When most people hear about the ten-item wardrobe for the first time, they think it sounds restrictive. How and why would I want to only have ten core items per season? But what they don’t realize is the ten-item wardrobe is incredibly freeing. How is that possible? Watch today’s video to learn more.



For those of you who are unfamiliar with the ten-item wardrobe, here are the Cliff’s Notes:

📍 You curate ten core items per season (if your seasons are similar, you can combine fall/ winter and spring/summer).

📍 Core Items can include dresses, skirts, blouses and pants (jeans or shorts count too).

📍 To round out your ten-item wardrobe and make it wearable, include extras: tee shirts, cardigans and sweaters, outerwear, special occasionwear, shoes, accessories.

📍 Your extras will be customizable and tailored to your lifestyle. For example, if you live in a sunny location near the beach your extras might include lightweight tees, lightweight cardigans, sunglasses, sun hats and strappy sandals.

📍 Store out-of-season clothes to take confusion out of your morning dressing session.

📍 Switch out your items each season to feel as though you’ve gone shopping. Only purchase new items when you have a need in your wardrobe.

For more in-depth study of the Ten-Item Wardrobe, check out my book, Lessons from Madame Chic, watch my TEDx talk, and take my eCourse on the Ten-Item Wardrobe.

How can wearing only ten core items be freeing? Here are just a few ways:

✔️ You no longer have long, indecisive sessions of trying to figure out what to wear.

✔️ You express your true style everyday by wearing clothes that you feel beautiful in.

✔️ You look presentable always and thus, feel more prepared for any circumstance that comes your way.

✔️ You save money because you are no longer aimlessly shopping, buying clothes that you never actually wear.

✔️ Your intentionality with clothes shopping seeps into other aspects of your life as you become more discerning about what you buy.

✔️ Your closet has room to breathe and isn’t a crammed-with-too-many-clothes mess.

✔️ You are not a slave to the trends, but wear your own unique style.

✔️ You get creative about wearing and pairing your ten items with the extras. There is freedom in creative expression.

I hope you enjoy the motivational ten-item wardrobe chat in today's video.

News


📍 Thank you to everyone who has taken my new eCourse, How to be Efficient at Home. I have been overwhelmed with your support! There are currently over 1,000 comments on this new course. I apologize I am unable to respond to each of them but I love reading what you have to say and seeing you connect with fellow Daily Connoisseurs there. The price for the course is still only $5 (the price will be raised to cover costs mid-April). You can access the course whenever you like and re-watch the videos at your leisure.

Toni writes, "Hi Jennifer, I'm a big fan of all of your work; it has been a true blessing to me in so many ways! I have enjoyed all 3 courses thoroughly and I want to say thank you for making them so affordable .I am so glad to be able to support your efforts by purchasing these courses."


Toni, I appreciate your support of my work. I am thrilled you enjoyed all of the eCourses!

On Instagram
Baby Connoisseur and I shared an outfit of the day photo on Instagram. If you don't already follow me there, you can find me @dailyconnoisseur Swipe to the right to see how I wear this pretty look at home :)

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A lot of people request ten-item wardrobe ootd but I have to confess that I am 1. Terrible at Instagram 2. Terrible at OOTD. I can never get my head and feet in the same shot. Total amateur here. (If you want to see someone who is great at that visit @audreyacoyne ) But I have been feeling inspired lately and you should know that I have many motivational #TenItemWardrobe videos coming on the channel this spring. It is a method that has changed my life for the better in so many ways and aspects. (I’m trying to write this next part on a new line but I’m bad at Instagram so this will be one long run-on paragraph 😆) Also, I want to thank everyone for taking my new eCourse on How to be Efficient at Home. I know I said I’d reply to each comment, but the course already has over 1,000 comments 😳. I can’t keep up! But I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I really appreciate you! Ok, I’m coming to the end of my post so be sure to swipe to the next picture to see how I wear this pretty look at home 😂 #keepingitreal Love you all! Jennifer xx #dailyconnoisseur #jenniferlscott #tenitemwardrobe #lookpresentablealways #ootd #wearingdresses #babyconnoisseur #MADAMECHIC #authorsofinstagram

A post shared by Jennifer L. Scott (@dailyconnoisseur) on Mar 23, 2019 at 11:16am PDT

Comment of the Week
I received this email from Lou, who writes,

"Dear Jennifer

I am writing to say Thank you.

