I have been busy, busy of late, cleaning out my closet after being inspired by The Glamorous Housewife’s recent posts on creating a capsule wardrobe. I have been throwing out anything that is unflattering, pilled, looking a bit tired and generally just not things that make me feel fabulous! This was a bit hard for me as I do have some hoarding tendencies (according to my husband, mind you!) and the realisation that the items that have been in the mending pile for two years already probably don’t have a very high likelihood of being taken up or altered and would be best to go to charity was a tough one.
It does however; now mean that I have a very functional and streamlined wardrobe. In an ideal world, I would be able to have only one wardrobe that would be able to cater for any function or event with the right accessories and shoes etc but this doesn’t seem to work for me. I have one section of the wardrobe for work wear. I wear very corporate wear for work so these are not things that I can wear on the weekend or to other events. Then I have a section of casual and more formal wear for weekends, family functions, shopping & catching up with friends. This is mostly made up of dresses and separates that I can either dress up or down depending on the occasion. Lastly, I have my more formal and cocktail wear. This generally gets worn when I do a cruise or attend work functions/awards etc for my work or with my husband.
Luckily I have accessories that are interchangeable with all three components of my wardrobe. I think that is the key to creating a more streamlined wardrobe, even though I can’t really wear my work clothing to a weekend event, I can use the same accessories for a weekend or more casual look.
I’ve put together a few looks using items very similar to what I already have in my wardrobe to give you some ideas.
And lastly, I can’t stress enough, buy the very best quality you can afford for the basics – a good quality white shirt, a good pair of fitted and bootleg jeans, some tops to mix and match, at least one cardigan and some basic black heels and flats. I’m not saying you have to spend hundreds on each item but be prepared to invest a little bit extra in these items; they will wear better in the long run and be better value for money in the end. Save money on accessories or on trend items that may only be around for one season.
Oh, and neck scarves, you can never have too many scarves... You can pick up cheap vintage/vintage inspired ones in op shops... I wear one 80% of the time.
