I6L Clothing Challenge: 6 Pieces or Less

Sooooo. Hm. Imagine that your wardrobe is taken away for a month for some sort of inspection and you are only allowed to keep 6 garments other than coats and underwear, having no option for replacing the taken pieces, and these 6 had to last you a month, at least, which would you take?

Hello, mes chers. We are doing it! Oui, les six pieces have been chosen, mostly.  On the previous post, we took inspiration from some superbly stylish women from around world and brainstormed a rough idea of the tiny capsule. It is winter. In New England. And, we have to look mostly professional at work,  be comfortable enough to play with/babysit kids, and attractive enough on the weekends, and put quality to the test by having to do laundry more often. As for laundry, some of us cashmere and silk lovers know to extend life and looks by hand-washing and flat/line drying. The plan is to make use of long underwear to extend life in between laundering and to provide insulation on these snowy days.

Speaking of snowy, mon premier choices were cashmere et soie. Mon silk undershirts have been keeping me, tropical bird that je suis, warm for several North Eastern winters now. They are the detachable lining to most if not all clothes worn per moi for late fall, winter, and early spring... Half the year, almost every day. Excellent secret weapon.

La premier choice was a pretty cashmere cardigan in black from J.Crew, but it has these lovely sequins and bow pattern that everyone will notice by the fourth time it is worn within a month. Comme ca, il n'est pas practical, right? Then the
recently old v-neck cashmere tee came in. It is perfect!

This choice was pretty straightforward. This Vince sweater-dress-cardigan-coat was the purchase of this fall and has been an excellent travel mate. It is comfy enough to fall asleep in and, after lint-brushing, looks great as a dress with tights and boots, It works as an awesome chunky sweater, layered or not, and over pretty much any outfit as a transition piece. It's a chic workhorse.

 The second choice was a fight between my first designer dress bought with my own money (still a top favorite) and this one current favorite dress. They are both neutral colors and can be worn as blouses, skirts, layered under, layered over, and always gather too many compliments but are not outlandish or shiny or vavoom. So they work within outfits, remaining stylish and clearly high-quality. There is, also, the reason why these were acquired in the first place; elles simplement conviennent à mon corps et ma vie. Simply, they suit my body and my life. This one looks more polished for work:

The white shirt is an absolute must. I own about a dozen and each was worth even more than I paid. This one will take the frequent laundering well without much need for ironing or dry cleaning, and it is super soft, so it layers under clothes perfectly, both as a shirt and as a shirt-dress.

The question is with the bottoms. While the dresses and sweater were relatively fast choices, based on practicality, the pants and skirts are the real question.

The recently acquired angora skirt.

The loved and washed to softness, hemmed to the average-height US American female, perfect wide-leg jeans, that have been stored since mon affair with skinny jeans. Skinny jeans will just not do with this challenge because they don't work for my body when shirts are tucked in on them. They would work even less so with dresses worn as shirts. The relaxed wideleg jeans will.

And so will these. These are actually purchased from the men's department, the best quality pants I had (until last year's acquisition of a Dsquared2 pair that is equally well made). Made in Italy with italian wool, on sale because this was the smallest size in men's, and there just are not that many ultra emo-type skinny men in this town. I win. Jackpot. Ma soeur dit that they are skinny old man's pants. Haha. J'aime les pantalons. Ils me convient. Je dit, "jackpot".

So only two of these bottoms can be used. Ah. Decisions...

Bisous,

La Copaine editing the Atelier's Closet