A workable wardrobe full of great clothes, footwear and accessories is a double edged sword. On the one hand, it’s fab to shop your closet each morning and have stellar outfit options. On the other, it doesn’t leave much room to add new items without your wardrobe bursting at the seams. And if you like to shop and refresh your look each season like I do, you have to come up with a solution. 

Some people deal with this problem by storing clothes and footwear in multiple cupboards around the house. Some pack away non-seasonal items to create space. Others, like me, prefer to keep their stuff in one space, and work hard NOT to overflow this space. Enter the “one in one out” wardrobe principle. 

Apart from outerwear, I keep all my clothes, footwear and accessories in a small walk-in wardrobe that I share with hubby Greg. My underwear and socks are in a separate chest of drawers in the bedroom. I only allow myself a certain number of clothing items, footwear and handbags at any one time because I find it easier to manage my outfits that way. At a glance, I can see what I have and pull an ensemble together chop-chop. 

Of course, I love to shop. So, in order to keep my wardrobe at a constant size, I usually have to give up a few existing items when I add something new. I constantly edit, which means that there are always empty spaces that can be filled. I also carefully add a few pieces at a time, so the spaces are never instantly filled.

The big question here is, how do I decide what goes out? My culling decision depends quite a bit on how I want to evolve my style at that point in time. If I have fallen out of love with a look and no longer wear it, I will pass on the items. For example, I’m really off ruffles and jackets with complex design details. So I recently passed on some ruffled blouses and jackets, which instantly created more closet space. 

My knitwear generally has a short life, so I say goodbye when its starts to pill, shrink or stretch out of shape. I always seem to have a shortage of tops, so there is usually empty hanger space for those. 

I have stopped buying jeans, although repurposing two pairs of skinnies into clams has made room for jeans or trousers. I recently culled my dresses in a big way because the knits were pilling, and sadly, some of my overly worn woven dresses had holes and tears. 

I hang onto comfortable footwear until it’s beaten up because I have fussy feet. I don’t have heaps and heaps of shoes, but they do get a workout because I’m out and about all the time and I’m hard on my footwear. I just got rid of three pairs of ballet flats and two pairs of boots with holes and tears in the soles. I also don’t add loads of shoes or boots in one go, so I never seem to have more than what I can store.  

Items like scarves and belts are added slowly and don’t take up much space. I don’t apply the one in one out principle to those items because I have not yet run out of storage capacity. 

I find it hard to cull my handbags because I am hopelessly devoted to my many, many bags. This makes it hard to shop for handbags at the moment because I cannot decide which ones need to go. Ideally, I need a handbag shrine for these little wardrobe pets.

I am reasonably strict about the “one in one out” wardrobe principle because I have limited closet space, and do not want to spill over into another closet. For the most part, I stick to editing and replacing within the same wardrobe category, but it’s okay if it doesn’t entirely work out that way. For example, I might edit out 5 tops and replace them with two dresses and three tops. Dresses will then spill a little into tops territory, but the size of my wardrobe stays roughly the same.

My friends and Dress For Success get most of my hand-me-downs, and the Salvation Army gets the rest. I have no problem passing on items that fall out of favour, even if it’s only after one season of wear because I know that they are going to a great home. 

Last Saturday our dear friends Bridget and Derek took us out for a belated birthday celebration at the Queen Mary, my favourite place to have High Tea in Seattle. I felt both celebrated and spoiled. I usually have tea with girlfriends at the Queen Mary, but it was brilliant to have the company of our fabulous boys this time round. 

In true Seattle style, you’ll see a variety of dress codes at the Queen Mary. From people wearing sports gear and sneakers, to jeans and t-shirts, pretty dresses with heels, and everything in-between. I wore a creative business casual outfit that day, one that I often sport when out and about with clients. 

I’ve been off my skirts for a while, apart from my new midi and this four year old cream and black high waisted number. For this leg of my style journey, I’m after something other than a “pencil skirt, blouse and heels” ensemble. Stirrup leggings with pencil skirts do it for me, and I am still all over wearing cropped leggings with skirts. I saw this look on the streets of Hong Kong a few years ago and instantly fell in love with it. I absolutely understand that wearing cropped leggings under a dressy graphic pencil skirt is not everyone’s cup of tea. Most would probably prefer the outfit sans the leggings. I like how they add an unexpected edge, dress down the outfit, and above all, keep me warm.

This pencil skirt tapers in at the seams which adds curves to my hips. I like a basic button down best with this skirt, so my Brooks Brothers shirts come to the rescue. I chose black to bookend the black leggings on the lower part of the outfit. A little scrunch and pop adds interest to the look. 

To combat the severity of black straight up against my pale and blonde face, I added a new pearl necklace. It was a gift from a good friend who lives in Europe and I simply adore it. It’s solid, well made, different and gold.

Black, white/cream and red is one of my all time favourite outfit combinations because it’s classic and strong. Ms. Valentino came out to play and complimented the gold accessories with a smile. She is still my very best handbag of all time. 

I first finished off the look with two toned Stuart Weitzman ballet flats, but Greg and I agreed that the outfit needed a little heel. So I popped on the my taupe peep toe booties to balance out the proportions.

High Tea was DELICIOUS and we had a super time chatting, laughing and eating. After tea Bridget offered to take a few shots of Greg and I which is a VERY rare occurrence because Greg usually takes control of the camera. Derek said something that cracked me up, Greg was about to kiss me, and for Bridget, that was a camera moment. As you can see, my Greg also bats for Team Polka Dot.

Our statuesque friends Bridget and Derek always look great. They like to wear bright colours, which makes my heart sing. Thank you Bridget and Derek for a wonderful morning at the Queen Mary!

Today we’re launching a somewhat different competition on the YLF forum. We’re asking forum members to post an outfit that needs an item from the Karen Kane online store as the perfect finishing touch. Perhaps you have an outfit that needs the black diamond leopard dolman for a chilly evening, or you would like to replace the button down you normally wear in a work ensemble with the shirred drape top.

Whatever the situation, post one or more pictures of the outfit, and a link to the Karen Kane item you need in order to complete the outfit, as a new topic on the forum. The lovely and ever so talented Karen Kane herself will judge the competition, selecting her favourite of the outfits posted. We have outlined the process in a forum post. Feel free to reply there or comment here if you have any questions.

There are two prizes (first prize $200, second prize $100) of gift vouchers to spend on karenkane.com. The first prize winner will also get the item they choose if the online store has their size in stock. The competition is open to all YLF forum members at the active member level or users of the YLF iPhone app, who have the ability to post pictures. Eligible members can post more than one outfit, as long as each one is in its own separate post.

The competition closes at midnight on Sunday 14 August. Good luck, and I can’t wait to see your outfits!

When a top is tucked into a bottom that has belt loops, the outfit looks better to my eye when it is worn with a belt. Empty belt loops look naked to me, and I desperately want to add the coverage. It adds a polished touch to the outfit. I guess my preference makes sense because I bat for Team Polished. Team RATE might think differently. 

I prefer belt loops that are filled by the belt. That is, with a belt that has a similar height to the loop (right).

I also like skinny belts looped into wider belt loops (left), but do have a thing for filling out belt loops to their fullest! Skinny belts are a lot less bulky and I do understand their appeal, but they can slide around and fall askew. This drives me batty when the belt is a high contrast colour.

The semi tucked look is an interesting case. I still prefer the look with a belt, but it can also be fine without one.

These are by no means rules or guidelines, just stylistic preferences. Do you like the look of exposed belt loops? Or do you prefer it when visible belt loops are finished off with a belt.