https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Wed, 22 Apr 2026 15:21:43 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it/page/2#post-2168865 Sat, 30 Jan 2021 14:40:58 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2168865@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Sarah, are you trying to get out of nerdom? We know better! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it/page/2#post-2168811 Sat, 30 Jan 2021 01:48:39 +0000 SarahD8 2168811@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Eh... thought better of it </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it/page/2#post-2168736 Fri, 29 Jan 2021 21:09:17 +0000 rachylou 2168736@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>... I’ve never been able to take a class to ‘meet people’ because I sit in the front row with laser focus on the teacher like the pencil squib I am... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it/page/2#post-2168726 Fri, 29 Jan 2021 20:29:07 +0000 Jenni NZ 2168726@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ha! Yes to Star, that’s what I’ve been doing these past 4 years. Not a no-buy, but a less-buy ( or to the straight-A student mindset, should that be a fewer-buy? ) I also school intensively on certain things but there are many I don’t even try as I can recognise they will be beyond my capabilities. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it/page/2#post-2168533 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 21:25:03 +0000 LaPed 2168533@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Okay, <b>Jenn</b>'s point is really interesting. It never occurred to me that one could use the activity of identifying essentials as a "state of the wardrobe" check-in. This might be something I do intuitively and have a hard time translating into analytical/categorical terms?&nbsp;</p> <p>And yes,<b> FI</b>, this is the plight of the straight-A student in the real world, determined to excel at even the most inconsequential things. :)&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it/page/2#post-2168484 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 18:16:55 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2168484@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Star, thanks! I hadn’t thought of the whole categorization exercise as part of shopping plans. </p> <p>Minaminu, agreed—pretty awesome how people are explaining and demonstrating!</p> <p>My latest take on this is that statement pieces are essential to my style, no matter what the “extras” are. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it/page/2#post-2168437 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 11:01:36 +0000 Minaminu 2168437@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>leaning a lot on this post! thanks Irina for the pictures, very helpful! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it/page/2#post-2168435 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 10:52:33 +0000 Star (Lise) 2168435@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Hi FI, to answer your question, the reason I am tracking wears and analysing pieces is so that in the future I can reduce the number of items in my closet and to be sure they actually have a function (not just that I like them).&nbsp; I am on a No Buy and will only replace essentials. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it/page/2#post-2168422 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 06:21:43 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2168422@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Irina, thanks for posting. I’m coming to realize that this is much more about the attitude we take to essentials and completers than any intrinsic qualities of the garments themselves. What you say about your cardi—it works just fine, goes with most things in your closet, and you don’t plan to get a replacement when it wears out—is what I’d say about pretty much all my clothes. Some of them are “bolder” than others, so I guess they are statements. They won’t be replaced 1:1 either. Even the Intimissimi tops I’m so happy about will just last as long as they last. I need to have something to fill that spot, but it doesn’t have to be them any more than these specific pants need to be the ones on my legs right now. I assume that when the cardi is worn, you will eventually get something else, because you need clothes to cover your body in the winter, but it won’t necessarily be a cardi just that color and cut. So it sounds like the “plasma” I was talking about are completers. Now I know. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it/page/2#post-2168405 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 04:23:34 +0000 rachylou 2168405@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>That’s a great illustration, Irina! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it/page/2#post-2168378 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 02:08:37 +0000 Lucy 2168378@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I absolutely LOVE this explanation<b> Irina</b> - perfectly clear to me now!! Thank you :)&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it/page/2#post-2168335 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 22:27:31 +0000 Irina 2168335@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>FI, I will try to explain how I understand statements/completers/essentials. Sorry for the awful quality of my pictures but it’s easier to explain with visuals.</p> <p>pic 1 statement sweater. Not the most versatile piece, oversized and requires dry cleaning. Will not be replaced with something similar.