Australian image consultant Wendy Mak suggests a very limited wardrobe of 30 items can create 1000 outfits. She also admits that this is the “basic” wardrobe which can be supplemented. I haven’t read the book, but I have watched the video.
Wendy Mak
Here is the list of “wardrobe staples” she recommends. Let’s not even think about colour or style at the moment. I am just interested to see what a “basic” wardrobe might contain. Here is the list.
Black long-sleeved T
Black T and jeans
Blue long-sleeved T
White tank
Black tank
Yellow/Colourful blouse 1
Orange/Colourful blouse 2
White tailored blazer
White tailored blazer
Black tailored blazer
Black cardigan
Grey trench coat
Grey sporty jacket
Black trousers
Stone tailored trousers
Stone trousers
Stone casual trousers
Dark indigo jeans
Knee length tailored shorts
Black pencil skirt
Denim skirt
Denim skirt
Black tailored shift with cap sleeves
Black shiny evening dress
Patterned, colourful summer dress
Black clutch for evening
black tote
Tan bag
Black knee boots
Knee boots in black and other shades
Black ballet flats
Black patent court shoes
Black strappy heels
White/gold dressy summer sandal
Nude wedges
My first reaction is that, despite the absence of “thongs” ie flip flops, this is a decidedly Australian list.
Let’s boil it down to its basic proposition:
11 tops
7 bottoms
3 dresses
3 hand bags
6 pairs of shoes
What do you think? For me I do not need three handbags, and could probably manage with less shoes if I had to. But I would need warmer layers and an outdoor coat to protect me from rain and snow.
Westwood coats
So, if restricted to 30 items, I think I would go with
14 tops
7 bottoms
4 dresses
1 coat
1 bag
3 pairs of shoes
I will see if I can do this with my existing wardrobe and report my findings.
I wear hand-made clothes most days but it’s not something I need to advertise on Instagram. Friends know I make clothes and sometimes take an interest but I don’t, as a rule, draw attention to it. Making a pledge is something I would find rather embarrassing – like committing to give up the evil alcohol, or publically going on a diet.
I have no aversion to off the peg, ready to wear clothing. In fact I love buying ready-made – you can try it on, it gives instant gratification, and it is often less expensive than making your own. Last week I bought a pink linen blouse and was grateful that i didn’t have to do all those buttonholes and buttons. Lots of pluses there, then. I don’t think shops are bad in and of themselves . I know a lot of people feel that sweat-shops and shops are somehow the same thing, but how do you think fabric is produced? Not by a group of well-fed hand-loom weavers, dyed in natural beetroot and transported to the market on a tandem.
There are lots of items that I can’t be bothered to make – T-shirts, bras and jeans for example. I am not such an extraordinary shape that I cannot buy perfectly good ones in the shops. I enjoy wearing RTW items with clothes I have made myself. For me a head to toe “me made” outfit is contrived and a little bit goody-goody – like recycling everything, and always buying organic. I am afraid I am so superficial that style trumps rules every time. I love the juxtaposition of a tailored skirt and a Topshop T, or Levis and a handmade linen shirt, a nice hand painted silk dress with a cashmere cardigan.
Do you enjoy seeing everyone’s outfits on a daily basis? I find it a bit boring – like looking at pictures of what someone else cooked or ate for dinner. Taking endless photographs of food has become an obsession, so why not picture, after picture, of what you wore today?
Here I am today. I just got in from work. I am wearing a SWAP skirt with an indeterminate T-shirt (I always cut out the labels – do you?) and a scarf from John Lewis. It’s a “selfie”. Or is it just a bit silly?
It’s May. And I made the skirt
Actually I think Me Made May is more a “thing” for young women. If you are fairly new to dressmaking, knitting or baking perhaps pure excitement means you must share your work with the world so that lots of affirming comments (lovely colour!!! Gorge!!!! Amazeballs! Awesome!! etc….) accumulate on your Facebook page. I am a hypocrite of course – because a blog is like that too. Those skinny girls, with their long legs and hair, would look great in a plastic bag. But give me a handmade dress and cute shoes instead of skinny jeans and a black jumper any day. So I am not knocking the concept per se – I just don’t think it is for me.
