I suggest creating six piles of items when you edit your closet. I’ve mentioned them when writing about closet editing challenges in the past, but in this post I’d like to go into a little more detail. 

Here they are:

1. Keep: These are the items that you love and are aligned with your current style preferences. They make you feel great when you wear them, are flattering, and fit well.
2. Temporary Keep: These items aren’t quite right, but you rely on them to pull together daily outfits. The plan is to replace the items when you have the time and budget, or when a good substitute comes your way. For example, I will wear extra comfy shoes into the ground because finding a replacement does not happen overnight. Or, you recently found out that most of your trousers are too short. You can’t let down the hems or purchase another six pairs straight away. So you’ll rebuild your trouser collection step by step, getting rid of the ill fitting pairs as you add in the updates.
3. Alteration: Sometimes a little hem, nip or tuck is necessary in order for an item to fit or look updated. Shorten or lengthen hems and sleeves, have shoes resoled, take in tops at the side seams, sew on new buttons, alter waistbands and remove pocket linings. All items that need altering end up in this pile.
4. Holding Zone: This is an interesting pile that is hopefully not too large! It’s made up of items that are questionable, but you’re not entirely sure they should be banished from your life forever. Pop them into an area that is out of sight. Give yourself a season to gauge whether you really miss them. If so, haul them back into your closet. If not, pass them on. 
5. Sentimental: These are the items that you don’t wear, but they tell a story, bring back a fond memory, or remind you of the good old days. You don’t want these items cluttering up your closet, especially when space is at a premium, but you can’t part with them either. So pack them into a “sentimental box” that you’ll store out of the way. That said, occasionally it’s nice to keep the odd sentimental pieces in your wardrobe even though you don’t wear them. I used to keep my late Mum’s brocade jacket, the one that she wore to our wedding, in our closet because it made me smile each time I looked at it. I finally moved it away when I was ready to do so. 
6. Pass On: These are the items that you don’t like, have outgrown, are beyond alteration and are unflattering, dated, ruined, don’t fit, or are no longer in line with your current style preferences. Pass them on by donating them to places like goodwill, the Salvation Army and non-profit organizations like Dress For Success. Consign them, sell them on eBay, pass them on to friends and family members, or have a swap party. 

You’ll greatly reduce the closet editing process by making it a more frequent event. And if you do a fast edit every few months like I do, you’ll create fewer and much smaller piles. 

How often do you edit your closet? Are you challenged along the way? Please post your closet editing questions in the comments section and we’ll get you sorted. If you are a seasoned closet editor, do chime in and share your own tips. 

Summer is the ideal time to catch up on some reading, and recommended reading lists are popping up by the dozen. But this year magazines and blogs are adding a bit of a fashion-y twist that had me grinning from ear to ear: it appears the matchy-matchy trend has now crossed over to the bookworld!

Fashion site Who What Wear is pairing up this season’s stylish carryalls with their favourite beach reads. While Kate Imbach at Matchbook is taking it a step further, insisting that matching your bathing suit to your book cover is the height of Summer style. She has the matchmaking down pat, and is doing a mighty fine job of putting together delicious pattern and colour combos. Love it!

Of course no one expects us to run out to the store to invest in a new bag to match our current reading material. This is all just a bit of vacation fun, so I thought we could play along and see what we can come up with from our own closets. I’ll go first. I’ll throw this week’s book choice — Art Deco Fashion — into my cream and green colour-blocked crossbody bag, so I have it on hand when I plop down in an outdoor café for a cool drink. The black piping nicely matches the black band around the cover girl’s sunhat, and the creams, green and light turquoise go together as well. Unfortunately, I only own one swimsuit, a royal blue Speedo with lighter blue and coral red piping. Not entirely in keeping with the book cover’s colour palette, I’m afraid, so I’ll keep looking for that matching bikini…

Over to you: what’s on your Summer reading list, and do you have the “right” bag to carry your books around? Bonus points if you have a swimsuit to match.

