Ideal Simple Closet?

My wardrobe essentials...

Capsule -- starting pieces 

Fall/Winter Additions -- to warm you up

Spring/Summer Additions -- to cool you down

Fun Extras -- a bit of extra pep

cupcakes & cashmere

I love lists of wardrobe essentials, so I've gone ahead and assembled my own. ;-) Read on for my thoughts on the matter. 

Lists of closet staples always just seem like the perfect answer to simplifying my closet -- they hold the promise of versatility and seem to imply that if only I had this or that I would become the kind of woman who never feels as if she has nothing to wear. It is sort of a trap, because really they typically transform into an excuse to buy something new that I paradoxically hope will leave me with less! 

And yet, they still seem like a good idea. Figure out what you really use and then focus on those things, instead of trying not to think about it too much but accidentally spending money on a bunch of nonsense! Maybe you can guess which category my shopping habits typically fall into! Ha! But I'm trying to change. In my mind, figuring out the ideal simple closet is a way of making sure that I don't have "two coats" when one should go to the poor, as Ms. Dorothy Day (Oh yeah, and Jesus, too) reminds me! (Ok coats are tricky because I'm always freezing -- I do have more than one coat -- but I'm trying as best I can to get to that place where I don't have excess while so many other people just don't have enough). I think it's time that I commit to thinking about what this simple closet would, ideally, contain.

Whether in RealSimple, Oprah's website, the Budget Babe, or Garance's blog, it seems everyone weighs in on the "ideal wardrobe" issue from time to time (and they seem to all agree on a black pencil skirt!).

A closet full of staples or go-to pieces or basics with enough kick thrown in that it doesn't feel boring.

This promise is alluring, and, as the economy continues to hover just above the ground, it seems that retail stores have caught wind of our desire for a simple closet (or at least our reality of a simple wallet!).  I'm really intrigued by this trend, and I'm going to follow it here on the gracious gaze. To me it seems that if this is currently the most effective marketing tactic (buy this one great thing and it may be all you ever need...) it might be the perfect season for a simple closet hopeful, like me, to re-evaluate the whole kit & caboodle.

Why figure out the ideal simple closet? A focus on a few things that are a perfect fit for my budget and style seems like a way to simultaneously acknowledge that clothes are a powerful way to express our style and that simplicity is a powerful statement in our society where more is more.

So, before any of us go out to buy a "perfect tee" from Net-a-porter's list of "The Perfect Ten: Essential pieces you need now", or a silk shift dress from Kate Spade's "Key Pieces" to "unlock your wardrobe" I guess we have to figure out what the perfect closet would really be for each of us. As in, I'm about to try to figure out what it would be for me, and you are welcome to come along for the ride! Hopefully it won't send you into a shopping frenzy... also, uh, if you think this is boring then you have my full respect (hopefully someday I, too, will feel bored by talk of style) & you should feel free to check back in at the gracious gaze next week!

Ok.

Kim's Ideal Simple Closet.

I think I want to start by imagining an ideal me. If I could be whoever I wanted (and really, why not?) what would I want to wear and how? This is a top-down wardrobe clean out.

So who is this ideal-me girl? In my dreams...

She mostly wears dresses because they are easy and polished in a snap, with no matching required. She has a small wardrobe, a simple closet, but good taste, so even if she wears the same sweaterdress three days in a row, it always looks different because of her genius accessorizing! She shops infrequently, but buys the best, having learned that she actually spends less if she buys one thing she loves instead of many things she doesn't. Hemlines are long and shoulders are mostly covered, so she always feels confident despite her quite pale skin and isn't chilly! Fun, colorful, elegant, simple, whimsical -- her style matches her outlook on life.

Maybe someday this will describe me & my closet!!