I bought a nice pair of silk trousers in the Topshop sale. They were a good fit, cheap, made out of heavy silk, but the colour – a slightly pink cream – was not very nice. I thought I could try to paint them with silk paints.
Cream silk trousers
If you see a pure silk item for £15 and you like it, it may be worth trying silk painting yourself.
Here’s how.
Wash the garment just to take out any finish that may prevent the paints absorbing
Choose a colour scheme (I chose purples and greens, inspired by ornamental cabbages)
Choose a pattern – it might be flowers, random, a geometric pattern, ombre, spots or anything you like, but think about it before you start, maybe practising on a piece of silk
Put plastic bags into the legs to stop the paint seeping through to the other side.
Painting silk trousers
I decided on a vertical stripe so started with putting in some strong lines, mainly down the front and sides of the trousers. Do the fronts first and try to make both legs roughly the same (this is a design choice – you could do the legs completely different if you wanted to. I try to make a pattern look like I may have matched it. I do the second side from scratch and it is hard to get it the same).
Gradually fill out the spaces, adding more colour until you are happy with the effect
Allow the first side to dry
Turn over and repeat on the back
Dont forget to do the inside of the pockets, the seams, the fly, inside the pleats, etc.
Painted silk trouers
If you are a strict Kondoite you will realise this is not correct. Having sorted my clothes, I should be doing books next. I don’t have many and those I have are part of my sewing hobby so will be tackled when I move on to this distinct category. Bathroom stuff comes into the miscellaneous category which comes later. But right now this is the area I want to sort out next as I have my own bathroom (of course invariably there is a baby in the bath, or fixing my toilet for me, or doing “colour change cars”, or I am at the basin, washing chocolate off their faces). But this is an area which is mine rather than Nick’s so, in theory, how it is arranged is down to me.
I am going in now.
(Two hours later)
Well that was not a big deal.
I did throw away
around 12 lipsticks, all in colours I don’t like or wear
lots of little samples I was going to take on holiday but never did (now surely out of date)
about 15 hotel shower caps – I kept one but resolved to make a glamorous one
expensive electric toothbrush refills for a brand I no longer have
more make up bags (most of them from plane trips) than I will ever need
massage oils – they don’t last and I think my husband has forgotten how to use them
The basin area has two electrical items, permanently charging – a water pik and an electric toothbrush.
I used to have all sorts of make up, moisterisers, dental tape, perfume and shower caps and miscellaneous stuff on the shelf. After discarding what I am not using I have transferred that the bottom bathroom cupboard. However there is some fake tan there that I haven’t used since last summer. I kept it thinking I might use it. If I don’t I will throw it out. Otherwise every thing here is what I use daily but now it is in a cupboard making the shelf and sink easier to clean. Above it is my collection of spectacles including sun glasses, and the pink bag has make up that I don’t use everyday but use sometimes. The top cupboard has spare soap, shampoo, toilet rolls and toothpaste. I think we bought too much soap, but otherwise this is reasonable. There is some mosquito lotion too. We don’t get too many mozis in the UK but I decant from this for our holidays in places where the little blighters bite me.
I really like the bathroom now. It feels more ordered and hygienic.
When you are at work, even if you are quite senior, the tasks that you must carry out are largely predetermined.
The accounts need issuing. You must carry on producing more and more widgets (or homes if you work in housing like me). Your customers need their services delivered reliably day and night all year long. The Board needs papers, the staff need information, the data needs collating. If you work full-time a great deal of your waking day is accounted for, especially when you factor in travel, eating and getting yourself ready for another day at the office – sleeping, dressing, doing the housework. You hopefully can spend an hour or two relaxing or enjoying your family each day and most of the weekend. But hobbies like dress making do not have an agenda, or even a definite rhythm, so we always have a choice about what to sew, and this can be challenging.
Why I sew
Currently I will be stimulated by any one of the following prompts to make an outfit (roughly in order of importance)
seeing and buying a nice piece of fabric (eg navy coat fabric)
Navy Mohair wool
making an outfit for an upcoming event (eg silk dress for my holiday)
needing something in my wardrobe (eg lightweight, summer jacket)
Classic linen jacket
making something from fabric I have made in my printing class (eg knives print and white beetles)
members of the family asking for something (Esme needs a new summer coat and Gus would like a linen shirt)
seeing something I like in a shop, magazine or on the internet
occasionally wanting to try a pattern or technique
What I sew
Two of my favourite bloggers recently wrote about this topic, Sewniptuck and Ada Spragg.
