My Comprehensive Wardrobe Framework

I hope this personal list will be of help - or at least interest - to you.

I've spent a lot of time in the last year developing my style and organizing my wardrobe. Some of it happened naturally because of lifestyle changes, and some of it was careful planning. Since I started painting full-time, my style has changed in several ways. It's a little more casual, and more practical for my lifestyle. It's also leaned more androgynous. Also, While I don't get to travel great distances often, I do have occasional over-night trips to visit friends and family, and I currently like to keep my wardrobe somewhat travel-ready. I've found that a wardrobe that's practical for travel is also practical in my every-day life. 

I have gained so much inspiration from the minimalist movement. (I plan on sharing some of my favorite minimalists and their ideas in another post). It's helped in culling my wardrobe, organizing it, and giving me ideas about uniform dressing. However, I don't describe my own wardrobe as minimal. The reason is that I keep everything I need, plus a few extras that define my style. For example, I have a few more jackets than I actually need, but I love them and enjoy wearing them. 

However, I am determined to not over-shop and keep my wardrobe relatively small, so I created this list of the types of clothing I need in my wardrobe. It's helped to define what I actually wear and helps me keep track of my clothes so I have something to wear for every part of my life. All the different types of clothing I wear are listed below and I call it My Comprehensive Wardrobe Framework. This includes my summer and winter clothing items. After making this list, I determined how many of each I needed. For most of these, it's just one, but since I wear lots of t-shirts and jeans, I have a multiples of those. But this post isn't about the how many, it's about the what.

I included three categories in this list - clothing, shoes, and accessories.

Clothing:

1. T-shirt (short sleeve)
2. T-shirt (long sleeve)
3. Thermal top
4. Drapey blouse or shirt
5. Sleeveless top / tank top
6. Black turtleneck
7. Flannel shirt
8. Little Black Dress for weddings, parties, dates
9. Joggers/lightweight pants 
10. Cutoff shorts
11. Black leggings
12. Skinny or slim pants 
13. Skinny or slim jeans 
14. Short black skirt that can be casual or dressy
15. Thin sweater
16. Hoodie - black or gray
17. Moto jacket
18. Army jacket
19. Bomber Jacket
20. Wool coat
21. Trench coat

Shoes:

1. Combat boots
2. Zip-up ankle boots 
3. Casual sandals
4. Canvas sneakers or boots
5. Slip-on casual shoes 
6. Nice event shoe (anything that looks good year round with the LBD)

Accessories:

1. Minimalist leather belt 
2. Sun hat
3. Beanie
4. Square silk scarf
5. Gloves
6. Warm circle scarf
7. Necklace (with small pendant, in general)
8. Ear muffs
9. Small backpack
10. Standard-sized backpack
11. Small black cross-body that can be worn casually or to nice events
12. Sunglasses
13. Large thin scarf (see pic below)

Other important items:

Socks, underwear, pajamas, and painting clothes. My painting clothes are old or worn items that come from my main wardrobe. They are comfortable, and kind of like paint-stained lounge-wear.

Just for fun - and a reminder to myself - a few items not on my list:

These are some things that I've tried in the past and realized I don't need and don't fit with my personal style.

1. Blazer - too structured, hard to find a good fit. I actually currently have a velvet one that I like, but it's soft and drapey and I think of it more as a fancy jacket. If I lost it, I wouldn't replace it.
2. White collar shirt. Don't like how they feel, look, or gape at the bust.
3. Chambray shirt. Same opinion as the white collar shirt.
4. Dress trousers - just don't need.
5. Denim jacket - prefer a leather jacket or nylon bomber.
6. Chunky sweater - love how cozy these look on other people, but they look wrong on me. Also often feel too itchy and thick. I prefer removable layers like jackets and hoodies.
7. Pumps - just no. I tried in the past for convention's sake, but I hate them. 
8. Watch - I have a phone and don't like things on my wrist.
9. A handbag. I like to go hands-free.

This list is a living document, and subject to change based on my life circumstances and preferences. Even now, I'm thinking I might not actually always need a flannel shirt in my wardrobe, but it's staying for now. The main thing is just to have a guideline to keep away the clutter and keep my wardrobe functional.

Do you find such a guideline helpful, or do you prefer to not overthink your wardrobe? Or do you have another way of managing your clothes?

By the way, I've changed the links at the end of my posts. No more links to Twitter or Tumblr - I haven't been very active there for ages. But I added a link to my Flickr photo stream, if anyone is interested. Also, are you on Flickr? Please let me know in the comments and I'd love check out your photo stream. ⇩

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