Most people don’t think in terms of building a “wardrobe”. When out shopping, most people see something really pretty that they like and get drawn in without taking into consideration what they already have in their wardrobe. I know that as a Stylist, I fall into this trap commonly. I see all of the pretty things when I am shopping online or in-person and it’s hard to hold back! Even I must talk myself “off of the ledge” to impulse buying!
There are a couple of different approaches to building a wardrobe. If you prefer to have a “leveraged” closet, you may want to choose one base neutral color and build around that. That is not how you HAVE to however. If you prefer more options, you can have a few different base neutrals and go from there. So, how might these both look?
If you prefer more of a capsule-type wardrobe, you would choose your one base neutral. This could be Navy, Black, Tan, or Chocolate Brown. You would add denim to the mix. As you add pieces to your wardrobe, you would want to make sure that EVERYTHING you purchase matches the base neutral that you chose so that you can mix and match all of the pieces that you own with ease.
The second way is to have more than one base neutral. You could choose Navy and Black or Tan and Navy, etcetera. You would also add denim as you did with the capsule. In this case, you would also make sure everything you purchase goes with your base neutrals, but as you can probably imagine, you would have much more opportunity to add to your closet because you have 2 base neutral colors. Of course, because you have 2 neutrals, not everything would mix and match with both neutrals. But this still gives you more choices if you are a gal who likes her options!
This week, I have decided to show you how you can take one piece and wear it 5 completely different ways! And I am doing this for TWO different items! The first is a basic (but elevated) white cotton t-shirt. Everyone has a basic white t-shirt in their closet, so this is a great place to start and where we will begin!
With our basic cotton tee, we are going to start with a casual Summer look. The White Tee is from cabi and can be found here:
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| Colored Shorts: Spanx Flat Sandals: Marc Fisher |
Our second look with our basic white tee is a casual Fall look:
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| Leggings: cabi Long Duster Sweater: Boston Proper Booties: Dolce Vita |
Our third look featuring our basic white tee is more of a dressed up, glam look:
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| Pencil Skirt: Spanx Nude Pumps: Naturalizer Pearl Necklace: Ross Simons |
Our fourth look with our white t-shirt is a dressed up Summer look. I would tuck the tee into your bra to make it cropped and more flattering on your waist:
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| Pants: cabi Earrings: J. Crew Loafers: Sam Edelman |
Our fifth, and final look with our white cotton tee is dressed down for some fun, cozy Fall style. Wear the shacket open to show the tee underneath:
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| Jeans: cabi Shacket: Lascana Rancher Hat: Banana Republic Tennies: Dolce Vita |
The next item that I am going to showcase how to wear 5 ways is a more feminine sleeveless blouse. She has a base of black and white, which screams for versatile dressing, and is anything but boring! This blouse can be found on my cabionline website.
Our first look with our black and white feminine blouse is to wear her casually in the summer:
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| White Jeans: Express Flat Sandals: Marc Fisher Bracelet: Uncommon James |
Our second look is going to be more of a dressed up look. This could be either for the office or for going to church:
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| Trousers: cabi Draped white cardigan: Bare Necessities Nude Pumps: Naturalizer |
Look number 3 is going to showcase how to wear the sleeveless piece in a transitional Fall look. Think of skin print as a neutral, always:
Yes! You can wear sleeveless in the Winter! With our fourth look, I am going to show you how to style this piece layered up so you can get year-round use of this gorgeous piece. Simply layer her underneath the deep v-neck of the sweater and let the ruffles come out of the neckline:
Our final look for our gorgeous sleeveless feminine blouse is a look you can create for a date night OR a GNO. Simply give the blouse a full tuck into the skirt and put the belt across your waist:
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| Red Pleated Skirt: Lulu’s Mesh Heels: Nine West Waist Belt: White House Black Market |
So, what do you think? Isn’t is so fun to think of fun and creative ways you can style a piece to create versatility in your closet?
Here are my Top Tips for curating a versatile wardrobe:
- When you are making a decision on whether or not you plan to add a piece to your closet, make sure that you can think of either THREE places that you can wear the item or THREE different ways you can wear it. And I want you to think of ways you would actually wear it, not just “in theory”. Then, commit to wear it those three ways!
- Always, always, always choose better quality. I say to choose the best quality you can afford. When you invest in your closet, you want pieces that are going to last and continue to wear well through washing. It’s easy to see fun and trendy items at Shein, TEMU, or even Amazon or Target and decide to purchase them, but these are not only poor quality, but they are FAST FASHION which is bad for the environment and often have substandard working conditions for their employees.
- Consider your coloring. You cannot underestimate the power of wearing your true colors. They make you look more youthful and even out your skin tone. If you choose colors that are meant for you, looking in the mirror when you get dressed will be a much more enjoyable experience.
If you need help getting creative and styling yourself and building a wardrobe that you love and feels whole-heartedly aligned to YOU and what YOUR vision of style is, I offer several services that help with that. I would love if you would check out my website!
Stylishly Yours,
PS – Beginning in October, I will be offering Color Analysis services both in-person AND virtually. As I mentioned above, wearing colors that harmonize with you will literally light you up and get you more compliments than you have ever received before! If you are interested in getting on the Launch List for my Color Analysis services, please do so here!
**I receive commission on any items you purchase from my cabi links. These pieces are all from the Fall 2023 Collection and are available at the time of this blog post publishing**