</p> <p>pic 2 essential, cashmere crew neck sweater. I’ve been buying the same style for 6 or so years, have them in all my main colors. I call them my “winter t-shirts”, they work with everything in my closet. Will replace once worn out.</p> <p>pic 3 completer, wool cardigan. I needed a cardigan, this one works for most of my tops. I don’t know if I will replace it, by the time this one is old, I might like a different style of cardigans or will need another color. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it/page/2#post-2168297 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 19:23:57 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2168297@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Angie, thank you for helping to clear things up! Could you please also comment on essentials vs completers?</p> <p>LaPed, the way you describe your non-essentials as things you wear often but could replace sounds just like the way I think of it. Not the plaid/stripes examples, but cranberry/pink pants, and lots of other things. Like you and Sarah, I didn’t intend to get caught up in this, but here I am. My son has been laughing at how much effort I’m putting into the training sessions for my entry-level job, even though the instructor says I’m doing great. I just can’t approach anything school-like any other way. Sounds like you’re the same, at least with this, as am I. </p> <p>Star, I get caught up in all the defining and categorizing without really knowing why I’m doing it. Can you explain what you think it will help with?</p> <p>Nemosmom, that is awesome and I entirely missed it, lol! </p> <p>Jenn, your Mr. Bean example is great! Neither you nor LaPed are thread-jacking—your comments are right on the money. The whole “not the platonic ideal wardrobe” subtopic is great. For now, I think I’m over that. </p> <p>RL, yes, you said the Corps was essentials, and soloists were completers. In Angie’s metaphor, supporting roles are essentials and extras are completers. So, by the communicative property, you’re equating the corps with supporting roles and soloists with extras. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it/page/2#post-2168291 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 18:56:08 +0000 Angie 2168291@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><b></b>I really like how <b>Suntiger, RunCarla, Christina, JenniNZ, Rachy&nbsp;</b>and <b>Jenn</b> explained things.&nbsp;</p> <p><b>SarahD8</b>, I see essentials come through quite strongly in your style. Almost all your dark neutral pants/jeans, coats, and boots are essentials. Some of your neutral cardigans too. And your bohemian white blouses you like to layer with almost year round. Perhaps this was an intuitive thing for you, and it all came together organically. But there are the essentials!&nbsp;</p> <p><b>FashIntern,</b> from what I've seen, you are an eclectic, arty and maximal dresser. You usually like to create a high contrast somewhere in your outfit. You wear a lot of pattern, and there are many more statement items in your wardrobe than you think. Your statement pieces are not essentials - and there in lies the confusion. As for non-neutrals, items in very quiet berries can be essentials - much like my own blush items, and deep burgundy/eggplant items for others. Your red boots are not essentials - they are a statement item.&nbsp;</p> <p>The navy and cream tops you linked to another thread are great examples of essentials. Maybe the ice pink cardigan, burgundy cardigan, black moto, navy coat, and black combat boots too.&nbsp;<b></b> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it/page/2#post-2168276 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 18:11:07 +0000 Star (Lise) 2168276@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><b>Jenn</b>, so well put.&nbsp; That is why I am going to decide what my Essentials really are next year January, as I am tracking wears for the first time as of 1 Jan.&nbsp; I think the tracking of wears will tell a (slightly different) story every year. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it#post-2168275 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 18:07:18 +0000 Jenn 2168275@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><b>LaPed,&nbsp;</b>(sorry to get all off-topic on FI's post, but this is really interesting to me) it helped me to start thinking about essentials as not what would be in my "platonic ideal" wardrobe, but what's in my wardrobe and functioning right now. A good example is my sandals. "Neutral, comfortable, flat sandals" are the real essentials for me. Right now, that role is being filled by my olive Miz Mooz sandals, so they're my essential. &nbsp;A year ago, that role was filled by my cognac Bed Stu sandals. Before that, sandals weren't even an essential for me, but neutral, slip-on ballet flats were. That's why we revisit the essentials every year. They're not constants, but a way of looking under the hood to see how your wardrobe is working right now, and a chance to do a tune-up if things seem out of balance. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it#post-2168269 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 17:54:01 +0000 LaPed 2168269@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Jenn -- I was thinking ensemble too! I think there are a lot of people who don't necessarily aim for one loud piece against a quiet backdrop. I definitely prefer elements that play off each other without any one piece stealing the spotlight. I think Helena/Torontogirl takes this approach too.