I had taken my two children (aged 4 & 5) to the library one afternoon, and while they were deciding what to borrow, I sat in a chair in the corner. As I waited, I ran my eyes up and down the rows of books beside me, and my gaze settled on “Lessons from Madame Chic”. The blurb on the back interested me, so I borrowed the book and over the course of the next three weeks, I devoured it from cover to cover four times. This is quite a feat for me, as I have only managed to read a handful of books in their entirety since having the kids.

Through reading your book, you have - in a way - given me permission to live my life in a way I had previously admired but had deemed unrealistic for me.

After reading “Lessons from Madame Chic” I have visited our local art gallery twice - something I had not done since having the children 5 years ago, the radio is now constantly on the national classical station, and I am - every time I can - improving my wardrobe with the goal of eventually loving everything I own.

These little pockets of joy in my every day help energise me for my daily routine, and the joy and energy spill over into other aspects of my day.

So, Thank you, for unlocking whatever mind-block was keeping me from living an elevated life.

Kind Regards
Lou"

Lou, your testimonial brought me so much joy. I really appreciate you reaching out to me and telling me how Lessons from Madame Chic has influenced your life. Thank you! You are inspiring to all of us!




I would love to hear other ways in which you find the ten-item wardrobe to be freeing. Let us know and your comment could be chosen as comment of the week on The Daily Connoisseur.

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Happy Friday! Friday just might be my favorite day of the week. I love that the week is winding down to a close and the weekend, with all its possibilities, is at hand. On today's episode of The Clueless Gardeners, we prepare our garden for spring.



Gardening is a family affair. It's very important for us to involve the children with choosing the plants and even planting them. They just love seeing our fruits and vegetables grow. They also love planting seeds and watching them sprout. There's nothing like getting your hands dirty when you are a kid!

In today's video, Ben plants my favorite rose, The Double Delight. It is the most magnificent rose to me because of its beautiful color (two-toned pink and white) as well as its amazingly sweet fragrance.

I would love to know... what is your favorite rose?

Thank you for joining us today and thank you to everyone who is taking my new eCourse, How to be Efficient at Home. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your comments on each lecture and it's fun to see you connecting with each other while there.

Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you on Monday!



Visit my Author Website

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Take my affordable eCourses on the ten-item wardrobe, debt-free living, and efficiency at home

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I recently appeared on MacKenzie Koppa's Cultivating the Lovely podcast (hear our episode here). I had so much fun chatting with MacKenzie, I invited her on my channel so I could introduce her to you!



MacKenzie is the host of the Cultivating the Lovely podcast as well as The Same Page podcast. I hope you join us for fun, refreshing conversation today as we cultivate the lovely. (There is also a funny story about how we connected!) I hope you enjoy today's video.

News
📍My new eCourse, How to be Efficient at Home, is now available. So many of you have taken the course and are connecting together with like-minded Daily Connoisseurs. Much inspiration abounds and you will be motivated to become even more efficient at home.


On Instagram
Madame Chic in Italy...

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TULIPANI & LIBRI 🌷📚 Ogni tanto mi premio con un mazzo di fiori freschi e ogni tanto cerco ispirazioni su libri e manuali. ET VOILA’, da ispirazione nasce ispirazione ✨ #newvideo #frenchstyle . . . #lostiledicoquette #verychic #stylebook #springinspiration #flowerspower #whiteflowers #styleinspiration #bookinspiration #frenchtips #lelezionidimadamechic #leleganzadelriordino #sottoitettidiparigi #laparigina #jenniferlscott #inesdelafressange #frenchinspiration #parisianstyle #beautystyle #homedecor #beautifulhome

A post shared by Monica Rombola' (@lostiledicoquette) on Mar 20, 2019 at 11:17am PDT

Comment of the Week

Regarding my piano performance in The Chic March Assignment check-in, Celeste W. writes, "Thank you for playing for us! As a piano teacher, it's rewarding to see an adult who plays for her own pleasure. It gives perspective and encouragement about the goal of piano lessons."

Thank you, Celeste! My performance had many flaws but my message is not to strive for perfectionism, but rather to feed our souls. I appreciate your comment, especially as you are a piano teacher! Thank you!


I hope you enjoyed today's interview with MacKenzie. I'll see you tomorrow as The Clueless Gardeners prepare for spring! :)



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Welcome to The Chic Assignment check-in for March, 2019. This is becoming my favorite series on the channel. I am enjoying doing these monthly assignments with you and you are giving me so many wonderful recommendations. I'm thrilled and I hope you are too.



In today's video, I'm sharing my own updates for the month of March, including a piano performance of the Chopin Nocturne at the end of the video.

