Monday, January 30, 2012

Thoughts on the 5 Piece French Wardrobe

At the end of 2010, I resolved to follow NNINY, Nothing New in the New Year. It proved to be a little too restrictive and not that realistic for me. I moved on to the 5 Piece French Wardrobe, which I more or less followed for 2011. (Any “cheats” were wedding/honeymoon related.) So, what’s my angle for 2012? Do I repeat the 5 Piece French Wardrobe, or move on to something else?

5 Piece French Wardrobe (Spring)





I've found the 5PFW works best if:

a. you really are French.
b. you have a fabulous wardrobe to begin with.
c. you buy $500 couture items.
d. you mostly buy statement pieces.


The pieces I bought mostly qualify as basics. The 5PFW makes more sense when applied to statement pieces.  "Updating basics" is allowed under the 5PFW, but where do you draw the line on what is a basic? You could spend hundreds of dollars on "basics".




5 Piece French Wardrobe (Fall)




This is no specific item I regret not buying, but I do feel my wardrobe missed out a bit on "trend".  You can find a lot of on-trend items at the thrift store, but let’s face it, there are always some things you just can’t find at a thrift store.  I have trouble finding t-shirts, sweaters, or jeans.  All tend to be in bad shape by the time they make it to a thrift store.

I don't necessarily want to follow the 5PFW again, but I need some kind of filtering system. I have a weekly budget of $25 for fun money, which goes towards anything that is not a necessity: a new book, clothing, eating out with friends, etc.  The weekly budget already limits what I can spend, but I don't want to get back in the habit of buying tons of shallow clothing from mass market retailers.

So how do I find balance between new shopping and thrift shopping, between building a wardrobe and over stuffing it?  I feel like I'm somewhat wiser for experimenting with the 5PFW, but I don't have it all figured out.  I still make mistakes. 

All that I can promise for this new year is that I'm going to continue to curate my own personal style and to favor thrifted over new and quality over quantity.  Any thoughts on my style resolutions past or current?  What are your own style resolutions?   







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