What does every girl dream of? Well, except to eat and not get better. Of course, about a stylish, fashionable, up-to-date wardrobe that works at 100%.
Let’s dream up, what is the ideal wardrobe? On the one hand, following the trend towards reasonable consumption, we want a wardrobe that is small and compact, which will take up little space in the closet / dressing room / suitcase on vacation, a minimalistic, concise wardrobe. On the other hand, a wardrobe needs to be clear and simple, like a designer, so that all things fit together like a puzzle. And at the same time, I want the most complete, varied wardrobe, in which there will be a place for the fashionable novelties of the season, and for accent, and for basic things, in which there will be capsules for different life situations, there will be many accessories, shoes and bags, and a huge number of sets . And to top it off, I want this wardrobe not to cost fabulous money, and to be available here and now, with the level of income, and with the lifestyle that exists today.
All this is not about some mythical “ideal” wardrobe, but about a very real, well-designed rational wardrobe, accessible to any income level. Below we will analyze the principles of drawing up a rational wardrobe.
- The first and most important principle. A rational wardrobe is a very individual concept, a rational wardrobe is different for everyone.
For a business woman, a mother on maternity leave, a student, an office worker, a freelancer, an athlete, a blogger, a housewife, a school teacher, a doctor, the wardrobe will be radically different. For some, it is easier to create a single basic wardrobe suitable for all life tasks, for someone to separate the wardrobe and create 2 or 3 capsules independent of each other for several life tasks (for example, a separate office capsule, a sports capsule, a vacation capsule or capsule for a romantic date). Below is an example of an office capsule in the mass market segment and kit options for each day of the week.
A classic rational wardrobe usually assumes that up to 60-70% of things are the base, 25% are capsules, 10% are the trends of the season. Fashion bloggers, stylists, creative media personalities, frequent travelers, designers, IT girls wear up to 70–80% of trendy items and for their wardrobe this is the most harmonious proportion and part of the work, while for a lawyer, accountant or doctor it is not at all necessary to introduce all the trends into the wardrobe, it is wiser to assemble a high-quality base that will inspire and delight for several years. As for working with color when compiling a wardrobe, for someone it is comfortable, understandable and more suitable for the temperament of a wardrobe-monodrome, which is dominated by achromats (colors devoid of color pigment: black, white, gray), neutral colors (beige, brown, sand) and basic colors (khaki, burgundy, dark blue). For some, classic red, fuchsia, saturated blue, spectral green, orange will also be basic colors and work great in a wardrobe, such a wardrobe is more suitable for extroverts, emotional, socially active people who like to be in the spotlight and attract attention . For some, pastel and neutral tones will be the base when compiling a wardrobe. Therefore, the most important principle of compiling a wardrobe is to focus only on yourself, taste, comfort and vital demand.
An example of a capsule for exhibitions and events for a media personality in the luxury segment and several combinations.
- The second equally important principle is that a rational wardrobe corresponds to a lifestyle.
It is very important to analyze your day and honestly answer the question: how, in percentage terms, is my time distributed? So, a mother on maternity leave, who spends 50% of her time with her children at home, in developmental classes or on a walk, and the rest of the time works remotely as a freelancer, periodically gets out on romantic dates with her husband, on vacation, or to meet friends, and extremely rarely goes in for sports, most likely should have the following basic wardrobe:
50% – casual, natural style, sports style (sport or normcore)
+ microcapsule with home clothes
+ romantic capsule or smart casual outfit
+ microcapsule for sports.
And a girl who spends 80% of her time in the office with a non-strict dress code, and devotes the rest of her time to sports, parties, weekend trips to nature, most likely has a fundamentally different wardrobe base: 80% smart casual, city chic , casual business style, complemented by a micro-capsule in a romantic style and a relaxed capsule for relaxation.
- The third most important principle is that before drawing up a rational (“ideal”) wardrobe, you need to get to know yourself very well.
In practice, this means the following: no matter how boring it may sound, but the key to a good wardrobe is analytical work. It is necessary to analyze your taste (“do I really like heels, skirts, dresses, romantic style, or is it imposed on me”, “do I like oversized clothes”, “do I think the trends of the current season are stylish and suitable for me”, “ how do I feel about natural fur and the trend towards conscious consumption” and so on). And the second equally important issue is personal comfort. Here the list of questions is even more impressive: do I like linen and wool in terms of tactile sensations, are I allergic to synthetics, can I walk in heels for a long time, like I do with thermoregulation (I’m always hot / cold), can I wear multilayer kits and so on. Things that are uncomfortable to wear will not work in the wardrobe.
- In a rational wardrobe, all things are used.
In a rational wardrobe there are no things that do not “work”, but are dead weight. When sorting out the wardrobe with a stylist or on your own, you need to remove all things that have not been worn for a year, as well as things that were bought on impulse, for example, at a sale. Usually such things hang with price tags for a long time, do not fit well with the rest of the wardrobe and do not fit into any outfit.
- There are no “orphans” in a rational wardrobe, each item has a pair.
In a rational wardrobe, each item should be used in at least 3-5 sets. When shopping, you need to think in a set, which means that when buying each item, you need to mentally fit it into all possible combinations with your existing wardrobe. If you really liked the item in the store, but it does not fit into at least 3 sets, the item remains in the fitting room.
The basis of a rational wardrobe is most often not capsules, but a complete basic wardrobe.
A basic wardrobe is a wardrobe that has the following characteristics:
— the simplest style, color, print, cut of things – a guarantee that things will be easily combined with each other,
– high quality of things (high-quality fittings, perfect seams, lining, fabric composition, etc.), which will allow you to wear things up to 4-5 years, as a rule, even after this period…
