My Dream Wardrobe, Autumn 2013

Dream Wardrobe - DONE!  I chose my twelve favorite outfits, and then broke out the various pieces into a total wardrobe.   

I know I want jeans, and I KNOW I want my black turtleneck.  Last winter's favorite outfit of the black and white cardigan, black top and skirt, and pearl jewelry is definitely still going to be here.  And I've got a new grey dress, that will be amazing with my luscious feather-print scarf from Paris.

My denim shirt is going nowhere!  With a velvet skirt and my natural cable sweater, I'll wear it all winter.  And my new loves - the skirted leggings - will be great for autumn with a long-sleeved black tee and my asymmetric Eileen Fisher sweater.  And argyle with velvet pants - definitely.

 The minute I saw that Eileen Fisher was going to have a polka-dotted skirt this fall, I knew I had to have it.  With a grey tunic sweater - easiest outfit ever. A black dress and cardigan will always be in my wardrobe, and I can't forget the argyle cardigan outfit that I ALWAYS wear when I fly.

And finally, a new grey cardigan, to go with my new grey tee shirt, because I own grey flannel pants that MUST be worn every year.  My favorite black cabled cashmere sweater, with simple black pants, an Hermes scarf, and cool loafers gives me an ensemble that I can wear almost anyplace.  And finally, I've so loved my mid-calf silk dress this summer that I'm going to layer sweaters over it and wear it at least into the autumn, if not longer.

A nice, tidy wardrobe:

Dream SPECIFIC Wardrobe Dreams!

What's your dream wardrobe?

Be specific.  Imagine that the first cool fall day has arrived (if you're in the Northern Hemisphere), and that you open your closet/armoire/cupboard door and you see it: the Dream Wardrobe.

How many outfits?

What are they?  A grey mini-skirt with a grey tunic sweater, grey tights, and silver flats?  A simple black wool dress with an amazing paisley scarf and low-heeled black suede pumps?  Dream specific dreams.

And then write them down, or draw them...

This is a rough outline of what mine would be, just to give you a sense of my process.

Now distill these various outfits down to their necessary component parts and pieces.

It may not necessarily be a huge pile of clothing

Now figure out what you already own...

In this example, you're in a very good position for scarves and skirts, but you want a new pair of pants, a dress, some flats, a cardigan, a necklace, and one more tee shirt...

Your shopping list then looks like this:

For me, personally, my autumn purchase plan is the following:

At this point, I can take my clothing budget for the next three months, and shop and plan accordingly.

You may want more, or fewer, outfits.  You may want a lot of jeans and very few skirts.  This is your dream!  But the more specific you can be, the more you can bring your dream closer to reality...