I am SOOO bored with my clothes!! Most of the clothes I have I’ve had since at least 2007 (with the exception of a couple pairs of jeans I’ve gotten at resale shops)…and some of my clothes date back to college days!!
I am so over looking like a college kid from the 90’s…Doc Maartens, jeans, and oversized tees just look way too sloppy for a suburban mom!! I don’t wanna go the whole soccer mom look either…the track suit look just won’t cut it for me!! The thing is, I want to look feminine and put together without looking cutesy and overdone!! I want outfits that are nice enough to just throw on shoes and waltz out of the house wearing, yet I can be comfortable in and not worry about messing up should we decide that we aren’t leaving the house all day.
Crystal at Money Saving Mom did a vlog about her minimalist wardrobe and while admirable, I don’t think I could go just QUITE that minimal at this point!! She has just two pairs of pants, two pairs of capris, two skirts, one dress, and six mix-and-match tops!!
I found this post that talked about how the French pull off a minimalist look and drew a few ideas from it…specifically how versatile a trench coat can be!! I also found a blog called You Look Fab that has some great ideas about mom outfits and read a lot of the posts they had there and drew some more ideas. Then I took into account what sorts of things I will be doing while wearing my wardrobe and what sorts of things I’m comfortable wearing right now…and tweaked and tweaked and THINK I’ve hit upon what I would like my wardrobe to consist of.
I LOVE black and the jewel tones/summer shades of blues and greens versus pastels…so I decided to stick with those as my base colors.
So here it is: My Ideal Wardrobe!!
*3 pairs of bootcut or fit-to-the-knee flared pants…two pairs being denim and one pair being made of a black woven material.
*5 cute sleeveless dresses that hit right above the knee…not too flared or too straight…for wearing solo or for layering over pants. Snug enough to fit properly, but loose enough to layer short and long sleeved tops underneath (ie. dress as jumper).
*5 or so thin tops for layering (not too sheer…so as to still be wearable alone), in a long length for maximum coverage.
*5 or so tank tops/camis for layering, in a long length for maximum coverage.
*2-3 dressier tops that can be worn with the skirts or pants for church or a night out. Banded tops with a rounded or v-neck seem to work well for me.
*1-2 cute knee length skirts and 1-2 long skirts…in denim and/or black…must be able to mix-and-match with all tops.
*2-3 bolero jackets and/or cardigans for extra warmth for shoulders when weather is slightly chilly or for when in air conditioned buildings. A couple of wraps are handy for this as well (I have two already in black and a jewel tone green).
*1-2 dresses. One of these must be the LBD (little black dress) that should be an essential part of every wardrobe. If there is a second dress it can be a fun print.
*Black just-above-the-knee trench coat w/removeable lining…enough to keep me warm here in Texas on all but the coldest of days…and versatile enough to go with EVERYTHING in my wardrobe.
*Shoes will be chunky boots/chunky flips while wearing pants (for height with comfort)…and ballet flats/sandals while wearing skirts and dresses (for easy, breezy slip-on comfort) . One pair of dressy heels for weddings and date nights to round out the shoe category!!
Two categories that might be unique to me…but essential for what I want are:
*2-3 pairs of modesty shorts. Soft white cotton knit, mid-thigh, fairly snug-fitting shorts for wearing under my dresses. Since I want to be able to wear my dresses just above the knee and since I WILL be sitting on the floor in them as a mom…these are essential!!
*3-4 pinafores. Not just an apron, but more like what young girls wore over their dresses around the turn of the last century. Not frumpy and shapeless...more something fashioned similar to the cut of my dresses, but that only covers the fronts of them and ties in the back. An easy way while at home cleaning or working on projects with the little dude to keep my clothes neat. These can then be pulled off and put aside before heading out of the house!!
So there ya go!! I realize this may not seem that minimalist to many…but when you take into account that this would be ALL that was in my closet, it really isn’t that much when compared to the average closet contents of the average American female!! I don’t intend to have ANYTHING in my closet that isn’t wearable and worn consistently. Much better to have all of this list and be able to wear all of it than to stare in discontent at a full closet and have nothing wearable!!
Whew…this was a somewhat lengthy second post of the year…but now I can just come back and refer to this post as I work on getting my wardrobe complete!!
