniqlo. I only noticed this recently because they went crazy over a specific scarf that one of them had. Two others bought the scarf immediately. Something about that makes me uncomfortable, despite how many Uniqlo garments I personally own.

Cosmetics

I'm getting back into makeup again. My goal is to have a bare bones makeup kit of items that I love and use regularly. Currently, I have holes in some parts of my kit (skincare, base), and excess in others (eyeshadow). It makes me feel more professional and put together. I will be patient in editing what I have, adding and subtracting, until it is perfect. It is 100% consistent with my personality that I am hyper-focused on what I look like. What I mean: I love my face without makeup, but if I do wear makeup, I am extremely critical about how it looks when I put it on, and how it wears throughout the day. I must still look like myself. I use very little makeup, but what I use must matter.

Personal finance and minimalism

I fell down the rabbit hole of personal finance and financial independence blogs, especially those written by residents and attending physicians. This is something I must learn.

Regarding minimalism: I'm trying. More now than ever, I realize I need to get my perspective in check before I go about trying to 'minimize' any other part of my life. I recently went to talk to one of the deans about how hassled I was by people gossiping about me (mostly my research) and he repeatedly asked me why I cared. Why did it bother me so much? I don't think I had an answer. He told me to read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (because I told him my sibling told me to read it years ago), talk to my friends and family, and keep doing what I'm doing. If there are people gossiping about my work, then I must be doing something right.

In other fronts, I'm working on reducing waste in my life. Still trying to go low waste, it's hard. But this is important to me so I'll work harder at it.

Step 1

This is the first part of the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) that will determine whether or not orthopedic surgery is magical thinking or a real option for my future. So I am studying. I am doing better in school than last year, studying better, but there is still so much room for me to improve.

I've been thinking of potential vacations to go on after I take the exam in May. The dream vacation is to do a rim-to-rim hike of the Grand Canyon, but that is a far reach of a vacation. More realistically is Katahdin in Maine.

Research and scholarly pursuits

We're finally writing the manuscript. Our project won a prize at a hospital poster session. I'm glad that something I worked hard on since this time last year is finally coming to fruition. And now, I'm looking for more research projects. I want to continue working with my same mentor, and I feel more and more strongly about orthopedic surgery.

At the same time, I am more and more curious about general surgery as well.

..speaking of my mentor and orthopedic surgery, I shadowed him in clinic this week and it was awesome. It was a lot more fast paced than the surgical oncology clinic I normally go to, but I really like his style. Straightforward, to the point, but super comprehensive about all the options a patient could have, non-operative and operative alike. Orthopedic trauma has truly a crazy spread of patients, from little old ladies to a guy my age shot several times over a basketball game, joggers hit by cars, custodians falling from ladders, etc, etc. Vastly different patients with vastly different injuries, needs, goals, and lives. More than learning about how to care for fracture patients, I have another role model for how to talk to patients, how to listen to patients, and how to identify when they have questions, reservations, or things they don't understand.

Recreational reading

I took Thanksgiving break to read as many books as I could. Sabriel (Garth Nix); The Two Towers, The Children of Hurin, and part of The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien); and The Hot Zone (Richard Preston) are all great. I'm not a book reviewer, but I can recommend all of the above.

Thanksgiving

I have a lot to be thankful for

• my family loves me and supports me in every way: emotionally, financially, in small ways, in big ways
• I am exactly where I want to be doing exactly what I want to do
• I have great friends, old and new
• I am healthy and happy
• I have great mentors that push me to do strong work and let me see and do cool things
• I am finding time for creative pursuits and personal enrichment

A/W 2017 | Wardrobe Planning

Do people still do these posts? Is the 5 piece French wardrobe format still relevant? (I do) (And it is still a reasonable framework for clothing purchases for me)

1. Black leather boots - I've wanted a good pair of black leather boots for a very long time now, and I think this may be the season I finally drop the $ on a pair. These will probably serve as my primary autumn/winter professional shoe, especially once clerkships begin next year. As such, they need to be comfortable enough to wear all day in clinic and on the wards, though I probably will also buy something like Danskos for the OR and wherever scrubs are worn. Why boots, though? I thought about another black leather shoe like loafers, but these shoes must be suitable for snow and ice. Not that I'm expecting to trudge through inclement weather in them, but must be able to handle the elements in some capacity. Hustling the mere 50 yards from the medical school to the hospital in my heels during February was...not enjoyable.
2. Trousers - I have a pair of black trousers, but I expect I'll need more come third year. It may seem odd that I'm planning on buying stuff for clerkships right now, but I figured slowly adding to my professional wardrobe is better than trying to do it all at once. This will probably be bought from Old Navy (the popular Pixie pants...stupid name) or Uniqlo.
3. Black jeans - I recently cut up my pair of black jeans (more on that later, but it was in the name of a DIY project, and it was looking pretty shabby) so I may need to replace it. I'm not sure if I actually will. I'm curious to see how I fare this autumn and winter with the jeans I already have. Given I wore my selvedge denim jeans every day in January and February, I probably won't buy a new pair.
4. Shirting - I really want this flannel shirt, the Black Stewart colorway of my known favorite L.L. Bean scotch plaid. I also am thinking of slowly adding to my professional blouse/shirting wardrobe for next year.
5. Something for hiking - hiking pants? A jacket? In all likelihood, I'll buy more than one pair of trousers and fill up this spot. Not that I really stick strictly to the 5PFW model anyways. Oh yes, and I lost my watch somewhere and will need to replace it. I'm an idiot.

