A wardrobe I can depend on

via (worn in perfection)

When I first started my blog I was so crazy for versatility.The equivalent of style to me was to be able to dress with a different outfit everyday.
And so I did.For one and a half year I would wear so many different combinations of my clothes that I lost myself in the process.
To fuel my passion I had to buy stuff often.That is cheap stuff that I would wear once or twice and then stuff it in the back of my closet.
When I had my first serious purge and was left with a few basic and loved pieces versatility was not what I was looking for.Quite the opposite.This time I went for consistency.
For more than a month now I wear my perls every day and I rely on my wrist watch ( resembles a lot the Tank watch by Cartier). And I pay my nails red.
I wear my favorite pale blue shirt (was bought for my husband but he never had the chance to wear it) twice a week with either my black skirt or my skinny dark blue trousers. On heavy rotation are a couple of sweaters  , my chambray shirt and my red stripes tshirt.
I hold my tan leather bag and wear either my ballerinas or broques.
Therewill be things to add but for the moment I feel complete and satisfied. That's how I know I found my true style.

Bonjour tristesse Part 1

After I had my oh ! so strict , ruthless edit of all my clothes , I burst out crying. The major question in my head was "what was I thinking ? "
After a while an unexplicable sense of sadness came around and I had to sit still for quite sometime. I wanted to stay with my feelings of sadness and not fight them away.
Instead , I would use them to steer me clear of mistakes in the future.
And for the first time , sitting there in my quiet room , among the piles of clothes I begun to see the picture clearly.
The clothes I had were cheap. Cheap in fabric , cheap in design ,   cheap in fit. Those were clothes for someone younger , insecure and ignorant. Those were clothes for someone very much influenced by fast fashion and big retail chains .Those were clothes of a mismached style that wasn´t me anymore.
And then , this huge sadness was lifted because these clothes beside me had served their purpose which was to quide me through to the next level of my style journey . And I felt so happy and blessed that I had the luxury and the free time to indulge in these thoughts , in the first place!
I now have 13 pieces left in my closet,one trench coat,two scarves,a watch and a pair of pearl earrings and 3 pairs of shoes and 4 bags to keep me company as I embark to the next part of my journey.
By the way , all 25 items are the best quality items I had . I picked them because they made me feel good and only later did I realise they were of good quality , too.

What is true style anyway

I've calm down a lot this last week and I think I found the right balance for my posts. I can't keep them frequent because of a tres busy life and because a bit of silence between posts helps me focus to what I really want to post about.
The truth is that what is happening in Japan right now has taken the desire to blog away and the neuclear terror has made the future seem so much gloomier.
I had however the opportunity to fully understand the famous statement that true style  lies beyond fashion and it is the expression of one's personality.
That's how I understand it .First of all it has to do with a sense of continuity ...something I  wear or use again and again so that it becomes a characteristic of mine. Like for instance the perfume or the nail paint  ,a piece of jewelery or the type of shoes I wear.
I realised that for one and a half year now I was experimenting hoping to find my true style, to rule out the things I don't like and refine the things I like and ultimately change my consuming habits.
What I can't stess enough is how quality is always more important than quantity and a sure fire way to true style.
Quantity always leaves you hungry for more but quality satisfies you and you have no reason to look for yet something else when you really love what you have!
Of course there are gaps to be filled  and money to be saved but there is no rush ...we talk about a life lasting wardrobe that will take years to be filled with the right pieces.
In my opinion that's the road to true style but I trully want to know what you think and what your approach is.

I finally got it

 Every time I'm ready for a big shift of  perception in my life there is a period of great unrest and a great sense of dissatisfaction before the change happens.This  has occured quite a few times in my life and I'm more able now to recognise the signs.
This time it was in the form of my consuming habits and my relationship with the things (in this cace clothes,shoes,accessories) that I have.
I had become obssessed with buying things not in a big scale way but in a way that bothered me. I calculated the amount of money I spent on items I didn't really like in 2010 and it was a mere 300 euros. I don't consider this a huge amount. What bothered me was why I wanted to buy something new all the time. I like fashion and express myself through the way I dress but that constant craving was something I didn't have before in my life.
Blogging was surely a reason that accelerated the process but I like blogging so much and I didn't want to stop it. So big unrest and disatisfaction prevailed in my life for the last few months.

