weeks 3 and 4 new looks: waves of buying

my shopping for rundholz clothes for a new season comes in, i was going to say two, but really it is three, waves. (although by the time the third wave hits i am no longer shopping for a new season but the current season.)  the first wave is in the pre-sale period. this is the period that begins a month or two before the first pieces of the new season arrive in a retailer's store and lasts until the last of the pieces available in the retailer's pre-sale arrive in the retailer's store. the point of a pre-sale (it is said) is to enable the consumer to secure their favourite piece before it arrives in the retailer's store. lately, more of the places where i source my rundholz clothes participate in this pre-sale. the difficulty with the pre-sale is that you are buying the pieces based on photos of samples worn either by rundholz models or by a retailer's staff/buyers (for the record, i find the photos of samples worn by a retailer's staff/buyers way more helpful than the photos of samples worn by rundholz models). the pieces that eventually arrive in the store may differ from the samples, hopefully only slightly but sometimes it is different enough that had you known the piece would be the way it is when it arrives, you might not have selected it -- never for any nefarious reason of course. because i collect rundholz dip clothing now and most (if not all) of the clothing is very popular (meaning it sells fast), increasingly i find myself buying more and more of my collection during this pre-sale period. the second wave of buying happens when the clothing starts arriving in the retailer's store. it lasts until all of the pieces for the season available at a retailer's store have arrived. during this wave of buying, it is the pieces that i see "in real life" (in my case, since i buy most of my collection online, that i see on the retailer's models or just in photos taken by the retailer) that "come to life" as a result that i purchase -- in the pre-sale wave, these pieces were either question marks for me or entirely overlooked by or unappealing to me (for one reason or another). during this wave, i pretty much "stalk" the retailer -- i visit them daily or i get to know their schedule of adding new clothes to their shop and visit them on every "new stock day". lately, because my pre-sale wave buying has been increasing, i don't do the bulk of my buying during the second wave. my purchases during this time are really supplemental to the buying i did during the pre-sale wave. what i do do more of during this second wave of buying is earmark/bookmark pieces that might be a nice to have (or that might be interesting to experiment with/explore). this earmarking/bookmarking pieces is for the last (and final) wave of buying for season, the buying that occurs during the period of time that starts when a retailer starts discounting the prices of the clothes and pretty much lasts until the retailer runs out of stock. sadly, this is when i buy the least amount for my collection -- by this point, there is very little that i want available (either in my size or altogether). so why am i talking about all this, because i am wearing two third wave of buying pieces here (the black pullover and the "two tone" trousers). and i also happen to be heavily into the the first wave of buying pieces for the upcoming spring/summer season.

i am wearing rundholz dip 225 (all clothing) and rundholz 225 (footwear).

last weeks (50, 51 and 52) of 2025 new looks: temptation, struggles, "losses" and fate

something that i try really hard to do (since deciding to focus my attention on building my rundholz dip collection -- having learned that that collection is my true love) is avoid buying rundholz mainline or black label pieces just because they appeal to me in the moment. i have learned that i can't mix the collections (this doesn't mean that they can't be mixed, just that i don't feel comfortable or truly myself when i mix the collections). and that when i start to buy mainline or black label pieces, i usually end up, not only buying multiple pieces, but also disposing of them (giving them away or selling them) at the end. so, no matter how much i may be attracted to something from the mainline or black label collection, i tell myself to not buy it, to just admire it from afar. this season, i have been drawn "big time" to the denim pieces from the mainline collection. each time i looked at them and wanted to buy some, i managed to talk myself out of doing so. that self-discipline came to an end though. here is what happened. i found a pair of black gloss denim pants from the dip collection (i think they are from the men's collection). that pair of pants provided me with the perfect "excuse" to shop the denim collection from the mainline collection -- there were black gloss jackets in the collection -- "obviously" i needed one pair with the pants. sure, i could have opted for a black gloss denim jacket from the dip collection, but the only one i could find (a very cropped version) didn't hold a candle to the mainline options. then, out came the limited edition dip jeans -- black with a brown overdye. of course i got them. the challenge was that there was no matching "top" from the dip collection. to be clear, there was nothing in the current dip collection that was a match colour-wise (brown) or colour- and fabric-wise (brown/black denim). so my mind immediately went to the mainline denim pieces -- i knew there were pieces in turf wash and black turf -- surely they would offer a perfect mate for the jeans. following an extensive search, and some sheer luck (it was near the end of the season, so options were limited), i ended up with a cropped denim jacket (with a ruffle bottom) in turf black. (as it turned out), perfect for both the black gloss denim pants and the limited edition brown jeans. (in all honesty, having the cropped jacket in black gloss (in addition to having it in turf black) would have been the ideal situation. but, as i said, it was near the end of the season when i was shopping for the jacket and, not surprisingly, there were precious few of them remaining -- at least in the places where i source my rundholz pieces.) it could have ended there. i had the one mainline denim piece that i had been really coveted. it would have been fine. but no, it went further. like i said, my tendency is to buy multiple pieces, not just one or two. i added a pair of turf shoes from the mainline collection to my rundholz footwear collection. because my existing collection was somewhat lacking in brown shoes/boots (it included only a solitary pair and not one that i would pair with the limited edition brown jeans). the fate of these mainline acquisitions is probably up in the air. will they stay or will they go. time will tell. but for the moment, i am loving them!