Reflecting back on last year: I am basically all set on winter gear, and would only really consider adding to technical outdoors clothes, and probably not even this year. I actually did buy the little black dress I mentioned last year, which I'll have a post about later.

The two other changes I'm making to my wardrobe are a refurbishing of an old coat (I cut off the sleeves and replaced them with material from my old jeans...it doesn't look as bad as it sounds), and the eventual tailoring of my raws. The waist is ridiculously large and I need to take it in. Since the fabric is so heavy and the jeans are so integral to my cold weather wardrobe, I may need to get this professionally done.

Lastly, I am planning on doing a wardrobe declutter soon. I hate that idea, that even after being choosy about bringing stuff to Boston I have things I don't wear and will get rid of. But that's the truth, and I'm holding myself accountable. I'll follow up at the end of winter with a wardrobe inventory of sorts to continue holding myself accountable. To be honest, the only things that I really "need" to buy are the boots and the trousers.

S/S 2017 | Wardrobe Planning

It's a bit odd to think about spring and summer when there's active snowfall and literal piles of snow and ice from a recent blizzard, but it's about time to think about what I'll be buying for the next few months.

In reality, this post was prompted by a recent shopping trip. I wanted to buy a shirt from Uniqlo, went into Uniqlo, and walked out with that shirt and a dress I hadn't planned for. It is a charcoal grey ponte dress with a flare skirt that is appropriate for clinic and any event where I need to look sharp. But still, it was an impulse purchase.

Summer in Boston is hotter and more humid than summer in the Bay Area. Basically, I am looking for linen garments. Read on for more information.

All from Pinterest, sources spotty. The black one is from Ovate

1. A linen dress, or two - I prefer dresses for warm weather. It's easy to look good and feel comfortable in a dress. It's a single, simple garment. I tried on some linen dresses last summer and loved the texture and the way the fabric moved. For truly sweltering days, I can only really stand to wear dresses. Here is a collection of dresses I've found on Pinterest, but really, the quest for the perfect linen dress is difficult because (1) there aren't many linen dresses for sale and (2) I am fairly picky when it comes to dresses
2. Dark red high-neck t-shirt, Uniqlo - I like this color on me and bought this to replace the dark red t-shirt I've demoted to workout gear and the unattainable Red Polo shirt of my youth. I liked the look of the charcoal grey and the light blue versions, but the former was out of stock and the latter looked nice, but I am still afraid of light colors
3. Dark blue sleeveless linen shirt, Uniqlo - I wanted to get one of these last summer, but was unsure about all the bright colors. Maybe this year will be the year
4. Drawstring shorts, preferably linen - I bought a pair of black linen shorts last summer and they served me well. I wore them maybe a bit too often so another pair seems like a good
5. Other - already bought the charcoal ponte dress from Uniqlo; I thought about getting a lightweight jacket for spring, but realized that I will probably just end up wearing my autumn outwear or knits; also, I'll probably need to get some thin no-show socks as well. 

I've been wondering a lot lately about ethical consumption and how my own consumption fits in. I mentioned Uniqlo quite a bit in this post -- I've written a bit about the evils of fast fashion, and yet the majority of my clothes come from Uniqlo and other fast fashion-type companies with questionable ethical code and ecological impact. I tell myself that I actually don't consume a lot, and find reasons for the things that I buy.

At the end of it, I think I have reasonable clothing consumption habits, with plenty of room to improve. 

A review of my 2016 clothing purchases

So. This year I spent quite a lot of money, especially for a medical student with no income on the tails of a very, very expensive application cycle. However, I paid for everything then and now with the money I saved from part-timing in high school.

Winter accessories and new shoes

Anyhow, I figured I should make this post because one of my reasons for having a blog in the first place is to audit myself and keep an honest look at my lifestyle. I've always wanted to follow the five piece French wardrobe format, as you may be able to see from my seasonal wardrobe planning posts of yore, but moving to Boston shot that plan right down.