What I think both Lesley and Sophie are saying is that they like sewing adventurous challenging items – often in fizzing prints – but that they prefer to wear relatively boring basic clothes – black skinny jeans, grey jumpers, soft T-shirts. Years ago I showed my tutor drawings I had done of a multi-coloured satin patchwork jacket, designed with a full length bias dress as a bridal outfit. My tutor suggesting I made it up. When I expressed astonishment as I would never wear such a dressy item she said – “make it and wear it with jeans.” I made it and while I didn’t wear it very often it did look great with denims, which ensured it didn’t look “try too hard” or frumpy. It actually looked quite cool.
I have so many ideas for great outfits I want to make, yet I don’t want to make purposeless, joyless things.
For me it is about a versatile wardrobe of lovely items that both get worn a lot and do indeed “spark joy”. I don’t want to waste time or make things that don’t fit, don’t feel nice or don’t flatter me. For this reason before I start sewing again I want to think very carefully about how to decide what to make, then I can commit to making it.
Bottom line – making 11 items in six months (as I did in the SWAP) is a good number and is probably enough new clothes for a whole year. If I restricted myself to just, say, six further items between now and Christmas I think that would be more than enough. And if I am rationed to just six – what would they be? Would they be things I really, really want and am prepared to work hard to make? And how about you – do you just go with the flow or do you plan your sewing? If so what restrictions do you impose?
It includes things like seeing all of Shakespeare’s plays, taking an Art Foundation course, and doing voluntary work in Africa. It also includes a few sewing projects. Here are three of them.
Make a kimono
Make one knitted garment and wear it
Make a quilt
These are all very challenging projects (for me). The kimono will have to be a faithful reproduction of a Japanese Kimono, made in silk and probably painted. The knitting has been tried many times and I still have two unfinished jumpers/cardigans in my cupboard right now. The third is the quilt.
Last week I saw an amazing quilt on Ruth’s blog – modestly pegged to the washing line behind her SWAP catwalk show. I didn’t realise she had made it herself. Isn’t it gorgeous? I love the colours and would be so proud to have something like this. She, on the other hand, tells me it is her “learning quilt”.
Ruth’s amazing quilt
The quilt in my imagination is hand stitched and rather delicate. On a trip to a National Trust property, more than a decade ago, we looked inside the daughters’ bedroom. Two dark wood single beds stood next to each other with a washstand in between. And on them were two identical Suffolk Puff bedspreads, in lovely, soft vintage fabrics.
This was the type of quilt I wanted to make. Handsewn, it is based on circles, where every circle is gathered and pulled up to make a little “puff” (or “yo-yo” if you are American). The finished quilt is light weight and airy – almost lace-like – because the pieces only touch rather than attach. The sheet or blanket underneath can be clearly seen. It doesn’t give much warmth but gives a feminine and subtle look if light colours are used. This one is photographed to reveal the gathering. The quilt can be used face down or up.
Suffolk puffs
So I have a dilemma here. I started making the quilt, using recycled shirts in soft cottons. I guess I have 200 or so but probably need around 2000. I quite like the colour scheme, but I don’t love it. I don’t think I am going to finish this project. As I am Kondoing I am inclined to chuck them out. There is quite a lot of work there but then this quilt isn’t ever going to look right, so carrying on would be throwing “good money after bad” for me.
Should I discard it? Anyone want it? Should I finish it – given I could easily introduce new colours? For example the warm pinky brown is the colour that is discordant. If I discard this bag of bits will I ever make a quilt? And then I also wonder if we would use it. We have a plain white Zara home quilted cover on our bed and there is nothing wrong with it. In fact I like a white bedroom.
I recently started to research an American designer who really thought about what makes a perfect travel wardrobe: Claire McCardell.