</p> <p>cat2 -- It's not so much that plaid is an essential and stripes are not, more that I could get by just fine with either one, as long as it was the *right* one in terms of fit, colour, etc. But having both is better, because then when I get bored I can switch it up (the "Woodsy" and "Beachy" personas I mentioned on Angie's blog post the other day). Same with black vs blue denim, or olive vs toffee coloured pants. I could take a strict approach and put all my energy into having a closet full of perfect black jeans, but what happens when I feel over black denim? I'd rather have a couple pairs in black and a couple pairs in blue, even though I'm not reaching for the blue ones as much right now. That probably won't be the case forever, so why get rid of them? They're perfectly fine, if not exciting to my eye at the moment. I don't think they're less essential, just on the back burner. So is the essential just "jeans that fit the way I want them to?" That's too broad to be helpful, for me at least. As is "tops with linear patterns" -- because it still doesn't help me find the right ones. (Kind of like SarahD8 ran into when she compared those two <a rel="nofollow" href="https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/the-complexities-of-contrast">fair isle sweaters</a>, which looked like they could serve more or less the same role, but one felt right and one felt just a bit off.) </p> <p>(Sorry, FI, threadjacking when I said I wouldn't get involved in the Essentials conversations this year! )</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it#post-2168241 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 16:58:01 +0000 Jenn 2168241@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>To stretch the metaphor a bit,<b> Fashintern</b>, I think much of your wardrobe is less like supporting actors than like an ensemble cast...that is to say, a whole bunch of statements appearing to play bit roles. When Rowan Atkinson shows up in&nbsp;<i>Love, Actually<b></b></i>, he's "just" playing a shop clerk in one scene, but he's still<b></b> Mr. freaking Bean, and they still put him on the cover of the DVD.&nbsp;<b></b><i><b></b></i> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it#post-2168238 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 16:53:29 +0000 cat2 2168238@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Hey LP, it sounds like your essentials include black jeans and plaid shirts? An edgy puffer? Boots? The list doesn’t need to be the list you would prepare if you were a French Girl dresser! My city essentials list is really different than the list for the burbs where I am now. In the city the only colors that made the list were black and grey and I had different key footwear pieces. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it#post-2168236 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 16:49:27 +0000 rachylou 2168236@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Lol, nemosmom! Now I’ll have to as well... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it#post-2168235 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 16:48:24 +0000 rachylou 2168235@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Wait. I’m so confused. Didn’t I make the Corps essentials? Lol. I need a head in hands emoji... or a wrist to forehead one...</p> <p>ETA: In my mind is the fact that the season opener was Midsummer Night’s Dream... the whole second act is an add-on to make the ballet... complete, to give dancers a dance... lot of soloist parts in my mind are just thrown in there... ok this metaphor won’t stretch that far... it’s a big cast, some soloists are essential to the story... not all, but some... and there’s a principal part in the second act that is very beautiful and completely out of left field... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it#post-2168234 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 16:48:22 +0000 nemosmom 2168234@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>LOL Rachy! I will start referring to my bras and undies as "stagehands" </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it#post-2168231 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 16:41:07 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2168231@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Rachylou, is that the order? The corps de ballet is what I started this post for, trying to figure out if that’s completers or essentials. Aren’t those dancers more like extras and soloists more like supporting roles? In that case, the corps would be essentials, wouldn’t they? In the threads I’ve seen, Angie lists them the same way she did in the one I linked to at the start of this page—basics, essentials, statements, completers. I don’t think that’s intended to show function, think it’s just the order they fall into because completers are the “oh yeah” category. </p> <p>Carla, what’s up with the tone? In the thread you linked to, I said the same thing I have here—for me, black is a color. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it#post-2168216 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 15:58:57 +0000 rachylou 2168216@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>The pink could be an essential if you want another... I take that as a sign. I’m a clear maximalist and I think that made it much harder to sort out the essentials thing. White sweaters, until covid, were on my essentials list, but it took me a long time to see they belonged there. Almost all of my clothing has something unique about it, some detail or embellishment that *could* possibly classify it as a statement for someone. But in the case of the white sweaters, it eventually became clear through the sheer number of them, that I reached for white sweaters a lot. They outnumbered all other colours. Of course statements can be workhorses, but it wasn’t that I reached for the same white sweater. In my closet the special details were not really that important as to why I used them.