Before we begin, however, I just wanted to thank all of you who have taken my new eCourse, How to be Efficient at Home. I am enjoying connecting with all of you on the Course. There is so much camaraderie and support in the comment section, it's truly been amazing! Here is a testimonial from Mya, who recently finished the course:

Hello Jennifer. I enrolled in your new E-course yesterday and watched it all the way through. I had intended to watch it over a 3 day period, but I couldn't stop watching it. I even took notes. I plan to watch this over and over for inspiration. I consider myself a life long learner and enjoy taking classes, but right now I am very busy with motherhood, homemaking,work, etc. So this was perfect! And the best part is I can watch it over and over. This is my favorite of your E courses. Thank you so much for taking your time to create this course!
Best,
Mya


Thank you, Mya! And thank you to everyone who has taken the course. I really do appreciate your support of my channel.

Let's move on to my findings on The Chic Assignment for March:

🎵 I hope you have enjoyed listening to the Chopin piece. I certainly have. I play it for you today and use the music from The Chopin Gold piano book, which has easy compositions of the pieces. I really recommend this for novice or uncertain piano players like myself :)



🧺 The next assignment was to spruce up your laundry routine. So many of you said that laundry was your favorite task. Many others said that they found the laundry to be overwhelming. Other shared their top laundry tips. This month I have involved my kids more in the folding of the laundry. I've also strived to do my laundry to completion on any given day. I also have hung up this sign in our laundry room. I don't know why... but this sign brings me serious joy when I walk in there!



If you are looking for YouTube inspiration, check out my friend, Nikki's, laundry video, which is so beautiful to watch.

🖼 Our Claude Monet assignment was so fun! So many of you told me you loved "The Lunch". My favorite is the Woman with a Parasol...



I give my interpretation of the painting in today's video.

👗 Finally, we have been getting our ten-item wardrobes ready for the change in season. If you haven't already seen my ten-item wardrobe video where I transition my wardrobe from winter to spring, you can check it out here.

My items from Garnet Hill arrived, the cork wedges (which are so comfortable... I love them!) and my two lightweight sweaters.



Also, for more ten-item wardrobe inspiration, check out my friend Robin's video on her spring ten-item wardrobe for 2019. She gives a wonderful example of how to make the ten-item wardrobe work.



Finally, the three books that I am reading this month are:
168 hours by Laura Vanderkam, A Most Novel Revenge by Ashley Weaver, and Mother Culture by Karen Andreola

News
📍 Take my new eCourse, How to be Efficient at Home. With over 2 hours of brand new videos, plus text, quizzes and a lively comment section, you will gain valuable insight on how to become more efficient at home.

📍I was a guest on Devoreaux Walton's The Modern Lady channel. Devoreaux and I discuss 6 ways to be feminine this spring. Check out the video here.

Comment of the Week
Katerina writes, I just cannot adequately tell you how much you’ve changed my life for the better. I am nearly 60 yrs young, and have always hated clothes shopping until 2 years ago when I was introduced to the concept of a capsule wardrobe and your 10-item wardrobe idea. Even my husband has gotten onboard in helping me because he knows what I’m looking for...not racks and racks of aimlessly endless colors and designs, but a navy/white stripped tee-shirt. The time I save!! I haven’t worn a dress in a very long time, but yesterday I wore one of the LandsEnd dresses that you’ve recommended with a navy cropped pullover sweater and heels. I got at least 6 compliments(!) and several friends saying “oh my gosh—you have legs!”. Thank you Jennifer.

Thank you for your wonderful testimonial, Katerina! I really enjoyed hearing how the books and channel have inspired you and changed your life for the better.

Thank you for joining us today. I would love to hear your Chic Assignment updates. Please leave them in the comment section below.

Visit my Author Website

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FTC: This post is not sponsored. Some of the links are affiliate.

I am so pleased to debut my newest eCourse, How to be Efficient at Home, for you today!



I have been working on this course for the past several months and have put so much into it. You will find over two hours of brand new videos, plus text, quizzes and a lively comment section full of fellow Daily Connoisseurs who are all interested in living beautifully at home.

Experience a total mind-shift in how you look at your domestic tasks, uncover valuable time, and enjoy your life at home through this enjoyable course.

You will work on identifying your distractions and making them work for you, establishing early wakeup times and a morning routine, as well as cleaning routines and efficient meal planning. I share my cleaning routines, planning habits, and efficiency secrets, plus so much more in this course.

Also offered in this course is a free batch cooking eBook by my friend Kim, from Free to Family. Thank you, Kim for your generosity!

