Carol - Swapping a neutral for another neutral is a great strategy!
The Cat - You have a great strategy to swap tops versus bottoms. I am more prone to swap tops across seasons rather than within a season. This let's me wear a favorite outfit combination a little longer, even when temperatures change.
slim cat - *high five for bright pink blouses* It's one of my favorite shirts for layering in the summer. Swapping denim styles is a another great strategy!
Olive Green - I just duplicated my white JCrew shorts since they went on sale. They are my favorite white shorts (good length, not sheer, comfortable). This should help me avoid laundry bottlenecks as you've mentioned!
Dee - You've got a great point, neutrals are far easier to source in various styled bottoms than colored options. Looking at my wardrobe, my duplicates are also in neutral colors.
Irina - Yes, it makes perfect sense. A skirt would certainly require a different style of top than perhaps something like a low rise wide leg pant. An excellent observation!
LJP - Indeed, I find it easy to swap with casual outfits. It's hard to say if this works just as easily with dressy outfits, my style and daily life is so casual I haven't tried to do this with something dressier! The only thing that came to mind right now was perhaps the same color chino shorts could be swapped for the same color chino pants while the top would stay the same. It would be an interesting experiment to try sometime!
cat2 - Duplicating the same style in different colors is another excellent strategy and something I also do! *high five for duplicates*
Angie - I won't be starting to swap toppers until the fall. That's when we start with cool mornings but hot by midday. And yes, I'm always cold in shopping malls! Ugh. Even worse is the supermarket! I've literally worn winter sweaters to buy food on 100F days!
