How to edit your clothes for a versatile wardrobe

This autumn I came to the conclusion that I'm an edit wardrobe maniac if such a thing exists ! How else can I explain the fact that I edit and pair down my entire wardrobe every 3 months.

Well , that's how I paired down my clothes for this winter . As many of you know already I have zero money to spend in new clothes or accessories for the rest of the year and 2012.
This unfortunate fact makes it critical that I rediscover and make the best use of my clothes in the hopes that I enjoy wearing the same clothes.

What you see here is my entire winter collection . I did a lot of recearch on the net and realised that the best dressed women are the ones who spend more time on thinking carefully about and organising their clothes . Fortunately not the ones who shop frequently.
Another information that sort of put everything in place for me is that a versatile wardrobe consists of 40% of classic garments 35% of basics and 25% of more trendy items.

MY CLASSICS

I took the contents of my entire wardrobe out and put back only my classics . What I qualify as classics are the best quality and best tailored clothes I own that I will keep for many years to come :

• A little black dress
• 2 chanel like jackets
• A grey jacket
• A beige greatly tailored jacket
• A white button down 
• A pair of black pants 
• An A line skirt
• A pair of classic levis jeans

Despite the fact that I spent a lot of money on clothes the last couple of years I know now that it wasn't money well spend . My classics are very few and some not as good quality as I deserve . I feel a bit stupid because I have already spent the money but not on the clothes I should buy. The good thing is that now I know better.

MY BASIC SWEATERS

Then I put back my basics . It's the clothes that I wear often and the clothes that bridge the gaps between my classics and are mostly tops . They offer the maximum versatility so I feel that I have more clothes than I really have. I tend to replace them every couple of years. My simple sweater collection is :

• Black cardi
• grey cardi
• beige cardi
• black sweater
• grey sweater
• white sweater

It's nothing fancy but offer the canvas to use my patterned or colored pieces and they mix and match nicely with the classics so that I'm always decently dressed. I would like them to be a bit better quality but from now on , each one I will replace it will be with a new one of great quality and fit.

MY SHIRTS COLLECTION

 Then I put back in the closet my shirts . It came to me as a surprised when I realised that my shirt collection is mostly patterned . I hope they play along nicely with my basic  and classic pieces this winter and many winters to come as they are of good quality and show no signs of wear. It's a versatile collection as I have :

• A stripped grey&light blue stripes
• A stripped grey&black stripes
• Nautical themed
• Red tartan

I was sort of late to adopt shirts into my wardrobe but I assure you that a shirt can make a huge difference as it gives instant class to an outfit. I feel like I have to explore shirts more.

MY STRIPES

These are my favorite basic pieces and I have to admit that it was last year I wore stripes for the first time . I find they give instant class to my outfits and they are oh! so french. I know already I can mix and match them with both my classics and basics. As you can see I own:

• A white/red stripes
• A blue/white stripes
• A black/ white stripes tuttleneck

SOME MORE BASICS

These few pieces I don't exactly know how to classify . You see the jacket on the left is a classic design but the fit and fabric are not good , the fake leather skirt is too short ...you get the picture . But at this point I can make good use of them to strech my wardrobe .

THE MORE COLORFUL PIECES

In the selves above you can see my more colorful items be it tees ,cardis or skirts . Most of them aren't of excellent quality but they will do the job . What I plan to do is to wear my neutral colors more and when I become an expert at making outfits out of them only then will I start adding color . Hopefully. it will be around spring by that time. I also relay havily on my scarves collection to add color to my outfits.
It might sound frivolous or silly but I feel like I have to study what I have , put some thought on the planning of my outfits and have a strong knowledge of what I can accomplish with what I have. Only then will I be able to make a special addition that will stay with me for a long time and that I will enjoy everytime I wear I wear.