A big change was about to come in the way I shop and relate to my clothes and I was more than ready for it.
And then a few weeks ago I found the blog of dead fleurette by chance followed by other blogs of the same philosophy about aquiring clothes.
She put in words the exact feelings I had and the dissatisfaction I felt. It was a huge relief to know that others have dealt with these feelings and also to be presented with a new direction to go.
I was so ready for this that I edited my wardrobe in a weekend and kept a small amount of what I had accumulated previously.
When I examined what had stayed in my closet I discovered
a) that all pieces were on the pricey side
b)made of good materials
c) have been with me for many wears but were lost in the sea of cheap , fast fashion clothes.
d) were at least decently tailored
e)I enjoyed wearing them

The two jackets pictured above tick all the boxes . They are actually so well made that never fit with my cheaply made clothes of  before.
They don't really show their true value because I lack well made basics but they are the best I have for now .
As I know what I really want to build me a long lasting wardrobe I don't feel impatient anymore nor do I want to aquire every little thing that comes along.I'm not saying that I actually bought every little thing before but I had the craving. And I figured the craving was because my clothes were not special  or loved or desired over a long period of time   and nicely tailored so I kept asking  for more to satisfy my thirst of quality.
 Which brings me to the next point that big retailers and corporations do deliberately encourage this constant craving by providing numerous items for us to buy and changing their collections a few times a year. We consumers are bombarded with so many options to buy, it begins to be absurd.
It's the first time in the history of humanity that we consume so much  and with so much ignorance of the concequences (environmental,economical,ethical).
This has to change and I'm more than glad to see a counter reaction in the form of minimalism or slow fashion movement or call it as you want cause I don't really like putting labels.
And call me crazy but tomorrow is the first day for over two years that I'm going to wear the same outfit for 2 days in a row! I don't believe I'm actually doing this!!!

Hungry for shopping

I'm writing this post to celebrate my new found peace of mind concerning my shopping habits. The last few weeks I live in a state of nirvana , loving the clothes I have and not feeling a single craving to buy anything!
Instead I refine further my already edited wardrobe and from what I have I only use the clothes that are made from fine materials like silk (a fine silk top that got lost in the see of clothes before) leather (a great leopard print leather jacket) linen ,wool and fine cotton.

Instead of shopping I do alterations to fit the clothes I love to wear to my exact measurements. The sweater above is made of fine quality wool and the color combinations are so dear to me but it was abandoned before because I had never thought of fitting it to my body. But yesterday I took my measurements and by trial and error I styled it to my body shape and lenght.It's so soft that I can even squeeze it in my pants.

Another thing that kept me creatively busy last week was to trim my favorite pair of pants. It's the pair that fits me the best  but it was too long and not flattering. I did patiently  a lot of tials in front of the mirror because I will wear those pants all the time and I wanted the result to be perfect!
Take notice that i'm not talking about my body shape but how to make the body I have now look its best and harmonious to the eye! I think that's where true personal style journey begins to show.
Then I only kept my leather shoes because trully that's the kind of shoes I 've enjoyed wearing and lasted enough to be chosen for my minimal wardrobe!My trusted ballerinas were taken out and polished with love and the little bows straightened with care.
Another thing that keeps me busy these days is the quest for the perfect (for my body )cigarette pants draft. I do my recearch on line and because I had some pattern making classes in the past I will try and make a pair of pants from scratch for me. And when I get the perfect fit I will then buy fine quality fabric to tailor my own pants.
Do you see any reason why I should be hungry for shopping and fast track fashion ,anymore?

Whould I bring that home?

Linen summer dress, woolen chocolate brown sweater and classic leather strap watch,pearls

That's the question I was asking myself again and again a few days ago while visiting some stores in the center of my city.
The question I'm asking myself now while typing is what the hell was I doing visiting stores in the first place...but I'll bother with this question in a following post!
Whould I bring this home and put it in my closet to wear and cherish and love for as long as I shall live?

That's the question that freed me of the constant craving .I will not be bringing just stuff at home anymore but only aquire what will speak in my heart and I'm sure I'll keep and love for a long long time. Things that I will be happy to wear again and again and still feel good about them and in them.

I've done a major clean out in my closet lately and I only kept clothes that are of excellent quality and of fine materials like linen,organic cotton  silk and leather.
 I've done a mega edit and kept very few items that were lost in the sea of cheap quality clothes and mismatched stuff I accumulated over the last 2 years.
Don't get me wrong I don't have hard feelings over the stuff I threw away because they paved the way for my mega editing and the peace of mind I have now.They were the stepping stone for the creation of my life long wardrobe in which I plan to collect each new piece as if it were a piece of art.
I'm saving money cause I don't buy constantly small unworthy stuff but hopefully a great one per season or even twice a year.