9.08.2013

# 10 Item Wardrobe # Lessons from Madame Chic

My Ten-Item Wardrobe Fall/Winter 2013



It’s finally here! My ten-item wardrobe video for fall/ winter 2013. This one is shot fashion show style, so you can see all of the outfits on and how they work with each other.

After basically having two children in a row, the past few years have been a time of upheaval for my wardrobe. But now that my littlest is just over one year and things are starting to get back to normal, I am having fun donating the old clothes from the past seasons and bringing out a few old favorites that I can fit into again.

A few things to keep in mind when watching the video:

♠ Everything in this video was purchased by me (except for the emerald Chan Luu scarf, which was a present from my mother-in-law). I have no affiliation with any of the brands listed, except, of course, for London Sole, which is our family business. I am not paid to promote any of the brands in the video. These are honestly my everyday clothes.

♠ Some items are new, but a majority of the garments are old. Some, like the black jersey dress from Velvet, A.P.C. trench coat, J Crew wool coat and black velvet blazer, BCBG clutch, etc. I’ve had for over four years.

♠ This video is not about the brands mentioned. It is to give you an example of what one woman’s ten-item wardrobe + extras can look like. Every one lives in a different climate, has a different budget and different style. You must tailor the ten-item wardrobe to work for your life situation. Have fun with it! I mention the brands purely for information.

♠ You do not need to stick to ten core items. This video shows you the clothes I will wear from fall through winter, so you see I have two transitional pieces (the linen dress and skirt from A.P.C.), which brings my core item count to 12. I will most likely wear these throughout the fall, which tends to be warm in California. Once it starts cooling down, I will retire the transitional pieces and start wearing my sweaters. But, of course, I am flexible. If we have an unusually cold day in September, I can easily pull out my sweaters.

♠ The point of having a ten-item wardrobe is to cut the clutter in your closet. You will clear your head of all of the sartorial confusion you are used to when getting ready in the morning. You can easily pull out something to wear and know that you will look presentable and that you are wearing something that does not compromise your true style. It is liberating!

♠ The music in the video is a piece called Heavy Rain. It is copyright-free music, purchased by me for use in my videos from pond5.

Here is a list of clothing items shown in the video:

APC linen dress (transitional item)
APC linen skirt (transitional item)

Equipment silk blouse in blush
Patterned blouse by Trouve
Blackberry silk blouse by American Vintage
Dark wash skinny jean by Paige
Black skinny jean by Paige
DVF plum snake wrap dress
Tory Burch long sleeve emerald dress
J Crew lavender cashmere sweater
Navy cashmere v-neck sweater Marks & Spencer

Extras:

Tee shirts:
Tee shirts are getting fancy these days. My favorite are still the nautical stripe tees that I always have. But you will see lace tees, sparkly tees and of course, the basic white tee that is so indispensible. Brands shown in the video are: J Crew, Anthropologie, A.P.C., Michael Stars, James Perse.

Cardigans:
J Crew cashmere cardigan in heather acorn
J Crew “tweed” blazer cardigan- this one is perfect for looking presentable for school drop offs, etc.

Blazers:
Anthropologie casual black blazer- great for travel!
J Crew velvet blazer (I have had this for ages. It is one of my favorite pieces)

Outerwear:
Lightweight jacket by J Crew
A.P.C. trench coat
J Crew black wool trench

Cocktail dresses:
This video shows just three cocktail dresses I’ve been wearing lately. Perfect for fall.
Rebecca Taylor purple silk dress (I wore this for my birthday and a trip to the theatre this summer)
Anthropologie wine lace dress (I wore this to my first book signing)
DVF lace black wrap cocktail dress (fabulous for holiday parties)

Accessories:
London Sole ballet flats and flat boots
Jimmy Choo heels (Both heels shown here are fantastic staples. They are high quality classics that have lasted me years)
Chan Luu emerald scarf (I have more scarves than this. This happens to be the one I showcase in the video)
Sunglasses by Oliver Peoples (my favorite sunglass brand)
Navy handbag by Jewell (Faux leather and very affordable, yet high-end looking. My friend, Lisa, is a representative and I bought one from her at a boutique event. Jewell give 10% of purchases to Dress for Success, which is also great).
LV Totally MM (a great luxury for everyday and last years' birthday present from Mr. Connoisseur)
BCBG envelope clutch (I might have had this for 7 years. I’m not kidding)

Here are links to the websites for the brands shown in the video: A.P.C., Equipment, Rebecca Taylor, Velvet, J Crew, James Perse, Michael Stars, Anthropologie, DVF, Tory Burch, Paige, London Sole, Jimmy Choo, Oliver Peoples,Jewell

For more on the ten-item wardrobe, check out my book, Lessons from Madame Chic: 20 Stylish Secrets I Learned While Living in Paris.

If you are unable to see the video above, click here, look in the sidebar of this blog, or check out my channel: www.youtube.com/TheDailyConnoisseur

I love to hear from you. Please let me know what you think. Are you trying the ten-item wardrobe? How is it working for you?


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25 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing!! What beautiful choices. I see you've embraced the limited color palette of predominately berries and blacks. They look beautiful on you and all very coordinating. You are inspiring.

Tarayn said...

You are adorable!!!!!! I'm hooked to this concept! I have browsed through your 112 you tube videos over the last 24 hours and I'm convinced this is the direction I'm headed. I am a career woman turned stay at home mom and my closet is busting at the seems. It's gotten extremely overwhelming lately and I've noticed I'm wearing garbage when I have lovely things but overwhelmed. What advice would you give someone who has very nice clothes but just too many to choose from? I started this afternoon purging things I didn't wear much the last few years. Any other tips?

