I love these threads! Thanks for starting this, Carter. Your MVPs make perfect sense! And they look like good, solid backbone pieces for your casual days off. I think maybe "practical" is that much more important for the at-home days. That's been my sense, since I began working from home.
I got so many wonderful things this year! It really was the year of building a wardrobe. From this point forward it will be more refining and evolving. Up until now, I didn't really have the closet depth to consider that.
Because I made so many purchases, it's really tough to choose the MVP overall. So I've broken it into a few categories:
Everyday workhorse:
1. Kamik snow boots. Bought them the first week of January last year and probably wore them 100 times. Yup, it was a polar vortex. They're not at all worn but I may have to trade them in for a bigger pair -- they feel a bit snug this year, so perhaps my feet are changing size!
2. Sofft pewter gladiator sandal. Wore them so much that I wore them out,
Lesson: Footwear really is foundational. And for my lifestyle I need weather worthy footwear that is also supremely walkable, yet looks JFE (just fashionable enough) with real clothing. I walked approximately 5 miles a day for 3 months in each of these shoes. I prefer to get a lot of my movement by building it into my day vs.as planned exercise. So non-gear, comfortable footwear is key.
Best surprise workhorse
This oversized cashmere framed sweater from J. Crew collection. I picked it up on sale last winter. Although it got mixed reviews here because it was so voluminous, I fell in love with it due to its heft and softness. And I wear it
ALL. The. Time. It wraps me up in at-home luxury. I suppose I wear it most often as part of what some might call "loungewear" -- at home, early mornings or evenings, sometimes over my PJ bottoms, but other times with jeans, on its own or layered over shirts. It's just
SO cozy.
Lesson: Buy for your real life and go with your gut.
Wildcard
The scenic tee from Banff got a ton of wear.
Lesson: It's okay to have fun! Some purchases can be silly. (You can see the Sofft sandals there, too.)
Best luxury "investment"
I'm with Ms.Mary -- fashion is not "investment" -- but at the same time, a jacket in a core neutral can be a kind of "backbone" wardrobe item, and a navy blazer had been a HEWI for me. I tried so many before finding this on the Boston meet up. I love my Reiss jacket and wear it a ton.
Lesson: Spend for what you really want. You'll wear it.
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