Tag Archives: mix and match

A Versatile Piece

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As I have minimised and streamlined my wardrobe over time, it has become increasingly important that individual items are able to be worn in a multitude of ways.

Everything is multipurpose to some degree but I think this piece is a clear winner.

We live in a relatively temperate climate where the maximum temperatures range between about 15C and 35C and the minimums between about 5C and 20C.  Consequently, we can wear variations of the same outfit for much of the year.

2013-02-27 01

The skirt shown above is a lightweight seersucker cotton fabric which is lined with an equally lightweight lining.  On the hottest days I can pair it with a sleeveless white cotton shirt and a pair of strappy black sandals.  Conversely, I have also worn it with a grey cowl-neck pullover, red trenchcoat, scarf, tights and knee-high black boots.

There are plenty of options that fall somewhere between these two extremes as I have a fitted black tshirt as well as a short sleeved black cashmere pullover.  A couple of different white shirts and a black cardigan complete the mix of tops.  A pair of black heels provides another option between the sandals and boots.

These are just a few of the possibilities which work with this skirt.

A relatively small selection of clothes means that each piece needs to really earn its keep.

Project 333 – How Many Can You Make?

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While I don’t adhere precisely to the concept of 33 items for 3 months, I have been working on streamlining my wardrobe.  I make sure that everything in there is something that I truly love and wear.  It also needs to be capable of being worn in several different ways.

Today I want to show you how versatile a few pieces can be so I selected a total of 13 items.

2013-02-27 012 skirts

2013-02-27 02A pair of 3/4 trousers

2013-02-27 03Dark blue jeans

2013-02-27 04That is a total of 4 ‘bottoms’.  Then I added 4 tops.

2013-02-27 05Three are the same style and the white one is slightly different.

A jacket with 3/4 sleeves which is very practical for our climate and also air-conditioned offices.

2013-02-27 06A cardigan

2013-02-27 07Finally, some footwear.

2013-02-27 08Look carefully and you will see that almost any combination will work.

In reality there are a few things I would not do.

Wear sandals with jeans
Wear sandals when wearing jacket or cardigan
Wear white top with spotted skirt (cream) or with the white trousers (too much white)
Wear red top and red jacket together
Wear black top and black cardigan together
Wear blue top and black cardigan with checked skirt or jeans (too many different dark colours together)

By applying the ‘rules’ I set above I have calculated that I could create 72 different outfits by adding/deleting a jacket/cardigan or changing the shoes.

How versatile are the clothes in your wardrobe?

Project 333 – Plains & Prints

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Today I had a blinding flash regarding the items in my wardrobe.

2012-05-14 02I have plain shorts (black, white and khaki) and plain trousers (black, white and jeans).  I can wear patterned tops with these (striped, floral prints etc).

2012-07-02 09My skirts are patterned (striped, floral, spotted) and I have plain coloured tops to wear with them.

2012-06-11 05But………..never the twain shall meet, so I am limited in the selection of mix and match outfits that I can create.

2012-07-02 03I can, and do wear a plain coloured top with plain shorts or trousers but there is no way I would ever mix 2 different patterns.  So I have come to the conclusion, that although at least some of the patterned tops will remain to be worn with the trousers or shorts, I will work towards having more plain coloured tops that can be used in a greater number of ways.

How have you identified ways to streamline the clothes in your wardrobe?