</p> <p>I think that’s probably the other thing about completers... if you have a lot of clothes like me, I’m thinking one doesn’t reach for completers as much as essentials. If you have a small closet and everything comes out often... that would make it hard to decide in my mind... </p> <p>...yes, I’m thinking that completers are bit speaking parts... soloists, almost but not principal dancers... wait, what’s the fourth category? Argh! I’ve forgotten again! Wait again! I remembered: ok, how about Principals are the Statements, Soloists are the Completers, the Corps de Ballet are the essentials, and the off stage folk are the basics? Can you tell I got a subscription to the covid online season of the SF Ballet for Xmas? It started last week </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it#post-2168213 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 15:55:21 +0000 Carla 2168213@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>*comment withdrawn*</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it#post-2168205 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 15:36:00 +0000 LaPed 2168205@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I get stuck too, and like SarahD8 I'm kind of sitting out the essentials discussion this year because I'm not convinced the exercise helps me create the wardrobe I want. I could say I "need" black jeans or striped tops, but even if every pair of black jeans and every breton in the world disappeared overnight, I'd still get dressed the next day and manage to look like myself. If I get too fixed on "needing" to have certain items in certain cuts and colours, I end up buying placeholders and having pieces just because they tick boxes, if that makes sense. Because to be honest, most black jeans and striped tops won't work out, even if they are abstractly "my style". And it's better to have the right blue jeans and the right plaid top than the wrong black jeans and the wrong striped top... And then, like Rachylou, suddenly I'm just putting on a top and a bottom every day, but at least it's the right top and the right bottom! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it#post-2168196 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 15:02:06 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2168196@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Christina, if I knew I didn’t want to think of my wardrobe the way Angie does, that would be one thing. But so far it’s just that I don’t get it. Maybe there is a thing that would be really good, if I just understood how all this works. I know she usually does annual basics and essentials posts, but I really can’t recall her doing one just on completers (and the site doesn’t allow searching the archive on a phone). Lots of people seem to be commenting on various posts that essentials have to be the classic neutrals and devoid of pattern. I’m pretty sure that’s not it. But if we keep commenting, eventually she’ll see this and say something, I hope. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it#post-2168190 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 14:41:53 +0000 Christina F. 2168190@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><div>I also think it's okay if you find that the way you think of your wardrobe doesn't correspond with Angie's definitions. I think she would say that's okay, too. Given your approach to your wardrobe, maybe having them all be "named actors" works!</div><div><br /></div><div>I agree that "completer" is the hardest for me to sort out, maybe because I have SO FEW of them. I will ponder it when I'm reunited with my clothes. I think completer are probably most of what went into storage :P<br /></div> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it#post-2168179 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 14:19:43 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2168179@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Sarah, lol. No—I didn’t feel like it cleared much up for me at all. The main thing it showed me is that I had the categories wrong, at least the two in the middle. That’s why I said the two “outer” ones are clear to me (even if other people want to say the same items would work differently for them) Also like you, I don’t see how putting the correct labels on our wardrobe pieces yields clarity, especially when the same item can be categorized differently by different people, and there is no magic proportion of each category a person “should” have in their wardrobe. So why am I doing it? I guess I can’t stand not catching on. Also, I thought that post that introduces the fourth, rarely discussed, category might be helpful to me and also to other people who are trying to figure this out, for whatever reason.</p> <p>Nemosmom, thanks for commenting! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/i-do-believe-i%e2%80%99ve-got-it#post-2168173 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 13:33:43 +0000 nemosmom 2168173@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I am another who sees your wardrobe as mostly statements, but I suck at this exercise every year :D</p> <p><div>The whole thing gets very muddy in my mind.&nbsp; I see burgundy as a neutral, so if you have a lot of berry in your wardrobe, I would think burgundy essentials would count, but not pink or purple.&nbsp; Tights feel like basics to me. Again, I suck at this, so take my comment with a giant grain of salt!<br /></div> </p>