Jenn, I’d just like to say thank you for sharing your thoughts on how you manage your wardrobe. I’ve found both your specific choices and your clear explanation of your process really helpful as I consider my own clothing choices. While our styles are different, I love reading your thoughts!

I second Pat P. I find Jenn to be one of the most articulate and thoughtful writers about this subject.

Thank you for sharing what works for you, Jenn. My wardrobe building philosophy has a lot of parallels and similarities to yours. I’ve found the 5-piece wardrobe update a great way to add newness to my wardrobe and intermixing them with existing pieces. And similarly, my “core” is quite different than the “French wardrobe” core. Yours is one of the wardrobe’s that resonates the most with me and that I get the most ideas from.

I agree, thank you, Jenn. Certainly helps me to understand how 5 pieces per season is applied. I want to try something similar. I tend to overbuy essentials and need to get it under control. So, this thread is very informative and useful.

Another "thank you" for sharing your process, Jenn! As someone who has struggled for a while to identify why my wardrobe is or isn't working and with shopping habits, I really appreciate you taking the time to share how you do it (and do it so well!). I am a slow learner, but getting there

Thanks, CS and Jenn, for this thread and the info discussed. I’ve only been lurking since clearly I don’t use this strategy in building or maintaining my wardrobe, but I could stand to learn a thing or two. It’s been interesting to ponder. And I didn’t really understand what the F5 approach was until now. I could see using an adaptation of this approach to help me focus my efforts better.

SF - just take the feedback and move on. It may not have been your intention to have made Jenn feel interrogated - but she did.

Jenn's been very clear and generous in discussing her process, in this and other posts. I've learned more than one or two
things for sure.

SF - What you saw as brain-picking seemed to be devolving into the confrontational:

“I'm surprised your approach didn't get you resituated faster than mine did me…You buy more per year and wear a much bigger percent of your wardrobe, so I would've thought it would adapt faster than mine.”

And then adding a bit of victim-blaming at the end "Well she's clearly not in the mood..."

Back to theTopic at Hand...
Reading all of this has given me some insight into my wardrobe challenges. I think that figuring out what my essentials are is a good place to start. I sort of started doing this recently, but never fully got there. Now that Ineed a work wear wardrobe, I need to manage it better and this will help.

Thanks for asking the question chewyspaghetti. I didn't really know what the F5 was. I do admire Jenn's attention to detail and her definite style. I think like Irina I tend to overbuy the essentials. I tend to wear very plain basics so perhaps a statement would be a particular pair shoes, a statement scarf or Jacket. I think I'll go and list my essentials too ...what a great idea.