Spending time in Paris made me appreciate simplicity and quality in garments. I tended to simply put too much shit on, with too many layers and too many "bits". I have now entirely changed the way I will be approaching shopping and wardrobe building, and my year-long obsession with building a basic wardrobe (which has been entirely unsuccessful so far) is finally coming to sense. I thought I would share some things this book describes.
Essential items for the Parisian woman-
A smoking jacket (blazer)
LBD
A leather jacket
Tailored pants
Sweater- (navy blue)
Trench (Burberry, specifically)
Pencil skirt
A diamond necklace
Leather moccasins
An evening dress
Ballerina flats
Men's pants (boyfriend pants?)
Pearl necklace
Chiffon dress
For effortless style-
Wear a small cashmere sweater over a dress.
Buy clothing from the men's section of H&M. (I had a look, and it's true- you can get gorgeous 100% wool sweaters and great tailored pants- why is the women's stuff so shit!?)
Wear tailored pants with a very soft cotton tee- stay away from printed tees, unless you are young.
Wear a parka over a chiffon dress.
When you get sick of your clothes, dye them (they specify navy) to give them a second life.
Collect old men's scarves and wear them with everything.
Buy clothes from a surplus, and wear them with antique jewellery.
Wear knee-high cashmere socks of all colours.
Roll the cuffs of a shirt over the sleeves of the sweater you are wearing.
A coat should not end halfway down your body. Either make it shorter or longer.
Golden rule: If you are wearing wide pants or a voluminous skirt, your top should be fitted. If you have skinny pants or tights on, your top half should be voluminous, baggy or loose-fitting.
If you want to read more about building a basic wardrobe and dressing with simplicity and impeccable quality, go look at Dead Fleurette's blog. I don't have the discipline to refrain from buying shit in the way that she does! She has also previously mentioned this book in her blog. I'll be making my own list of basic items, and will be buying far less from now on. My new "do not need to be replaced" items include-
- Black Mulberry Bayswater
- Vintage Burberry trench- I've just purchased this, but I need to get it taken up.
Finally, I will be able to begin the new page on the blog with my basic wardrobe list because I have pieces that I am actually happy having on there! Last thing- The three questions I will be asking myself from now on, when tempted to buy a $30 top from Sportsgirl or Topshop that I will inevitably throw away in 6 months-
- Will I still wear this in 5 years?
- Will I ever want to replace this item for a better one?
- Am I only buying this because it is cheap?
What do you guys think? Is the way you currently dress different to the way you WANT to dress? Would you invest a lot more money on key pieces, or are you happy to buy trend items and replace them every season?
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