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Develop a strategy
I’ve had a few different styling phases in my life you could say. But never before, have I felt as comfortable as I have in the past month or year. Never before have I found it so easy and relaxed to pull out the perfect outfit for me from my closet. And never before have I had such a precise styling plan regarding my wardrobe. For those of you who may often find your closets actually full but still feel like you have nothing to wear, here’s my strategy for the optimal wardrobe.
My styling ABC
For me, an outfit always consists of three factors:
A – Accessories
B – Basics
C – Customization
A- Accessories
Regarding A – the accessories I have for myself personally the following styling rules. These don’t have to be the same for you, you can of course customize them to your liking if you want to develop a styling ABC for yourself. For me, the quality of accessories is very important and that they are special pieces. For example, I would never wear a cheap no-name or fast fashion belt made of faux leather. No matter how beautiful it may look at first glance, these parts age quite terribly and look just awful after a short time. Also, they just often actually look very cheap and inferior. By the way, accessories for me include shoes and bags, hats, gloves, scarves, caps and hats. And, of course, jewelry.
With all these accessories, I buy only really special parts. For me, these need to be timeless and go with as many outfits as possible, so I prefer neutral colors. In addition, the accessories themselves are also always coordinated with each other. So the belt has to match the bag and shoes for me.
This does not mean that all of these parts have to be the exact same color, although of course they can be. You can never go wrong with this and I also buy accessories in matching colors, but even if they have different shades, they should be able to be combined with each other. I also like to spend a little more on my accessories. Because I know that I will wear them forever. Because they are a highlight to any outfit and can otherwise rather inexpensive basics extremely upgrade. I currently own 5 belts, two of which are reversible belts with two different colored sides. So I have a total of 7 options with my belts. And I think that’s absolutely enough to create countless different outfits.
I’ve had significantly more parts at times in the past and none of them I really loved, so to speak. I think this creates a kind of feeling of lack, which is why you feel the need to go shopping again. However, we all tend to be repeat offenders when it comes to shopping. Unfortunately, we tend to buy the same parts over and over again. And in the same budget class. Without realizing it. I have also observed such behavior actually very often with girlfriends. To prevent this, it helps to make a plan. Or even a wish list. And then you rather save a few months for a special part, so every month to go to H&M and buy again and again the same cheap parts that just happen to hang in the store.
B – Basics
Basics are for me styling parts, which at best also high quality, but I also have T-shirts from eg H&M, which may not have the best quality, but I liked the color etc. very well. Basic parts are for me garments that I really wear every day. For example, these are turtleneck shirts for me. I have them in various colors and designs.
Since we have rather cool weather in Germany about 9 months of the year, I really wear them most of the time. But, I also don’t want to constantly worry that I might spill paint all over them or that they might get a splash of cleaner and then be ruined.
For me personally, it would therefore be rather impractical if I would wear my everyday basic, super expensive parts. Again, of course, your basics should fit you and your life situation. For me, my styling basics have to be timeless, neutral, easy to combine, practical and comfortable. My basics also include pants, such as slacks or loose palazzo pants. In any case, always cuts in which I feel comfortable and which are comfortable. I no longer experiment in this regard. For example, I have not owned a single pair of blue jeans for quite some time. They just don’t fit my style and I honestly find skinny jeans pretty uncomfortable too. Maybe my attitude towards it will change again someday, that would be ok too, but currently such jeans would just hang unworn in my closet.
C- Customization
The category C are special parts for me, where I really pay a lot of attention to the quality, like A. And they really have to fit for me. For me, that means I either have them altered by a seamstress if they don’t fit perfectly.
Or, that I design and sew them myself from scratch. Or that they are at least exceptionally well suited to me as a person. So they are also signature pieces.
For me, these are my blazers, for example. I have also had blazers from H&M for example in the past. But they never really fit well, they were almost always mostly polyester, which is really uncomfortable to wear. And they just always looked kind of 0815.
It’s not uncommon to even see people walking around the city in the same pieces. I don’t think it’s necessarily noticeable on a turtleneck sweater, but it would be noticeable on a blazer. Category C for me also includes jackets, dresses, skirts, blouses and pantsuits. So basically anything that doesn’t belong to the other two categories. These styling parts should look for me, in my opinion not too boring, but at the same time not too fancy, that is, they should still be wearable in everyday life, without that I would feel extremely overdressed.
Conclusion
I like systems that help me understand and plan things better, for me this also applies to my styling. Above all, I’m convinced that it makes it easier to take your wardrobe to the next level. And that you really only have parts that you actually wear and fewer bad purchases end up in your closet. I hope my Styling ABC is a helpful starting point for planning your own wardrobe. Feel free to let me know how you plan your wardrobe. Which systems have you already used?
Have a wonderful weekend.
All the love
Christina
“Clothing is, of course, an expression of culture”
Jil Sander
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About the author
Christina Ernst is founder and CEO of Linen & Quince. She is also a designer, author and real estate expert. She shares her experiences and knowledge not only on our Linen & Quince blog, but also on her personal blog, christinaernst.net , where she writes about financial knowledge, starting a business, real estate knowledge and personal development. She loves interior design, art, antiques, as well as elegant, sustainable and high-quality fashion.