p.s. the adidas sneakers (the japan -- one of my faves) were part placeholder for the mainline turf shoes -- i needed to wear some existing brown footwear while waiting for the shoes to arrive -- and part a nod to the sneakerhead side of me -- i wrote about this in the summer.

p.p.s. probably should have lead with this. happy new year! forever grateful for all who continue to visit me here.

all trousers are rundholz dip 225. the denim jacket and the footwear (except for the adidas sneakers (obviously) are rundholz 225. 

weeks 47, 48 and 49 archive looks: some things are meant to be

i really wanted the jacket in the second photo when the collection that i am wearing there was "new". not sure why i didn't get it then. my theory, based on knowledge of my shopping practices and patterns, is that i didn't decide that i wanted it until it was sold out at all my go to retailers. a couple of years ago, it showed up in a second-hand/pre-loved shop. i immediately scooped it up. some things are meant to be.

i am wearing rundholz mainline 225 (oxfords), rundholz dip 223 (brown trousers, sweat jacket and puffer jacket), rundholz dip 221 (hightops) and rundholz dip 220 (coveralls, overalls/jump suit, top and jacket).

weeks 45 and 46 new looks: dipping a toe into the lagoon

wearing two lagoon pieces that i acquired (although i think the colour way of the zip-up woollen hoodie is described as crab melange). these are the only lagoon pieces that i acquired. i acquired them just because i liked them best in lagoon. and i knew i could make them work with all my crab light pieces.

i am wearing rundholz dip 225 (all clothes) and rundholz mainline 225 (oxfords).  

weeks 42 and 43 archive looks: the ones reached for first, fusions and leaps

three things.

first. i always say that i love all of my rundholz dip clothing. and that is true -- i do. that said, there are certain pieces in every collection that i reach for first. i don't want to call them favourites, because that would be diminishing my admiration for all of my rundholz dip clothing. so they are, not favourites, but those reached for first. i am wearing a few of those here -- the oldest is (i cannot believe this) from 2014, the youngest, from 2024.

second. i struggle to mix the collections i own -- this is my own foible. but on the rare occasion, pieces from different collections come together organically in a way i love (or tolerate?). i am wearing a few of these organic fusions here.

third. for the past two weeks, i have been debating whether again to dip a toe in the rundholz mainline waters. the denim pieces have been doing a number on me -- mesmerizing me -- particularly those peplum jackets. maybe it is because i have been wearing dresses the past couple of weeks, but, just as i was about to jump into rundholz mainline waters, my eye went back to the rundholz dip collection and  a dress in the collection that i had tagged as a want from my first viewing of the collection. (i hadn't acquired it as yet because i couldn't procure it in my desired colour way (crab).) so instead of jumping into rundholz mainline waters, i tried a different way of swimming in the rundholz dip waters -- i acquired a longed for dress and jacket in the flamingo colour way. might add a few other flamingo pieces -- rather a choice few.

i am wearing rundholz dip 225 (black oxfords), rundholz dip 224 (suspender skirt, turtleneck jersey and black wool pullover), rundholz dip 223 (black jackets), rundholz dip 123 (black hightops), rundholz dip 219 (red dress), rundholz dip 218 (green dress), rundholz dip 215 (red trousers) and rundholz dip 214 (black dress).

weeks 40 and 41 archive looks: a little obsessed

a little obsessed with this archive outfit at the moment.

i am wearing rundholz dip 224 (pullover), rundholz dip 223 (jumper/overalls and jacket) and rundholz dip 221 (high tops).

weeks 39 and 40 new looks: difficult choices (and i just got it)

for the new autumn/winter (225) rundholz dip collection, i settled on the crab colour palette fairly early on. and i went ahead building my new wardrobe never questioning that choice. then i looked at these photographs, the first of my new wardrobe. one of my immediate, unpremeditated, responses to the photographs was, "i should have gone with the pine colour palette shouldn't i have". it is no secret that green and red are my two favourite colours. so choosing between them is difficult. when i decided to pick red (crab), i remember thinking that i had more often picked green over red (for autumn/winter), so it was time to give red equal attention. today, thinking about my past choices, i can't say that it is true that i picked green over red more often. in fact, i have as many autumn/winter collections in green as in red. also, in making the decision, i did not factor in picking up these printed pieces. although i knew of their existence and it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that i would pick them up. so, really, i don't know what drove the choice of the crab colour palette. in any event, i did make the choice, so that's that. i suppose i could have stayed away from these printed pieces. but ... really? i don't think so. at the end of the day, i am going to say that i went the best possible way ... for someone who likes red and green. red for the solid pieces. and the printed pieces (for the love of green).

i am wearing rundholz dip 225 (all clothing and printed shoes) and rundholz 225 (black shoes).