Shorts, old sweater, and the first flannel -- RIP, I hardly knew ye

I've included estimates of prices, which should be +/- $5 from what I really paid. Photos do not show all of the items listed, but the ones left out are easy to imagine. My purchases will be roughly categorized by function, with individual items listed in chronological order

Winter

1. Fleece-lined leggings x 2 - January - $10
2. L.L. Bean winter warmer coat, black - August - $90
3. L.L. Bean duck boots, bison - August - $120
4. L.L. Bean wool socks x 2 - October - $20
5. Hat and scarf - October - $20
6. Gloves - November - $115
7. Smartwool baselayer, black - November - $60 (sale)
8. Uniqlo heat-tech leggings, black - December - $20

Total - $355

This was the most expensive category by far, which is reasonable. Save my baby and toddler years in Chicago, I have never lived in a place with a winter, and thus needed to buy the necessary gear to not freeze to death. I tried to go as long as possible without wearing some of the heavy duty stuff just to see how far I could stretch my current wardrobe. So far, I've only worn my winter coat when the high of the day is below freezing and/or if there is wind. The boots I've only worn once so far after a larger snowfall. However, we still have three more months of winter, and I quickly learned that on those snowy, cold, icy, windy days, I put my money in the right place.

The Smartwool baselayer was a godsend. I wore it a ton in November under my leather jacket and it kept me warm. I'll wear it under my coat under extreme cold days henceforth. I need to buy more wool socks because some other wool socks my mother gave me are not warm enough. Hat, scarf, and gloves are necessary and so far warm enough. It hasn't been cold enough to layer the leggings under my jeans, but it will happen and I will be ready.

This was money I had to spend. Boston winter is no joke!

Shoes

1. Sperry boat shoes - March - $80
2. Hiking boots - November - $85 (sale)

I wore the boat shoes almost every day from late March to early October and they are accordingly beaten up. They were expensive, but I like them a lot. I got the hiking boots after I went backpacking with my running shoes and got wrecked by lack of tread, lack of stability, and frostnip. I haven't gotten too many opportunities to test out the boots because it quickly got too cold and rainy to hike.

Clothing

1. Banana Republic Sloan trousers, black - January - $40 (sale)
2. Thrifted blazer, black - April - $10
3. GAP linen shorts, black - May - $15
4. L.L. Bean scotch plaid flannel, blackwatch x 2 - October and November - $75 (sale)
5. Uniqlo men's selvedge denim jeans - December - $50

Total - $185

The top two were impulse purchases: I knew I would need professional trousers and saw that there was a sale on Banana Republic and that was that. I've worn it to the hospital and will wear it to my clinical placements. The blazer was an emergency purchase for the conference I attended in April: the grad students miscommunicated the dress code and I had left my interview suit at my parents' house after the interview season ended. Goodwill came to the rescue: the cotton blazer came in handy for the Florida heat.

The shorts, flannel, and jeans have been worn regularly since their purchase. Regarding the L.L. Bean flannel: astute readers will recall that I lost my original shirt on a hike and replaced it during the Black Friday sale. Always hike wearing layers, but make sure they fit in your backpack.

Misc.

1. Casio F-91W watch - January - $10
2. Thrifted scrubs x 2 - August and November - $20

I bought a watch. It tells time. I wear it daily. I wore it to the conference where I was among surgeons who wore watches three orders of magnitude more expensive. I wore it all summer and got a watch tan. I also wore it to (and washed it after) many gross anatomy labs. It has been on my hand and grazed the insides of many cadavers.

Total amount spent on clothing in 2016 - $735

Total number of items purchased in 2016 - 23

Excluding the leggings and socks and scrubs, that number becomes 14, which is pretty reasonable. I do want to be highly critical of my consumption, but I'm not an ascetic or a minimalist. In fact, I am actively trying to build a more professional, adult wardrobe suitable for a medical student. Because I wear most of my clothes for more than five years, whatever I purchase now should be appropriate for a resident in her mid-20s. However, I'm glad that some of the big ticket items are now out of the way: winter coat and boots, interview suit, and handbag.

If you made it this far, congratulations and thank you for reading!

A/W 2016 | Wardrobe Planning

Alternative title: Winter Is Coming

1.5 weeks ago, a perplexing heat wave swept Boston and I wondered when summer would end. Well, the weather changed precisely around the autumn equinox and yesterday was rainy and mid-50s F. Over the past few weeks, I've been collecting cold weather advice from classmates, and it looks like I actually really do need to plan my purchases this time around. Early childhood in Chicago notwithstanding, this is my first real winter.

