Welcome to my final completed Tiny Closet! A closet of 28 pieces, including jackets, coats and heirloom pieces. But that's not exactly all. This is my base closet. A foundation to build from - but I'll get to that in a minute.
Now, for those of you who are not familiar with my concept of The Tiny Closet, it's actually more of lifestyle...
The Tiny Closet is about having small, simple collections of clothing throughout the year that are carefully curated and personalized for you and you alone. It's forgetting about what you "should" buy and what you "need" to be wearing and it's all about focusing close attention on your own lifestyle, routine, social life, and likes. Oh, and the weather is an important factor too! It's not about ignoring the evolution of fashion or trends. It's about making trends work for you. And if they don't - leave em' and wait for the next wave.
It sounds pretty easy but creating and maintaining a Tiny Closet is more challenging than you think! Maybe because when you're carefully collecting new items for your wardrobe, the process completely eliminates mindless shopping, frequent needs to shop and addictive hoarding. And I think we ALL have fallen prey to those symptoms and tendencies. It's a waste of money, space in our closets and a vast waste of our time when we're deciding what the heck we're going to wear every morning!
Anyway, with my closet as the example, as you can see - I'm really into one-pieces and roomy drapey fit. Dresses, jumpsuits, flouncy tops and oversize designs - it's what I like to see on myself and what I feel so comfortable wearing. Regardless of what I'm told I should wear based on my height, weight and age.
My closet is newly finalized and ready to be built upon. What I mean is, all of these pieces are the remaining gems from cleaning out and pairing down my closet over the past couple years. It took a long time! And each article of clothing actually belongs to its own capsule wardrobe. So what I intend to do is build upon each of these pieces an even Tinier capsule wardrobe for each season. And as each season passes on to another, I will take my capsule wardrobe and store it away to make room for the next.
These capsules will only consist of about 3-4 pieces and they are festive, fun and purely seasonal items.
Ah! What a fun, free, non-guilty, non-wasteful way to shop, right? And you're truly building a closet you adore and will always want to pick from.
A little about my base pieces: This leather midi skirt is delicious! With the softest, warm leather it can be worn with so many things for Fall and Winter. I wore it best with a slouchy tee and animal print flats. But it also went beautifully with stiletto boots and a cropped tee. I am very fickle with skirts so this friendly, stylish midi skirt gave me the room and freedom I am usually lacking when it comes to not wearing pants.
This semi-orginal dress is phenomenal. I adapted it from a Vogue pattern and I love it for both everyday errands and going out to dinner in the Fall. Amazing! I wore it with some stacked leather boots dangling earrings - and another time with a statement necklace and flats.
This romper is an original design of mine. A statement piece that I made when experimenting with loose jumpsuits. I love wearing it with my multi colored sandals! This palm-printed onesie will be apart of my Summer capsule in 2017.
And my all-time favorite maxi I bought years ago is still a gem! I literally cannot count all the times I've worn it. Not to mention how I've worn it: as a skirt and as a strapless dress. This piece will be apart of my Spring and Summer capsules for 2017 for sure.
My "heirloom" items are next - they're the only pieces that will not be in capsules. Including this cheap but unforgettable iconic dress that I never wear but for that one evening event I have to go to that calls for it, which happens just a couple times a year. And I relish it every time! I wore it only once for the blog. And it was fabulous.
My vintage coat with a built in wrap is also much too special to donate. I very rarely wear it but when I do, it's always to pair with something very casual.
And the top of my prized pieces is my wedding dress. A two-piece Max Mara number made in Italy. Simple, and super modern. Just like me. Since I ended up being two hour late for the big day, I missed out on photographs. So my husband shot me in it a year later.
The few folded items I have is two pairs of shorts (a pair of linen shorts and pair of cutoffs), a black lycra body con dress that I like to wear under loose tops and sweaters, two tee-shirts I designed and a cool T by Alexander Wang jersey skirt.
When it comes to denim, the more worn and ripped, the better. I have 4 pairs. Including one that is not worn but in pristine condition and for neater, more finished occasions.
And of course these vintage 501 Levis. I prefer a little spandex in my jeans but I put up with a little resistance in these completely non-stretch oldies. The high waist is perfect my for cropped tees!
And the last of my heirlooms is this gigantic embroidered circle skirt. I wore it best with a bra top in the desert. And also with a turtleneck and boots in the Winter.
These are the boots! I shared some of my shoes in these photos. The little group you see at the bottom of the clothing rack are most of my favorites but I didn't bring out all of them. I want to focus on the clothing aspect of building a wardrobe.
My plan for shoe shopping and maintaining non-wasteful capsules in shoes is purchasing one pair of shoes per season that will go with nearly all of the items in that capsule. So that means I will have around 4 new shoes a year. Thoughtfully picked for each season.
I look forward to collecting more pieces for this Fall season. And by the way, Fall officially kicks of this week!! What are you looking forward to adding to your closet this season? Keep visiting while I create my first capsule wardrobe for Fall 2016 using some of the Fall pieces I already own and 3 or 4 new pieces!
Hope you enjoyed peeking through my Tiny Closet and getting more familiar with the concept for a Tiny lifestyle :)
I've learned so much from you as stated before. It's so rewarding being able to wear the same blouse sometimes twice a week. But each time I wear it someone thinks it's new piece simply by changing the bottoms or adding a necklace. You really are special and u have a gift. Thank you for showing myself and others that u can be stylish without following the latest trends everyone is ;) forever a fan Melissa
ReplyDeleteI totally love this way of thinking about dressing - I'm sure it makes the task of getting ready a lot less stressful and more fun since each piece is tried and true. I am far from a tiny closet but will definitely be looking at shopping in a new way.
ReplyDeleteThis should be a life goal! I recently moved continents so naturally I had to size down my closet but I still find myself itching to go out shopping. Moving from a tropical climate region to sth more temperate scares me. However I hope to establish my base items and pick it up from there. You truly are an inspiration!Thank you for sharing your closet with us.
ReplyDeleteLove it! It's stylish, simple and modern.
ReplyDeleteYour tiny wardrobe is inspiring and beautiful. What I like most that it is authentically you.
ReplyDeleteLove the peak into your Tiny Closet and your plan as you move forward. Glad to see that your closet holds a (precious) few items you are just ... special. Yes, sometimes I just want to shop!, but with your ideas when I do, I can take a well thought out list! Thanks so much!
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