Curating Your Wardrobe: how I began

I don't remember where I read about curating your closet the first time, but I do remember feeling as though I had had a revelation. The 'perfect' wardrobe had been elusive to me for quite some time- and I kept buying more and more, thinking that I was one purchase away from having the most enviable wardrobe in town. But I never arrived there. My closet ended up filled with poorly constructed garments from fast fashion stores, a few thrift store pieces I kept meaning to DIY, dresses that were too short that I promised myself I would wear because they were so cute (sometimes I did, but having to constantly make sure my crotch and ass were covered meant I never felt comfortable). Instead of buying a pricey piece I loved because I felt the cost couldn't be justified, I ended up spending the same amount of money on various items that I didn't really care about.

Somewhere in there I knew I wanted to be laid back, cool, and chic. And yet I was none of those things.

Closet Curation opened (a very polished and well sorted) closet door to the possibility that yes, the perfect wardrobe was in fact within my grasp. One of the very first websites I began reading about it was SortaCrunchy.net, where I learned from blogger Megan that:

• the curated closet is often edited
• the curated closet has a vision
• the curated closet shops with intention

and after that, Geneva Vanderzeil's blog A Pair & A Spare; with the blog post Wardrobe Rehab - 6 Steps To Your Perfect Closet:

1. Cull
2. Define Your Style
3. Gather Your Essentials
4. Organise Your Closet
5. Choose Color Palette
6. Focus Your Shopping (Quality over quantity)

Geneva goes into much greater detail with each of these steps on her blog. Seeing this all laid out in simple steps felt so exciting, and yet so calming knowing I could have a potential great wardrobe in the works, with less stress and anxiety about getting dressed each day.

In terms of the second step "Define Your Style"; I felt I had been doing that for years, but also while accumulating more and more that didn't stick to what I really loved. I feel that before you begin the 5 Piece French Wardrobe, you really need to define your style explicitly. How can you only buy 5 pieces each 6 months without knowing exactly what is going to work for you and your wardrobe?

I also feel like you really need to decide for yourself what your 'essentials' are. I've always been annoyed at those lists that tell you that you NEED to have a black pencil skirt, a white button down shirt, a black blazer etc etc (it's always the same list, wherever you go). But what if you don't need those things? What if they have no place in your lifestyle? You need to figure out what you need, what works for you, and not base it on what anyone else thinks you should have.

All in all, this should be a fun process, because in doing it you are getting closer to having a great wardrobe and closer to really personalizing your look. Go for it, with abandon!