Coat and shirt from L. L. Bean, denim jacket and jeans from Levi's

1. L. L. Bean Winter Warmer Coat - this coat is rated +15 F/-35 F light/moderate activity, which means almost nothing to me because I have no concept of what +15 F, much less -35 F feels like. What I do know is that this temperature rating more or less covers what I can expect of a typical Boston winter. It is down-filled, is long, and has a hood. I showed this coat to a friend born and raised in Boston and she gave her stamp of approval
2. Levi's trucker jacket - last week, I rooted around an army/navy surplus near Boston Common looking for socks, and found a huge selection of jackets instead. I'm looking for something for another jacket to tide me over to parka weather. The men's Levi's jackets I found, some sherpa-lined and some not, seem like ideal candidates. They're pricey, but maybe I can find one secondhand. The women's cut is too high at the waist, of course, and the men's XS seems a good size on me
3. L. L. Bean scotch plaid flannel shirt, blackwatch - I have wanted this exact shirt for months now. I have about three total long-sleeved shirts, which does not seem like enough for the impending cold weather. Although I am sure I could find many other flannels like it in thrift stores, this may be one that I buy new to get the exact color and size
4. Levi's jeans - I have jeans, but I want more. Specifically, I'm looking for a looser fit, and something that I can wear a base layer underneath if it gets cold. I don't care for the skinny fit anymore, and given my recent squat and deadlift gains, my jeans are even skinnier. In all likelihood, I will buy a new pair of jeans during Black Friday and flip a coin about black or blue
5. All the other things - a hat, a scarf, wool socks, mittens if my gloves prove insufficiently warm, a little black dress for when I need to clean up nice

It's been a damn long time since my last post. Medical school has been great. Gross anatomy is everything I have dreamed of and more. I found friends and have been catching up with old ones as well. I jumped onto an orthopedic surgery research project as a code monkey. I still want to be an orthopedic surgeon, but general surgery and trauma surgery and EM all look cool. Boston is changing colors, but right now it's just grey and rainy. That's the story thus far.

A review of S/S 2016 wardrobe additions

Though I am not entirely sure when Boston changes from summer to autumn, I can safely say that I will not be purchasing any warm-weather garments in this calendar year. A few months ago, I outlined the garments I planned on purchasing in this sartorial season in this post. Of the five planned items, I purchased only two. In reality, I did not even look for a Breton shirt, a red polo, or anything seersucker.

Black linen shorts - GAP

These shorts were essential this summer. With the drawstring, loose fit, and opaque linen, these shorts are the ultimate heat wave garment. I appreciate the fact that they are just as comfortable as workout shorts, but far and away less sloppy.

Boat shoes - Sperry

Did I buy these because I knew I was moving to Massachusetts? Somewhat, but these turned out to be pretty great regardless. I have worn these almost every day since I got them in late March, sometimes with socks and sometimes without, in rain, shine, etc. I do switch to my Salt-Water sandals on particularly hot and sunny days or if I'm wearing a dress, but for the most part, these have been my default spring and summer shoes.

The lighting here is quite forgiving. The leather is very worn, very scuffed up, and in need of some TLC. Sockless + hot days = foot odor, so plan accordingly. The liner has become unglued, and I need to fix that soon. The heel wear is annoying because I don't think these can be easily resoled, but that's the consequence of several months of essentially continuous wear.

--

While my S/S 2016 acquisitions were not as planned, I did look ahead and buy some unplanned, but very necessary items.

Bean boots - L.L. Bean

First are a pair of the famous L.L. Bean duck boots. I'll probably write about these in more detail later, but many native and non-native New Englanders recommended these for the winter. My wardrobe planning going forward must include winter wear, of which I have none (except these boots, of course).

I really liked this colorway and bought it at the expense of extra lining and insulation. A rookie mistake? Perhaps, but if this comes back in the winter to freeze off my toes, I can take advantage of L.L. Bean's godly return policy and get a more practical pair.

So, about the aesthetics. Dark brown bison leather, red soles that looked more like hamburger meat online, dark brown rubber upper. It looks sharp. I feel like I could go back in time and roam the snowy woods of Maine with Leon Leonwood himself. Anyways...

...I'm normally a 6.5 or 7 and sized down as per L.L. Bean's suggestions to a 6. They fit snugly if I'm wearing double layers of socks, which will be thick wool socks in the winter. These probably won't see action until October at the earliest, even if we may be clipped by tropical storm Hermine tomorrow.

Doctor costume

Lastly, the medical stuff. I got a pair of scrubs for gross anatomy, $8 for the set at Goodwill. Sustainable fashion fans may scourge me, but I am most definitely going to be throwing these away after our anatomy block.

And actually lastly, my white coat. It's a purely symbolic garment at this point, but we are required to wear them to patient panels and in clinics/on the wards. Including it in this here blog post is pretty self-indulgent, but let it be a promise to be a good, useful member of the profession and to deserve this (honestly speaking) status symbol.

Anyhow, I will continue wardrobe planning because it is both fun and prudent. F/W 2016 post coming right up.