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Building A Wardrobe From Scratch: A Strategy!

It's like those toys with different animal parts on blocks and you can make infinite combinations out of like four animals.

Ok, earlier this week I wrote about the situation I’m in, and not having access to my wardrobe and ALSO not shopping. My clothes are fine, they just need to be cleaned post-fire. Anyway, it’s not even a little bit like I actually lost my wardrobe, but it has gotten me thinking about where I would start if for some reason I did have to start over from scratch - just kind of thinking about the strategy I’d have if I needed to re-build a wardrobe. Another way I’ve been thinking of it, is if I knew what I know now when I was 21, how would I invest in clothing, and what would I buy first?

When I was in my early 20s, I went hard on designer statement pieces, usually from the Barney’s Warehouse Sale (RIP) or sample sales. I wanted THE THING, which was also part of that era of it-bags and it-everythings, but also I think part of just being kind of young. I didn’t have a strategy to build my wardrobe, I had opportunities to score massive deals on crazy-looking shit, so crazy-looking shit is what I bought.

Now that I better understand the mechanics of getting dressed, and I have a whole philosophy about packing for a trip that I try to extend to my day to day wardrobe, I would do it all differently. Here’s what I’d do.

Most of the items in this newsletter are borrowed from the brands, which is fun for me because it’s stuff I don’t usually get to wear. I am so appreciative of their help! If you’d like to skip the rest of this and just shop the edit, you can do that here.

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