Tarayn said...

*seams :)

The Domestic Fringe said...

I very much enjoyed seeing your fall wardrobe. Thanks for showing all the extras and outerwear. Loved that. Your dresses are all beautiful.

~FringeGirl

Sally in Sydney said...

Jennifer, your collection for Autumn/Winter is gorgeous!

It is Spring now in Australia and I am busily culling in preparation for the temperature warming up. I'm washing my beloved Brora cashmere jumpers and cardigans to put away and having my Rachel Riley skirts cleaned (I got through all winter with only 4 work skirts) and bringing out the 10 core items I want to wear this season.

So far, they include a white linen skirt, a Liberty print A-line skirt and a stone pencil skirt (I have a bit more culling to do). The notion of having only so many things to choose from is so liberating.

Thank you for your inspiration!

Michelle said...

I love all of your pieces! I happen to employ a capsule wardrobe, but need to figure it out for fall.

Judith said...

Thank you for showing this in video form, it really helped. I like having the flexibility of "extras". Can't wait to tackle my own closet!

Unknown said...

Beautiful... Especially the wrap dress!

I've been diligently paring down my wardrobe over the last couple of seasons, since reading your book...

My closet and my bank account both thank you :)

Anonymous said...

You are amazing. I love your book witch had a huge impact on me.

Thanks for sharing.

Emily said...

Thanks so much for this video! I cleaned out my closet down to about 12-15 core items after reading your book a few months ago and I love it. Now I get to wear my favorite things every day!

~ Shannon said...

I so enjoyed your little fashion show, Jennifer! I love your sense of style, and your selections look great on you.

This was my first summer employing your principles, and it made my life so much easier. Plus, I wore clothes that I love every day! I'm excited to keep that up into the fall and winter. I'm still amazed at how freeing the 10-item wardrobe is -- and I LOVE that I'm no longer perpetually shopping for clothes!

Many thanks for sharing both your wardrobe and the concepts behind it!

Blessings,
Shannon

Sheree said...

I really love your taste. This is a beautiful wardrobe.

JCR said...

So stylish!
Thank you for sharing with us! Loved your selection of pieces for fall/winter. Your looks inspired me in matching the items, selecting the colors... Great advice!

Gam said...

Jennifer, I love the video. Absolutely beautiful collection and you wear them so well! Your personality is adorable! Thank you! Your are such an inspiration!

zielone-buty said...

Oh, this ia just perfect.
Thank you!

Ashley Diaz said...

Thank you for sharing! I enjoy seeing your collections and your presentation is classy and chic. I was wondering if you had any suggestions in wardrobes for children. My husband and I have both adapted the "Ten-Item Wardrobe" approach to clothing but it's hard deciding how to go about this with our two-year old. I do find myself buying fewer and fewer items each season but by the end of each season I feel like all of her items are over-worn and worn out. Do your children have 10-item wardrobes? I do believe it is important to start instilling the value of quality over quantity but would appreciate any advice in the children department!

Unknown said...

Hi I can't find that J Crew tweed cardigan. Is it from last season?

Ruth said...

Wow love it! It's so you! And the video was well done, too. I've been steadily minimizing my wardrobe to my favorite pieces, too. All because of your book and blog. And now I'm working on my husband's. Because I live in Redlands, where its a bit hotter, I have more transitional pieces. For me, it's a few winter (coats, thicker sweaters) and summer pieces (tanks, light dresses). But everything else in between (cardigans, tees, skirts, pants, jeans) must be transitional. Thank you for sharing your personal wardrobe. It's refreshing to see that it works so well.

Unknown said...

Susan - It looks like this one:

http://www.jcrew.com/womens_category/knitstees/jacketscardiagns/PRDOVR~01042/99103049724/ENE~1+2+3+22+4294967294+20~~P_new_to_sale|1||P_priority|0~20+17+4294949597~15~~~~~~~/01042.jsp

mickey1 said...

I second the inquiry about your kids' wardrobe. I'd love to know your fav brands, how many and types of pieces. I find I end up with tons of clothes thanks to the grandmas but it can be overwhelming. Loved the video and the looks. Thanks for inspiring!

Nina said...

Your taste is stunning Jennifer! I adore the black lace cocktail dress from DVF. Could you please share the name or style number? It looks like the Zarita but it is a wrap, which I prefer.

Unknown said...

Thank you for the ten-item wardrobe! I've avoided buying new clothes for years now. I am a size 20 in a size 4 world, so fashion has always been scary for me. I wish I'd thought of the ten-item concept before! Now, instead of being scared of the dressing room, I buy one item and one accessory each payday. I'll have a full winter wardrobe soon! I live in west Texas so I have plenty of time to get it together. Again, thank you thank you!!

Rhonda

Rebecca said...

I love the necklace you are wearing in the video. Can you share where it is from? Thanks.

Unknown said...

Really love your style, found the 10 item wardrobe idea to be very helpful. I have a question about the London Sole shoes. The website seems to be down, and I am seeing there is another brand called French Sole and a third called French Sole/ FR/NY or something like that. Can you tell me what the difference is and how I can buy the ones like in your video? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Great video! I have read your book, Jennifer, (many times, actually!) and yet I am still a bit confused by the tee-shirts in this video. What's the difference between one of your shirts vs one of your t-shirts?

Is it that the tees are meant to be layered under the extras? If that's the case, then does that mean your "shirts" should be things that, generally, are worn without a blazer or sweater on top?

Thanks!