Claire McCardell
In the 1930s, when rich women were starting to “holiday” abroad, travelling by aeroplane or cruise ship, they started to require a special wardrobe that could accompany them. Maxwell and McCardell helped to create the notion of a limited, carefully selected group of interchangeable separates that would look good everyday. At the same time modern methods of manufacture, new fabrics and advances in dying different fabrics in the same colourway, meant that a coordinated capsule wardrobe became a distinct possibility. Also it appealed as a “modern” and “rational” approach – increasingly it was a wardrobe that a lady had to maintain herself rather than having lots of servants to do it for her. She wrote:
Sports clothes changed our lives because they changed our thinking about clothes. Perhaps they, more than anything else, made us independent women. In the days of dependent women – fainting women, delicate flowers, laced to breathless beauty – a girl couldn’t cross the street without help. Her mission in life was to look beautiful and seductive while the men took care of the world’s problems. Today women can share the problems (and possibly help with them) because of their new-found freedom. (Sports Illustrated 1955)
Sportswear by McCardell
By the late 1930s, McCardell was offering a five to seven piece collection that was ideal for travelling with. In the mid 1930s she showed a 6-pac including
skirt
jacket,
trousers
shorts
and 6. two tops
Another wardrobe she suggested for a beach holiday was
chambray dress
shorts
sun top
jacket
For a business trip she proposed a navy-based wardrobe consisting of
jacket,
skirt,
trousers,
culottes
knitted top
McCardell knew what she wanted to wear and buy – as a professional she wanted women to have more freedom (their clothes express the “sportswear” ideal that many Europeans associate with American style). These were essentially modern clothes and by curating a coordinated “look” they made it easier for women to pack simply and still look a la mode when they were swanning about the Pyramids. McCardell delighted in small, important details on easy to wear items. The focus on a clear silhouette and a mix-and-match mentality meant that women could use their own initiative to create new looks from their separates.
During the 1950s she produced a few patterns for Spadea and McCalls, including this one.
McCardell Playsuit
I don’t know about you but these images make me want to make something special for my holidays. Have you seen the 1945 Futuristic Dress? It is basically a dress made from four triangles with the joins top stitched for a sportswear look.
I am still intending to make a silk maxi dress for my holidays but I am going to have to crack on as I am running out of time.
Recently I posted 12 very nice photographs of my SWAP collection (thank you for your kind remarks).
I mentioned that my son Gus took the pictures.
The photographer (in ironic silk pyjamas)
Here is what actually happened.
Gus arranged to come round at 11am. At about 11.20am he arrived with his girlfriend to “help with the styling” (she is French), and a carrier bag from Tesco. He mentioned that, as they had not had time for breakfast, she would be cooking bacon and eggs for everyone. We moved the dining room table, and as we don’t have a tripod he used Ted’s Plasticine to anchor the camera on top of a pile of books (my Alexander McQueen catalogue).
My daughter arrived soon after, with her baby, to give me more advice and to “choose the music”. Obviously the four of them really helped me to get into just the right frame of mind to model my collection.
I love my family so much. The combination of the four of them larking around, learning to walk, cooking scrambled egg, dribbling, selecting some good music (including Wheels on the Bus), pretending to be a professional photographer (“Sizzle like a sausage!“, “Air hostess – do the emergency exits!” “Dance like no one is watching!” etc), crying (that was Kit, not me) pulling off stray threads, making tea – all this just meant I was laughing most of the morning.
Having made a tentative start on my underwear I took on the issue of my clothes over the past week or so. I acquired a bunch of large, clear bags and I set about creating the wardrobe I wanted. By the way I will carefully label my “Kondo” posts so they can easily be skipped or “discarded” if this is not your thing.
Less Hanging, More Folding
I relied on some of the advice given by Marie Kondo, especially the idea of folding rather than using hangers. As a result I now have just three types of clothes hanging in my wardrobe.
Jackets
Skirts
Longer items – coats, dresses, trousers
Skirts
That’s it. I discarded of a few items, not so many, but a few hand made items that I do not wear much, or that are tatty from too much wear. But mainly I just took out all the blouses, jumpers and summer skirts that were hanging on hangers. These items were folded up in the Kondo style and arranged with my other tops. I saved space which enabled me to bring my two coats out of the hall way and put them neatly in the wardrobe.
Wooly v. Cottony
The other breakthrough was to go with Miss Kondo’s “wooly things” and “cottony things”. Previously I had wooly jumpers and cottony T shirts stacked together. I also had all scarves jumbled together. By simply reclassifying I now have my wooly jumpers and scarves in my bigger drawers, my T shirts, blouses and cotton skirts folded on the shelves, and the lighter cottony/silky scarves have a slim drawer of their own.
