I have a handful of clients who barely mix and match the items in their wardrobe. At best they will wear a bottom with two tops, and a jacket across a few outfits. Instead they have a small assortment of complete outfits hanging in their wardrobe and ready to wear for each of the different situations that their lifestyle presents.
For example, one of my clients works full-time and is a Mum on the go over weekends. For workwear she has ten business casual outfits that are in heavy rotation. This capsule covers nine bottoms (skirts, trousers and a pair of trouser jeans), and one dress. There are about ten tops, five layering camisoles, five cardigans, a jacket, and four scarves. She wears the same three pairs of pumps year round. In Winter she’ll swap out some of the tops for heavier weight pullovers, wear tall boots with the same dress, and add outerwear when necessary. She is not that affected by the elements because she commutes from a home to a covered garage and into an office — and back the same way. Many of her bottoms, tops and footwear are non-seasonal.
For weekends, she has three pairs of jeans, a pair of shorts, five tees, four pullovers, two pairs of Converse sneakers, and a pair of sandals. For evenings out, she’ll wear one of her work outfits or Mum on the go looks depending on which is more appropriate for the setting. She has two fancy outfits for holidays and events.
Clients with a very small, non mix and match wardrobe wear the same outfit combinations over and over and over again. They are not concerned with people seeing them wear the same head-to-toe outfits every week and over the weekend. They enjoy knowing EXACTLY what to wear each day, do not get bored with their options, shop infrequently, and launder their clothes with great care. They have no desire to look trendy or to be creative with their outfits (often they have other outlets for their creativity). We usually work together every three years or so to ensure that wardrobe items are still current and flattering. Between our sessions, the simplicity of their wardrobe makes it easy for them to make small incremental updates on their own.
This type of wardrobe approach takes repeating outfits and having a small functional wardrobe to a new level. It is a sound approach for those who prefer to keep shopping to a minimum, and their style extremely uncomplicated. As wonderfully fun and luxurious as it can be to have a wardrobe bursting with outfit possibilities, it can also complicate matters.
Some women like to remix their wardrobe items extensively, thereby repeating outfits infrequently. Others like to refresh their style seasonally adding new items to their wardrobe all the time. These women like to shop every three years and wear the heck out of a small assortment of outfits! It’s a question of finding the outfit repeating, remixing, and refreshing recipe that works best for you.