Now in YLF Books

From flapper dresses, feathers and beaded evening frocks for dancing the Charleston to sporty outfits and chic ensembles designed for luxury travel, fashion exploded during the Roaring Twenties, when clothes became a symbol for a more liberated lifestyle. Suzanne Lussier’s compact book, Art Deco Fashion, focusses on the art deco trends of the 1920’s and uses sketches, outfit and jewellery photos, images from fashion magazines and evocative illustrations from the Victoria and Albert Museum’s dress collection to recreate this glamorous era.

Of course, the style is not new if you wore the silhouette in the ’80s like I did. That said, this type of dropped shoulder seam styling is “new” in the sense that it’s a slight update on the dolman sleeved tops and knitwear that have flooded shop floors for several seasons now. 

The dropped shoulder seams on dolman sleeves are accompanied by a wide unstructured armhole. The sleeves have excess fabric from waist to underarm sleeve seam, thereby creating a “capelet effect”. The new dropped shoulder seams tops have narrow, fitted armholes. Often, the sleeves are more fitted although the torsos can be oversized.

Personally, I prefer wearing the new style of dropped shoulder seam detailing because it’s better suited to my body type. As long as the item has a high neckline, the fitted armholes provide the right amount of structure for my square yet dainty shoulder line, long neck, short hair, small frame and regular bust size. I don’t mind the volume in the torso one bit. That’s why my new purple pullover with dropped shoulder seams was love at first sight. 

Over the years I’ve fitted all sorts of dropped shoulder seam tops and dresses on clients. I’ve found that the look is harder to pull off on sloping shoulders because the effect weakens the squareness of a shoulder line even further. I’ve also found that dolman sleeves with lower necklines require broad shoulders and/or a fuller bust to fill them out to perfection. That’s precisely why dolman sleeve dropped shoulder seams are not my best look. I can’t adequately fill out the silhouette, but I do love the look on those who can. 

What’s your take on dropped shoulder seams? Would you wear the “new” version, or are you sticking to dolman sleeves. Or are neither option your cup of tea.

FocusOnStyle.com loves the way Julianne Moore is rocking her Summer hat. If you’re inspired to try the look yourself, they’ve pulled together a fun selection of straw fedoras.

Turbans are making a return this Summer. Can you see this look working outside red carpet events and off the runway?

Fun fact: As part of the London 2012 Festival, millinery stars like Philip Treacy have designed headgear for famous sculptures around the capital. After the four day event, the hats will be auctioned off for charity.

Fab Links from Our Members

This scarf tying tutorial is currently making the blog rounds. Claudia says it contains some techniques she hadn’t seen before, her favourites are the “Coiled Cobra” and “Sand Dune Drape”.

Mochi found a blog that documents everyday Boston Chic style. The site also has nice links to street fashion all over the world. 

For all our lovely crafty and hands-on fashionistas, Ornella recommends this tutorial on how to revive a tired leather handbag. There’s definitely a big difference between the before and after photos!

Angie is taking inspiration from the boys, and thinks it’s nice to see a man pop his collar the same way she does. This Winter she intends to be navy blue peacoat twins with this stylish bloke. 

Joy points us to an interesting article about rating the sustainability of various fabrics (subscription required) using a new tool. Apparently polypropylene is a much better choice than wool or cotton.

Knitwear designers blog Brooklyn Tweed shows the same design on two different body types, with a different amount of ease. For Vildy the penny dropped, and she now understands why she can’t end up looking like the straighter model in slouchy knits. 

Laurinda thought that bras were a relatively recent invention, but a find from an Austrian castle suggests that they are at least six hundred years old. Looks like they found a string bikini bottom too.

“Many women would put off completely or delay cosmetic surgery if they could find the correct fitting bra.” La Francaise was surprised by this startling claim, and says this article written by Michelle Broomes, a professional bra fitter, is a thought-provoking read.

This story about Olympic weight lifter Sarah Robles touched Nadya’s heart. Fashion editor Jenny Davis joined forces with Ming Wang to outfit Sarah with a travel wardrobe.

We sure are smitten with polka dots on YLF. If you want to take your polka dot love to the next level, Nancylee invites you to check out Marc Jacob’s new Dot perfume.