I was reading one of my favourite fashion blogs Garance Dore and came across a list; the perfect minimalist, functional and fabulous wardrobe.
Paraphrased, it goes something like this:
- Black cashmere turtleneck
- Grey v-neck cashmere sweater
- Silk shirts
- Three pairs of flats.
- One pair of sublime very high heels, black
- Grey skinny jeans. White skinny jeans.
- One pair of boyfriend jeans.
- Two blazers, one black, the other marine blue.
- A straight-cut skirt
- A light as a cloud scarf
- A dress, Alaïa or Roland Mouret.
- A big coat, camel or grey.
- And a military parka – light and long.
And I’d go wild with accessories. A hat. Red socks. A pair of amazing sunglasses. A purse to die for. Bright nail-polish.
I am a die-hard list lover, so I adore this sort of thing! And immediately scratched out my own take; the minimalist summer wardrobe. Since those of us here in the southern hemisphere will immediately notice that with that selection, we would have nothing we could actually wear at all right now… 🙂 So:
- Shorts
- 2-3 light loose little tops
- 3-4 day dresses, some pretty, some plain
- One maxi-dress, or whatever is the fashionable silhouette of the season
- 1 little skirt
- 1 light cardigan
- Bathers
- 1-2 light long-sleeved shirts
- Pair of linen trousers
- for footwear; glittery sandals, leather sandals, and a pair of thongs for the beach
And the accessories; sunnies, and a fun and funky pedicure. Sunhat and a few floaty scarves.
The next time I came across my funny little list Tim had scrawled an addendum…
Summer essentials, for guys
1x board shorts
3x T-shirts
3x T-shirts
DONE!
Lol! Hehe, aaah boys. 😀 Simply no idea.
Oh, and finally, my facts and figures for February… now there’s a nice bit of alliteration. Whoever said that poetry and accounting were incompatible?
Gone a bit Batty top
Fabric; leftovers
Pattern; from PatternMagic 3, a gift (and used previously)
Dye; used and accounted for previously
Total cost: free
Some basics…
Fabric; one from leftovers, the other three from a recycled dress, original cost of all this fabric was approx $39
Dyes; brown dye accounted for previously, red dye (first time used) $7.77
Total cost for the 4 Tshirts: $46.77
White with a navy grid shirt
Fabric; leftovers
Pattern; from Unique Clothes Any Way You Like, been used before
Total cost: free
Billowy White shirt
Fabric; from an old pair of trousers
Pattern; my own design
Buttons; leftovers from a previous project
Total cost: free
A Pretty Silk blouse
Fabric; $64.35
Pattern; Vogue 1170, first time used, $7.00
Zip; $2.20
Total cost: $73.55
Woman in Red dress
Fabric; a birthday gift from friends
Pattern; Vogue 1087, used previously
Thread; had some red thread already
Total cost: free
Miscellaneous extras
Rotary cutting wheel blade; $13.45
Twin needle; $6.60
Total cost: $20.05
outfit Details:
Top; Vogue 1248, made from a mix of blue cottons, details here and my review of this pattern here
Shorts; Burda 7723, details here, my review of this pattern here, and see these styled in 6 different ways here
Actually the way the weather has been going over here in Sydney, the first list would probably be more appropriate. My wool skirt has been getting worn an awful lot, and I'm wearing long sleeves far more often that one would expect for summer. Our averages have actually been above average – just – but there seems to have been an awful lot of cold days.
Oh wow those are very beautiful .Your excitement is clearly justified! I want to tell youtrue religion shorts is my favorite and hope you can come in and see.
I'm all for the minimalist wardrobe. I have a clean out each season and give away anything I don't need. Also, thanks for your advice about the rotary cutter. I'm definitely getting an Olfa one and a large cutting board too, I'm just waiting for a sale at Spotlight or Textile Traders because I'm a cheapskate!
I like those sort of lists because of the insight it gives into how other people dress. I can safely say I have never, ever managed to make a blazer work in my wardrobe, and the same goes for boyfriend jeans. But then I wouldn't be without my knee length boots. She may be onto something with a grey cashmere sweater though.
For summer I'd have more maxis I think but that's just because I'm lazy and they're so easy to wear…
I like your summer list – unfortunately for me summer is still far away so I'll have to wait! 🙂
I agree with your summer list, not so much with the other one, as Catherine stated, I´m not a blazer girl either, just to name one.
And I´m sure my husband would agree with Tim´s list. That´s minimalist!
interesting post. Those lists of wardrobe basics I see in magazines always intrigue and make me laugh at myself, as a sewer I have the opposite of a minimalist wardrobe 🙂
That list is very interesting, and yours makes me wish for summer!
I like the lists because (like someone says above) they provide insight into other peoples' lives, but for myself I don't think I could make such a limited wardrobe work. The weather is too extreme where I live.
I am intrigued by the lists too but they never work for me as I need three distinct wardrobes – my professional job wardrobe, my at home wardrobe and my grappling sheep, horse, chooks, messy garden/farm wardrobe – all quite distinct and separate clothes.
If you add up your Feb totals , then just under $150 for nine garments is actually very economical. Congrats on your productivity too – wow nine garments and all fab too.
It would be very nice if the coming summer would bring some weather appropriate for your summer clothing list!
I may have to borrow that list, Carolyn! I am always looking to find the perfect basic wardrobe, and to fill in the gaps in my own closet. I love this one, and will use it with the list that I am currently sewing!
I like your summer list and the boys summer list. I know when we do long weekends at the lake, I subsist very well on very little.
Your silk blouse was worth every penny!
Carolyn,
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Love Tim's comment!