As I threw out quite a few tops that had passed their sell by date (many of them white or lightly coloured – they just don’t last as longer as darker colours). I will buy new white and lemon tops in the next few months. I also noticed that quite a few of my old cashmere jumpers (some are very old) are quite badly pilled and I should throw them away. But I still like them alot and replacing them is expensive. So I will start gradually replacing some of my older woollens, but I kept most for the moment.
Folded Woolies
Giving away hand made garments
A fellow blogger suggests finishing UFOs carefully and lovingly before giving them to the night shelter or other charitable cause. I decided to embrace this concept. Rather than regreting giving away clothes that I made and didn’t wear, or got bored with, I thought about the joy they might give a homeless person, or perhaps someone who appreciates quality. Maybe they will cut down the coat and make a skirt, or take out the satin lining and use if for another garment. In an ideal world I may have done this myself, but I want to move on to new projects now, rather than feel guilt about moving on from my home made clothes.
Shoes
I classified my shoes into outdoor and laceups; flat pumps and sandals; dressy. Or outdoors, indoors and rare. A big help. Now around 10 pairs of each are in separate drawers. I think this will work for me but it is not perfect as I can’t see everyone at a glance. Also I realised two or three of my favourite brogues are getting very tatty.
Hidden clothes
In the bedroom is an upper cupboard that contains out of season wear. Kondo suggests we keep our all our clothes in the one wardrobe, on show and available all the year round. I have sympathy with this view (apart from holiday clothes which I only wear on holiday). I tipped out this cupboard, knowing it really included a lot of out of sight/out of mind items. I discarded many of them – at least half. But I also hung on to some – sentimental clothes that I cannot yet give up. But with time, maybe. They do spark joy but I don’t want to wear them. A bit stupid to hang on to them perhaps but I will for now.
I know I have quite a large additional selection of clothes in our storage area (“the vaults” – these ancient cubby holes are hidden under the road and would, in Georgian London, have been used to store meat, ice and wine). Kondo rules that any clothes not dealt with at the time are toast. I know if I comply this just means I will take this further selection to the charity shop. But wait! I owe it to those clothes to go through them carefully and check out if there are any loved orphans in there. I don’t feel I have the strength (mentally) to do this just yet. I want to get the house completely straight first. Am I a coward in this tidying lark – yes. But I will go there in due course.
On 26 April we watched the London Marathon. Notting Hill had 20 runners in the race and it was a very exciting spectacle. Many of the competitors had been training for months to ensure they could do the race without expiring. Having now spent six months planning and sewing my collection I feel I have been involved in a marathon of my own. I decided to enter the 2015 Stitchers Guild Sewing with a Plan in November 2014, and I have just finished and photographed my collection.
I am proud of my achievement.
I have made 11 wearable garments in that time
Seven garments have come from one vintage couture pattern – most of them getting a modern or personal twist. This cost £21 from eBay
Two were self drafted patterns – a curvy pencil skirt and a kimono sleeved jacket
The other two patterns were 99p each – fairly ordinary 1960s patterns
None of the fabrics cost more than £10m, except the white silk for the silk dress which was about £12m.
I customised some of the fabrics – for the white silk dress, and the linings for my Fuchsia suit
All the garments are lined, in silk
Some of the buttons are recycled vintage buttons but I bought new leather ones for the fuchsia suit
I have worn all the garments and I like every single item which I feel is a flattering shape and length for me
Every garment works with what I already have in my wardrobe
I documented the process on this blog with a post every Saturday
There were a few difficult moments
I changed my plans considerably in the middle, discarding several already completed items
I have had some difficulties with zip and shoulder pad insertion (ahem!)
I left the navy dress and white overblouse on a train and thought I had lost them for good (I cried). Thanks to Virgin Trains they were recovered.
I hadn’t realised how much stress I was carrying. Just getting my 11 garment collection to fit, to work, to please me; to use the exercise to push myself; altering items that didn’t quite work; photographing them nicely. I gave up going to the gym quite a few mornings so I could commune with the collection. And now it is all done my husband is glad to get me back and I can do as I please for a while. At the weekend my son Gus kindly took the photographs which I have now uploaded on the site.
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