#1-Please continue to post your 10 item wardrobe. I adore learing about minimialist closets and photos are great examples and inspiration!

#2-Don't be so hard on yourself, you are quite stylish and should give your self more credit for knowing and nailing down your style, which is classic with fun prints.

You look so happy in each and every picture - it's you that shines through which means the outfits all work so well! I love the dress in #7. Wow. Well done. This takes a lot of will-power, and I admire your wardrobe & its simplicity.

Claire! I'm so happy to see your S/S wardrobe. I saw this several hours ago, but we have houseguests and I had to wait for them to go to bed!

You look perfect in all of these, but 2 and 4 are my absolute faves. It's so inspirational to see that with 10 items, you have something totally appropriate to wear for anything that may come up...lunch with the girls, swanky dinner, wedding, etc. I have a closet full of clothes, yet may still not have anything that feels right for a particular event.

I would love to know if you actually start the process with a list of outfit needs for particular events/level of dressiness, or is this somehow just instinctual?

I'm looking forward to the day when I'm not working and can drastically reduce my wardrobe. I'll probably never make to 10 items, but there's no reason I can't do something like a P333 for hot weather and cold weather.

I would love for you to do a post on your thoughts about the process and the pros and cons of choosing to maintain such a limited wardrobe. What was the hardest part when you started this? Was it successful from the beginning? How much survives from one year to the next, etc.?

Claire, you're as beautifully stylish as ever. I am impressed with your achievement with this small wardrobe. Like Joy, I find it especially remarkable that you did it with so many dresses rather than separates. Your reasoning for the choices makes perfect sense, and even though I am not drawn to attempt it, I admire your execution of the 10-item wardrobe!

Oh it is so nice to see you Claire, and you do look smashing in your ten items. Even your comments in response to comments make me smile. Keep on doing what you are doing so well!

Thank you all so much for you interest! I will definitely write a post on the whys and wherefores of this wardrobe wackiness. I'll tell you now that it came together in a pretty serendipitous way. When you shop second hand, you can't always be really specific about what you want, but having less choice can actually be a blessing in this overwhelming world.

Carter, how sweet that you waited up for me. I'm touched!

Staying at home and doing some farming, did you say? looking through these photos, Claire, you might as well be going on a cruise with a safari!

I literally held by breath at that t'shirt dress in #2. And the shirtdress shows exactly why it is that you went looking for neutral woven frocks. Massively flattering. And then the draped dress is a knockout... Yeah you sure have a good thing going.

Most of all I admire the thought and energy you put in while managing to put the brakes on sharply too. The results speak for themselves. It is sooooo easy to want more bang for your buck in numbers rather than quality and versatility that is not readily read by other people we encounter.

Looking forward to more Clearly stories and thoughts. You NEED to write that book. The Clearly Crisp Closet?

#7 is such a different but good look for you. i think you should explore that silhouette a bit more.

Sophisticated and well-curated, what a pleasure! You are an elegant treat for the eyes, Claire. So great to see you posting.

As usual viewing your posts is such a treat...I love each one and thought about how much fun you had shopping and selecting each piece...I also wondered how you decided to go to such a minimalist wardrobe...Making such a choice would be liberating but scary..if you know what I mean...
So glad you are "back"...Looking forward to more CC posts...

I'm hugely impressed, envious, and more than slightly ashamed of myself. I finished up my S/S shopping yesterday and now I'm tempted to burn the lot! (Must resolve to not compare myself to you, because you Clearly are a fashion genius! I favorite all your posts and need to study them to figure out how to apply them to my body and my life. At least I shopped with a list...Baby steps.)

Please never stop sharing these 10-item posts - so inspiring!

A small wardrobe of day to day pieces for a hot climate? Claire, you are speaking my language.
So nice to catch your post and you are looking great.

Hello Desert Connoisseur!

I am thrilled to see your S/S ten-item wardrobe and what's eye-opening is the way you've taken this minimalist approach to curate your wardrobe and pay homage to your own requirements and details (no thin knits, hems at knee length or longer, colors, etc.)

Claire, you are always stylish and polished and I look forward to hearing some of the questions others raised answered. It's obvious this method works beautifully in your life. I've learned so much from you and I welcome a few more from you, Madame.

You are Sharp Classic. High fashion! And of course, there's your Chicos brilliance, being able to see the trees for the forest.

My fave is #6 probably... tho hard to say, because I'm partial to the blues for you. My second fave in line is the sporty dress, with white trim. I'd probably live in that. Never take it off (under the puffer, of course ;)).

How many pieces is your whole wardobe now? Is it ten a season?