As with the other courses, I am offering this one at only $5. This price will last for one month and then I will raise it to $10. (I do this to cover the hosting costs that Teachable charge me to host my courses, which is quite substantial.) Also, I want to offer it at $5 so that it is accessible to everyone and it is not a burden on anyone's wallet.

Please watch today's video announcement to learn more.

To see my other eCourses, click here.

I truly hope you enjoy this newest course. I look forward to connecting with you over there! Thank you for your support. Your support of my work means so much to me. More than you know.

With love,

Jennifer

I love candles and always have them in my home year-round. Of course, I tend to burn them more during the fall and winter months, but I still enjoy them in the spring and summertime too. I love the quiet, burning flame and the pleasing scent. They provide a little luxury throughout my day and remind me to stay present and calm.



While I love candles, I have never really thought about their natural (or not-so-natural) properties. I frequented the popular candle stores just like everyone else. Traditional candles can be full of chemicals and synthetic fragrances. As I go through my home and products to make them more natural, however, I realized I needed to find more natural replacements for my favorite candles.

This has been my most favorite post to research. The Sudsy Soapery and Legend's Creek Farm candles were sent to me in care packages from the respective companies. I really delighted in the candles they sent. The scents are all so unique!

I contacted a few other natural candle companies I found online and discovered Cellar Door Candles, another wonderful small business that is passionate about natural candle making. These small businesses all deserve to be known. It's my pleasure to share their beautiful artisanal candles with you today.

Cellar Door Candles



• 100% Chemical free for the entire candle.
• Proprietary beeswax and coconut wax blend.
• Sustainable, ecologically sound, pesticide-free manufacturing.
• Phthalates, parabens and sulfate free.
• 100% cotton wicks.
• Unparalleled fragrance integrity (pure essential oils).
• Close to 100% waste free manufacturing.
• No plastic used when shipping this item.
• American made glass container.
• Wood lids made in house.
• Hand-poured by Cellar Door Candles.



Cellar Door Candles source their raw materials from a local lavender farm. They make their our own wax blend from scratch, and their newest fragrance designs are 100% organic essential oils. The wax they use is a blend of pure coconut oil (coconut wax) and beeswax.

2 wick- 8oz candles are $18 and have 35 hour burn time
3 wick candles are 35 oz have 65 hour burn time $40



Tokyo Citrus Simple, rare and perfect. Four pure essential oils are used to complete Tokyo Citrus: persimmon, yuzu, blood orange & ylang ylang.

Breathe Easy Pure Lavender, Peppermint, Eucalyptus & Tea Tree.
Four Pure Essential oils blended together at the perfect percentage make up this amazing design. When this candle is lit, it creates an amazing sensation throughout the body. Calming Lavender, Cooling Peppermint, Eucalyptus to open up your senses and Tea Tree to round it out for that slight woodsy euphoric scent.

Pacific Northwest 100% unique wood essential oil. Pure Fir Needle & Red Birch.
One smell of this blend, will immediately transport you. Walking in the middle of a thick forest adjacent to the river. Sweet, Fresh, Green & Pure. A true connection to nature & earth.


Earth Gifts Aromatherapy Candles from Legend’s Creek Farm



These delightful candles come in 8oz recyclable glass jars with metal lids and have up to a 60 hour burn time with regular wick trimming. They use-food grade paraffin wax. Legend's Creek Farm use food-grade paraffin wax to avoid the use of hexane, herbicides and pesticides. These candles are beautifully scented and really fill the room with their boutique fragrances.

Earth Gifts best-selling candles are:



Cashmere & Cardamom is the first candle they created, and one of the strongest throwing scents they offer. It fills the room with a potent and spicy blend of beautiful aromas. This candle is made with blends of cashmere, cardamom, sandalwood, geranium, amber, clove and pepper. I find it to be so cozy. I love this one! $14 8oz




Fraser Fir Frasier Fir is the best natural replacement for Bath and Bodywork's famous Fresh Balsam candle. Fraser Fir is a classic, timeless fragrance that is very popular around the Christmas season, but it's also perfect for year-round burning. Made with high quality essential oils, it fills your home with the scent of the holiday season. This is the best Christmas tree candle you will find! $14 8oz



Seaside is reminiscent of the sea and reminds me of a chic seaside resort. It is a fresh, ocean scent with so much depth. It is so delightful and unique!


