Not sure I'll ever 'get' proportions

Okay, trying to learn proportions, so be patient with me! :)

Here's the diamonds skirt, with the gray cashmere sweater I wore Sunday. Trying out various proportions with the skirt full length.

#1 fully tucked
#2 untucked with the skirt short (as I wore it)
#3 partially tucked
#4 untucked with the skirt long

Pardon the non-scrunched sleeves in #1, 2 and 4...

To me, none of these really work. What do you think?

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Closet editing leads to mini epiphany

Which I will catalog here, so that I can find it again :)

1) I haven't worn cardigans in a good while. They all just moved to the "probation" bin. Perhaps my style has moved on? Perhaps I just can't come up with non-frumpy ways to style them.

2) Same for vests.

3) I have plenty to wear. Sometimes I only see my wardrobe holes. I need to be patient with those, and remember that I'm not going naked for lack of a perfect-length white top. :)

4) The tape measure is my friend.

And on that note, some nitty gritty that I learned in measuring my clothes:

- I will tolerate a pants rise anywhere from 7-10 inches (ten inches is on my high hip), as long as the waist is at least 34" (35 is nicer) and the hips aren't much bigger than that. I will expand a waistband when needed, but I will not deal with a rise above 10 inches or below 7. My inseam for skinny or tapered legs can be no less than 30". For wide legs, no less than 32".

- There is 29" between my shoulder and crotch point. So a shirt must be at least 26" long if I want to wear it with pants. I prefer more like 28, but only have one shirt (a plaid flannel) that's that long. My tops are now separated into pants-appropriate and "must wear with skirts".

- Jackets must be 16-18" across the back (shoulder seam to shoulder seam at the point where the top seam is). Closer to 16 is better (an 18 inch jacket is better worn closed)

- I don't know what a suitable length for sweaters is. All of mine are about 26", and they all feel too short most of the time (I relegated the few that were shorter than that to "skirts-wear"), or too long to wear over my other tops. Go figure.

If you're still reading - how should sweaters fit? Mine seem too long to be cropped or go over shirts, and too short to really drape the way that trendy sweaters do. (Current sweaters seem to hit the crotch point or a little lower when un-tucked, but be worn semi-tucked, or have a hi-lo hem, right?) I'm considering this a wardrobe hole, and reminding myself that I still have plenty to wear so I don't need to go feeling like this is a major emergency.

Thank you Caro for suggesting that it was time to go through and cull my closet. I got rid of less than I expected, and have a higher "like" rating for the things that I kept than I expected. My happiness factor with my wardrobe is rising!

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