These are so beautiful. I love how you bring a bit of a timeless (and yet very fashionable) element to classic dressing -- your dresses remind me a bit of the kind of outfits that don't date in cinema costumes, where the overall cut and color is so perfect for the actress that you could imagine her wearing it in the 1960's, 70's, or today. My favorites are 5, 6, and 8. You really rock a shirtdress.

I think I might want to eventually go closer to your approach. In the past I've had a small closet with one daily silhouette and a few party dresses, and I'm currently in expansion mode. But I have one very comfortable thrifted cotton knit dress that I could happily wear twice a week, and sometimes wide variety just equals more bother and trying to to get more wears out of something I now feel meh about to get the CPW lower.

Love the elegance you give to a shirtdress, Claire! They were made for you and add such polish in the heat.

I'm just now learning the importance of a certain consistency in dressing. Building a wardrobe, even a very small one, is so much better for overall style than having oodles of fabulous, expensive and tasteful garments.

Big bonus? The are quick to change into and get out the door if you've been farming all morning long!

Do you have a favorite gardening ensemble? Do you wear a hat?

BTW - I'd love to chat about organic gardening in off topic sometime. And like Beth Ann mentions, share gardening outfits

You guys with the "farming"! You should see my pitiful little plot. I should just be composting and concentrating on building up the soil (until Fall, which is when our planting season really begins) but no! I had to put in a bunch of tomatoes, peppers, squash and melons too late in the season. After the first day they all keeled over with their faces in the dirt, all scorched like potato chips, but I'm still watering them every night and praying that they will live. I actually put my garden in wearing the bordeaux dress, if you can believe it.

Rachy, I have 10 for S/S and 10 for F/W plus 3 coats/jackets. No T-shirts though, even though they are considered "free" extra items that don't count toward the total. I just don't feel that fab in a T-shirt.

Rabbit, thank you so much for thinking I look timeless. I'm definitely shooting for that. I'm having to get over the last little twinge of "Oh, no, there's so-and-so again! I was wearing this the last time I saw him/her." Like anyone cares or even notices, seriously.

Beth Ann, I have been thinking a LOT about your SING rubric and your desire to dress nicely without having a "look at me" attitude. You inspire me. I try to work in the garden around twilight (it is so hot) so, no, I don't wear a hat, lol.

Thank you ALL for saying such nice things. I will write more about the subject and in a separate thread.

Hi Claire --

So great to hear from you!

You look fresh, effortless,* and seasonal. Every choice is so lovely with your coloring and flattering. And of course appropriate to how you spend your days and evenings.

Don't be a stranger!

* (ah, the effort to look effortless, right?)

Everything is so well-chosen! I especially like the three printed dresses. And I think I used to have that exact denim skirt. It looks way better on you than it ever did on me.

I can't wait until I am able to see pictures. I admire those of you who can work the 10 item wardrobe!

Never hesitate to post Claire!
I could save so many $$$ by reading your latest 10 piece wardrobe post at the start of each new season
What occasions do you wear the dress in pic #5 for? I have a very similar one, but only seem to wear it for dressy-for-me occasions.
Looking forward to your next instalment!

Claire, it is so good to see you here again. I've missed you!
You are looking every bit as fabulous as always. I had a hard time getting past that first outfit, because it just knocked my socks off! You look so good in that shade of blue and white!
I admire your ability to have such an amazingly curated wardrobe. I don't think I could do it, because I do like novelty too much, but I support the idea completely in theory! I follow The Daily Connoisseur, too, and always admire hers, too.

Yay I'm so glad you posted this Claire! How does this differ from last year's? I was surprised to see so many dresses; I'd be tempted to go full-on separates, but I can definitely see how dresses would be a great option for you. Easy classic elegance! I do like seeing all the blues here, they're so lovely on you. Not as much taupe here, though. Especially LOVE the white long shorts in #4 and dress in #5.

Claire, so good to 'see' you! I have missed you.

Well I am speachless! You are amazing. I think the thing I most admire is your abiity (discipline) to realistically assess your needs in relation to your lifestyle. I am improving, but I still buy things for 'events' that just don't happen in my life lol.

Your Spring capsule is gorgeous and the dresses are so fab.

Yay for Claire posts! Dresses are much breezier than skirts & tops, imho, so it makes sense you'd base your capsule around them. You've found beautiful ones too: classic and elegant and so you. I can't wait for your process post!

You look gorgeous and so stylish in every single outfit. It's so nice to see you and read about your journey.

Somehow I missed this in all my travels. Love your dresses, Claire, and I am with you on their utility in the summer, especially. It is so easy to pop them on and just go and not feel all fussed and bothered. My favourite is the AT modal one. I'm glad you relented on the knits thing, too. I do understand why in your heat you would much prefer cotton or linen wovens, but in the air conditioning (and for little trips or even in the car) knits have their benefits. Super capsule! I really like you in the clams as well.