If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you’ll know my morning show of choice is NBC’s Today show. And my fav host at the table is Tamron Hall. She’s pretty, she’s black, she says she does her own makeup for her TV appearances, she talks about her life as a single lady, she rides a bicycle around the city, she’s quick to announce her age – she’s 44 but looks like she could be in her 20s, and she’s the funny, sensitive, voice of reason at the table (or at least that’s how she appears on the show – I like to think that’s how she is in real life). And to top it off, she’s usually well dressed – understated elegance, clean lines, classy, even if her legs are always so shiny the light bounces off them onto the screen (that’s better than having dry, ashy skin, I say)

Anyway, there’s one thing in particular that she’s said about her style routine that struck me. She says every weekend, she assembles her outfits for the week ahead and puts the entire outfit on a hanger, down to the accessories and the underwear that will go with the clothes (Ladies, you know sometimes the foundation garments are critical to a successful outfit)

Ms. Tamron credits this habit to her dad, who I think she said spent some time in the military, and passed on his structured planning and organization skills to her.

So I was impressed. But if I’m being honest, this isn’t new to me. My mom taught me the same thing when I was a child. When I was growing up, Mummy made sure we had our clothes together for the week ahead too. On Sunday evening, we would iron our uniforms for the entire week and put them on the hanger, each tunic and corresponding shirt assembled, ready to be donned in the early morning still- sleepy, getting-ready process. Shoes were cleaned, socks stuffed in them the night before. Bags packed with all the essentials. Everything was planned and ready to go.

I stopped wearing a uniform long ago – since my days working at the bank – and over the years, it seems I’ve lost the discipline and the benefit that came with planning my clothes for the week ahead.

So thanks, Ms. Tamron, for reminding me what my mom taught me as a young girl and motivating me to start doing this again.

Here are my outfits for the upcoming week (foundation garments excluded this time around 😀)

Monday:  This week’s forecast for warm temperatures call for a light dress outdoors and a blazer for those chilly airconditioned moments in the train or in the office.

Tuesday:  a short sleeved cardigan should be fine for another 90+ degree day.

Wednesday: This outfit will do double duty as I have a church program in the evening.

 Thursday:  If it rains as predicted, this outfit matches my rain boots.

 Friday: If the rain persists, I can add tights and rain boots to this outfit as well.

 Saturday: There aren’t many days left in the summer where I can dress like this for church so it’s best to take advantage of it while the weather still permits. There will be a blazer with this outfit which I think is still at the cleaners.

At the end of the week, I’ll evaluate the process to assess:

• whether I stuck to my plan
• if not, why I didn’t
• how much time it took me to get ready in the mornings (right now, the chaos hasn’t been timed but it could go on for hours if let it)
• whether I want to continue and make this part of my regular routine again

Did you learn this method of planning and preparing your outfits in advance when you were younger? Do you still do it? Why or why not?

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