"Fashion can be bought..."

"Fashion can be bought. Style one must possess" - Edna Woolman Chase


Our shared "closet" (also shared with linens and towels)

I'm currently obsessed with Tim Gunn's Guide to Style series on Bravo and I'm seriously thinking of applying to be on the show. I would love nothing more than to have him and Veronica Webb go through my closet (aka Elfa system on a wall) and take me on a find your "inner-style" shopping spree.

I probably won't get on the show anytime soon, so instead I borrowed Tim's latest book - A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style for some pointers. Knowing that Fall and Winter will eventually arrive, I know that I'll have to put away my summer dresses (my current uniform) and trade them in with god knows what's hidden in my 99 cents store straw giga Fall/Winter storage bags. Fortunately for me, I have no problems with getting rid of stuff!

My number one issue with my closet is the fact that I tend to do a lot more staring and agonizing rather than instantly grabbing something when faced with the "What to wear" question.

Usually I end up choosing an outfit that I wear ALL the time. Now that I look back, I can confidently say that I wore the same 3 outfits this entire summer. So the following point he makes in the book really leapt out at me:

Who has not suffered that particular depression brought on by a closet full of clothes when once feels that she has nothing to wear? It is our theory that this feeling arises from the discrepency between your perception of th eimage your clothing projects and the idealized image you'd like to project in a given situation. The goal is to mazimize the correspondence between what you feel conveys the proper image and the items you actually own. This taks can only be accomplished when your closet is rid of those items that do not truly make you happy and confident when wearing them. The eternal task of discovering what makes one happy is closely linked to the idea of discovering ones "authentic self".

So I guess the idea is to fill my collection with outfits like the 3 outfits that I wore all summer long and deciding what to wear will be a lot easier! Doesn't that seem like a no-brainer? But I guess that's why I don't have a blog about quality taste and style!

It was a pretty easy read - I was able to start and finish the book on Sunday morning after breakfast. I liked how he doesn't try to dictate a style - he just makes you think about it.

I took down some notes from the key chapters to share with all of you...

Mentally prepare yourself to edit your closet by dividing everything in to the following categories:
1. Soul stirring
2. Needs repairs* (note that you only have 5 days to go to the tailor or it needs to go in the give away/throw pile)
3. The Give Away/Throw Away

Be really tough on yourself especially when it comes to items that...
1. don't fit
2. so expensive you feel horribly guilty getting rid of them
3. work clothes (work clothes don't have to be boring and without style, maybe except scrubs or something - but even that you can get tailored to fit better I guess)
4. for some reason you never wear
5. kept because one day it may be chic again
6. from former triumphs (special emotional attachment)
7. repeats, reduxes and reprises (how many black cardigans do you really need?)

Tim's Top 10 items
He feels that every woman only needs the following items:
1. The Trench-ish Coat
2. Sweat-suit altenative
3. The boot, the pump, the ballet flat
4. The shapely jacket and the Go-anywhere top
5. Signature jewelry
6. The under arsenal
7. Day dreses
8. After -Five look
9. The new cheap, terribly trendy item
10. Denim (one dressy and one to hang around in)

...as for shoes
1. Two pairs of boots - one dressy one casual
2. flats that can go to the office but work with jeans as well
3. one pair of daring dress anything up evening shoes