Sudsy Soapery Aromatherapy soy candles



The Sudsy Soapery’s naturally scented soy candles are fragranced with essential oils. I love their beautiful fragrances and appreciate how they fill the room with crackling warmth. The candles are 7.5 oz and have a burn time of approximately 30-40 hours


Sweetly Resting The rich scent of aromatherapy bitter almond is reminiscent of the sweetness that is found in rest. The almond bitter essential oil is sweetened with the buttery scent of all natural vanilla. I LOVE this candle. It is the perfect, most pure almond candle I've ever tried. $18.95



Amazing Love Warm and soothing, the scent of cinnamon inspires and invites while the exotic scent of the Ylang Ylang flower essential oil comforts. This Aromatherapy candle will be a delight and bring warmth and comfort. This candle arrived with rose petals in the lid and is a very exotic, yet comforting scent. I just love this one too! $18.95

Grove Collaborative



Because many of you are customers of Grove Collaborative, I am reviewing their soy candles in this feature as well. Grove's 100% natural soy candles are made in the USA by talented artisans and come in three signature scents: warm and spicy Vanilla & Sandalwood, cool and calming Eucalyptus & Spearmint and sweet and uplifting Blood Orange. At 8oz, they burn beautifully for hours so you can savor these delightful, natural fragrances! I’ve also tried maple and nutmeg and really enjoyed that one for the fall season. 8oz $14.95

I hope you enjoyed today's video on my favorite natural candles. I would love to know which candle sounds like your favorite! Also, if you have any natural candles you love, please share them with us below.

Have a lovely day and I'll see you tomorrow for the launch of my new eCourse, How to be Efficient at Home!

Visit my Author Website

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FTC: This post is not sponsored and the links are not affiliate with the exception of Grove Collaborative's link. The candles were sent to me for my honest review. I purchased the candle from Grove.

Today I'm decorating one of our upstairs bathrooms. It's a very generic and plain bathroom, one I dream of redoing one day. I'm sure many of you can relate! Most of us have dreams of major remodeling or decorating renovations but simply can't afford the makeover.



I make the best of our plain bathroom by adding a few special touches.



Our countertop is very long and awkward to decorate. I break up the space by adding a taller floral arrangement.



I'm using a faux orchid centerpiece from Nearly Natural here because this room does not get enough light to house a real plant. There is a window, but we mostly keep it closed due to the neighboring house being so close. The cascading orchids add a beautiful touch to the countertop.



I like adding little "dressed-up" details like this handmade linen tissue box cover. Covering up the commercial packaging of necessary products helps to add a custom dimension to the space. By the way, I love using the bamboo tissues. This is Grove Collaborative's seedling line. I like that they are tree-free and don't waste so much paper. Also, here is a link to some other pretty tissue box covers on Amazon



I purchased this print on Etsy from AThingCreated. I love this print so much. It reminds me of the view of the buildings in the 16th arrondissement in Paris. I think I might eventually transfer this print to the guest bedroom, but for now, it is in this space. I purchased the gold frame from Amazon.



Also featured in the video is the shower curtain (which I still need to steam), the wooden soap tray, and the candle. The hand soap and dispensers are from Grove Collaborative. I really like their hand soap refill. Here is a link to the dress I'm wearing.

This bathroom is very neutral, but the creams and golds look pretty with the dark wood. I do enjoy the space when I walk in. I hope you enjoyed today's video.

I would love to know how you decorate a plain/ generic space in your home. Do you dream of renovating your bathrooms and kitchens? How do you make the best with what you have? Thank you for joining me today and I'll see you tomorrow on The Daily Connoisseur for my favorite natural candles of 2019.



Visit my Author Website

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FTC: This post is not sponsored. Some of the links are affiliate.

I feel like time is sometimes measured by Mrs. Meyer's seasonal scents! Grove Collaborative sent me Mrs. Meyer's new seasonal scents for spring: peony, lilac, and mint. In today's video I give you my personal opinions and Ben weighs in too.



My favorite scent is definitely Lilac. It's beautiful, delicate, sweet, and floral. I found peony to be lovely but a bit cloying and mint was fresh, green, and floral (but not very minty). Have you tried the Mrs. Meyer's spring scents? Which one was your favorite?



Grove's spring special is here. New customers receive a free Mrs. Meyer's spring set: dish soap, hand soap and multi-surface spray, as well as the Grove spring bubble dish scrubber and walnut scrubber sponges. Existing customers always receive free walnut scrubber sponges with my link.

I hope you enjoyed today's fun review.

I'll see you on the blog tomorrow for a guest bathroom decor video.

I would love to know which Mrs. Meyer's scent is your favorite!

Love,

Jennifer

Visit my Author Website

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FTC: This video is not sponsored. The Mrs. Meyer's seasonal link is affiliate. The products were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own.