When you edit your closet there are items that stare back at you with a big fat question mark. Should they stay, or should they go? You no longer wear the items, yet your intuition tells you to keep them – just in case. Storing these items in a holding zone away from your wardrobe so that they don’t take up valuable closet space is a good solution. The idea is that you re-evaluate the items in your holding zone from time to time and pass them on when you haven’t missed them since their exile.

My holding zone usually consists of a few pairs of shoes and toppers. I tend to leave them there for longer than a year because each time I revisit the stash, I find a good reason to keep some of the pieces. This strategy is reinforced by the fact that every so often I take an item from my holding zone back into my closet because it unexpectedly works for my current style. This is exactly what happened when I recently shopped my holding zone to fill a wardrobe hole.

I’ve had the black parka for eleven years and it’s been in my holding zone for at least six (the photo above with Rosie and Jasmine is one of the last times I wore it.) That’s a very long time! The parka is well made, weatherproof, cozy, current and semi-structured. It fits well and is very practical. It’s also hooded and has a pretty faux fur trim. It ended up in my holding zone because despite all these great attributes, I got tired of the black. So about six years ago, I bought a short gold puffer coat to replace the black parka. I wore the gold puffer quite regularly, but it doesn’t have a hood so I wore a hat to keep my ears and head warm and dry. 

Now that we’re walking more often with Sam, our precious six month old Yorkie, and the wet Seattle Fall weather is in full swing, I’ve been missing the hood. A few weeks ago, I remembered the old hooded black parka in my holding zone and promptly retrieved it. It has effectively filled my wardrobe hole and is once again in frequent rotation. The fact that it’s black is not ideal, but the parka is in great condition and perfect in every other way. It seems a waste to buy another. It helps that Greg thinks the black parka is wonderful (black is his happy colour), and that the faux fur trim breaks up the black. Wearing the parka with non-black boots helps too. I can absolutely make this old black parka work well enough for my current style. 

I don’t regularly shop my holding zone, but every so often it works out well. Now my two ultra casual toppers have swapped their position in my wardrobe, with the gold puffer replacing my black parka in the holding zone. Sometimes it makes sense to hold on to an item if your intuition tells you that it might come in handy one day – especially when it’s a very practical piece with a high longevity factor like my black parka.

Have you effectively shopped your holding zone for items to fill current wardrobe holes?

A Grace Coddington biopic, the theme for next year’s Met Gala, Kate Spade New York’s athleisure collection, and more fashion news that made headlines this week.

• Target is partnering with Who What Wear for a full-fledged clothing and accessories line.
• Nordstrom Rack continues to expand, and plans to have 300 locations open by 2020.
• & Other Stories and Rodarte are teaming up for a Spring 2016 capsule collection.
• A Grace Coddington biopic is in the works.
• The 2016 Met Gala Theme has been announced: Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology.
• Here’s a first look at Kate Spade New York’s athleisure capsule collection in collaboration with Beyond Yoga.
• Subscription box service Birchbox has developed its own in-house makeup line.

Fun Fashion Fact

Did you know that in 1890 Louis Vuitton patented the tumbler lock, a new kind of lock, invented by Louis’s son, Georges Vuitton, that was said to be unpickable. It is said that father and son were so sure of their lock that they challenged Harry Houdini to a public escape. Houdini’s response is not known.

This ensemble was inspired by a casual uniform that has become a favourite with some of my clients because it’s an alternative to denim. It’s also cozy, comfy and texture-rich. It combines a pair of skinny corduroy pants with a layering top, poncho or vest, and boots. 

The corduroy skinnies from KUT from the Kloth are a repeat style and all-round winners with clients. Great fit, warm and affordable. Ponchos, in all sorts of styles and colours, have been a hit too. 

Choose any colour palette across patterns and solids. I’ve chosen a very bold super hero palette in red and orange on the left, and a calm rendition in shades of brown on the right. Here are the components of the formula:

Corduroy Skinnies: Choose a pair of skinny or straight leg corduroy pants in a colour that tickles your fancy. 

Layering Top: Choose a layering top in a pattern or solid like a long-sleeved T-shirt, turtleneck, blouse, shirt or knitted top. Wear it over the cords. 

Poncho or Vest: Choose a poncho or tunic sweater vest in a cozy knit that works with the rest of the outfit. Pop it over the top for a layered look. 

Footwear: Mid-calf boots, knee-high boots, and over-the-knee boots tend to look best with skinny cords, but ankle boots are an easy alternative. Choose a casual style that works with the proportions and colours of the outfit. 

Accessories: A scarf is an optional extra for the version with the tunic sweater vest. Choose a satchel or clutch for the poncho option because shoulder bags don’t work with ponchos. Choose any casual bag for the tunic sweater vest option. Finish off the outfit with jewellery, watch, eyewear and headgear as desired.

Bridal Fashion Week took place in NYC last week, so here’s a short roundup of some of the Fall/Winter 2016 trends coming down the runway:

• From flutter sleeves and 3-D floral embellishments to gowns with detachable skirts, The Knot brings us the top wedding dress trends for 2016.
• More browsing fun with these 48 jaw-dropping dresses selected by Racked.
• Claire Pettibone’s gowns take us back to the Gilded Age. While Reem Acra sent his models down the runway carrying wedding-themed selfie sticks and sporting tiara headphones.
• If you’re looking for hairdo inspiration for your big day, then these 6 unexpected wedding hairstyles might come in handy.
• It’s not often that you see brides wearing a watch. That’s why I loved reading why this author will be sporting an inherited Chopard Happy Diamonds watch on her wedding day.

Fab Links from Our Members

Isabel’s heart almost stopped when she saw this article about how jeans are in danger of extinction. She adds: “I have noticed for a couple of years now that kids in school rarely wear jeans. The girls wear black tights or leggings and the boys mostly wear sports pants.”

Angie really liked Sally’s post on Style as Self-Care. As Sally puts it: “tending to my style feels both pleasurable and rewarding.” And Angie couldn’t agree more.

JAileen noticed that in her promo picture, Svetlana Alexievich, the 2015 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, was wearing mustard. Angie had just done a post on wearing mustard, and here was this writer from Belarus looking great in a mustard suede jacket.

Carole appreciated Bridgette’s post about transitioning your wardrobe from Summer to Fall.

Has anyone played around with Style Suduko? Desmo April used it to create a travel capsule to upstate New York in November. The visuals help her keep track of the outfits.

Robin loves that the Bold Beauty Project exhibition celebrates physical beauty not in spite of, but because of the women’s physical differences and disabilities, “that beauty isn’t all or nothing, that their canes, wheelchairs, etc. are just part of their photos, not played up for effect or erased to make a more ‘perfect’ picture.”

The article above reminded BridgetteRaes of IZ Adaptive, a company that makes stylish and functional clothing for men and women in wheelchairs.

Vildy thinks Robin Givhan, the Washington Post’s fashion critic, is brilliant at discussing attitude and values. She enjoyed how this entire piece is filled with pithy distillations about what is confidence, narcissism, powerlessness, suffering, undress, adulthood versus the quest for youthfulness.