It feels great to be back on the blog. I hope you had a wonderful week! We went to Lake Arrowhead and had such a relaxing and peaceful time. Capped off by Easter, it was truly a great week. And now onto the business of the day...

Welcome to my ten-item wardrobe post for spring/ summer 2017! Since I have taken you along with me during this process, you are already familiar with almost all of these pieces. I wanted to put my usual fashion show- style video together for you to show you how it all comes together.

The main message I want to convey with this video is that the ten-item wardrobe should be FUN! It's not a prison sentence for your wardrobe :) It's liberating and light and fun and will honestly change your life.

My children wanted to be in this video, so they make an appearance at the end. They certainly had fun filming with me!

Let's take a look at the core items:



Yes, this year I have 11 core items. That's OK! The ten-item wardrobe is flexible. Some seasons I have more than ten, some seasons I have less (for fall/ winter I had eight). It's important to not get bogged down in semantics. Aim for ten and see what happens! If I go through the season and I find I'm not wearing something, I will take it out.

In order from top to bottom: Boden leaf dress, Boden white and green dress, A.P.C. shirt dress, Garnet Hill black ballet dress, Rebecca Taylor dress, Garnet Hill polka dot ballet dress, Coral TJ Maxx blouse, Red floral TJ Maxx blouse, AG high waisted skinny jeans, Talbots khaki skirt and the L.L. Bean denim skirt.

The new addition, L.L. Bean skirt fits into my budget wardrobe concept this year as I purchased it on sale for only $16.99 (original price $49).

Please note: Apart from the L.L. Bean skirt, I do not have links for many of the clothing items as most of them are between two and five years old.

Extras are what bring the core items together and make your ten-item wardrobe wearable. My extras include tee shirts and sweaters. I really only have a handful of each. Not all of my extras are shown in this video. This is to give you an idea of the main items I will be using.



Tee shirts: The blue striped tee is from Boden, the white v-neck tee is from B.P. at Nordstrom, the red striped tee is from Boden, the lace tee shirt is from Loft. These are all from prior seasons so I do not have links to share for them.

Sweaters: the cropped white sweater is from Boden, the tan cardigan is from Ann Taylor and the navy cardigan is from Talbots. (Please note: I have more sweaters in my extras that I can pull from if the weather changes, such as the aqua Equipment sweater, etc. I am showing you a representation of sweaters in this post.)

The white leggings as seen with the Rebecca Taylor dress (which I LOVE) are from Amazon.

If you are new to my work and want to learn more about the ten-item wardrobe, watch my TEDx talk to get the whole story, or read my Madame Chic books.

News

Lessons from Madame Chic has been released as a comic book in two volumes from Harper Collins Japan. The books are illustrated by the very talented Junko Murata.

A post shared by ハーパーコリンズ・ジャパン／HarperCollins JP (@harpercollinsjp) on Apr 4, 2017 at 5:32pm PDT

Illustrator, Junko Murata, shared these pictures on her blog.



Thank you, once again, to the Japanese readers for embracing the Madame Chic books!

Stay tuned for the next video where I do a ten-item wardrobe talk-through with you and share my thoughts on how it is working so far. Thank you so much for your support! I hope that you will share this video and spread the word about how amazing the ten-item wardrobe truly is. If you are a blogger and you write about The Daily Connoisseur and the ten-item wardrobe, let me know and I will mention you on the blog.

Today I would love to know... what do you think of my ten-item wardrobe this year? Are you having fun building your own ten-item wardrobe? What is going right and what is going wrong? Remember even your mistakes are valuable because you learn from them! If you have any questions you'd like me to address in Thursday's talk-through video, please submit a comment by the end of today (Monday, April 17th).

See you soon...


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FTC: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. Links may be affiliate.

Thank you for your great response to my ten-item wardrobe for spring/summer 2015! In this week's video I talk you through the wardrobe choices. This year's wardrobe was heavy on the dresses. This was by design. After many years of curating these capsule wardrobes I have come to learn that I am most comfortable in dresses. They also fit the Southern California climate perfectly as the days are generally warm, if not down right hot! In the past, I would include more pants and even long sleeved blouses, but found I rarely wore them. Dresses are for me.

This year saw many repeats, such as my A.P.C. blue chambray dress, A.P.C. linen dress, Tory Burch silk patterned dress and the denim Talbots dress with the tailored sleeves from last season.



Many of these dresses are more than one season old and because of their high quality, still remain valuable assets in my core items.

Of the newer dresses, I decided to try a few accessible brands (able to order online or through catalogue) such as Garnet Hill and Boden. I have been very pleased with the quality of these dresses!



The star of the show for me is this new Rebecca Taylor dress, which I love and I know will last many seasons to come.


For the bottoms, I have one pair of Spanx jeans, which I purchased last winter and a khaki a-line skirt from Talbots. If the weather gets really hot or if I'm doing a particularly messy activity with the girls, I might take out a pair of shorts I have from Banana Republic. Right now, I've stored them away until summer.



As you can see I do not have any blouses in my wardrobe this year. If I need to look dressy during the day, any of my dresses will work just fine. I plan on using the jeans and skirt paired with the tee shirts for more casual looks. These tees are all from Boden. I only have a handful of tee shirts each season. Not all of them are represented here. I have another blue and white stripe (I love my nautical!) as well as a few long sleeved white tees. Because I only have a few tee shirts each season, I tend to need to replace them each year as they either shrink or get dirty. These Boden tees seem really high quality. They might last longer than one season! We shall see...



I do a lot of walking in Santa Monica and need comfortable flat shoes. I have not shown you my entire shoe collection here, but these represent my casual shoes that can pull each outfit together nicely. I have not shown my evening shoes (mainly heels) in this post. As you can see, I like to wear neutral or black shoes. They tend to go with everything!



I have not shown evening wear in this video. That will be discussed in a separate future video. Here, I wanted to focus on the everyday core items that get you through the week.

For links to all items that are still available (many are not as they are more than one season old), check out my original blog post here.

Check out this week's video for a more in-depth discussion of the ten-item wardrobe. 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

News

I am in Tokyo, Japan this week! I'm looking forward to meeting readers at my book event, Wednesday April 22nd, 7pm Kinokuniya Southern Theater

I am featured on Retail Me Not in an article called, Clean Home, Clear Mind.

Lizzbert blogs about her journey with the ten-item wardrobe here.

Pink Julep loves Lessons from Madame Chic and has her own take on the harsh critics.

Inspired by Madame Chic, Ruby's Musings works on cultivating her mind here.


At Home With Madame Chic is now available as an audiobook from Tantor Audio.


Madame Chic Inspiring Thought
As you go forward with curating your ten-item wardrobe, think about your true style. Do you dress how you want to dress? Or do outside influences dictate that you dress a certain way? Perhaps you would love to dress in a more feminine way, but tell yourself you could never do it for various reasons. Get inspired to discard your inhibitions and embrace your true style.

Comment of the Week
On YouTube, Janice writes:
I completely understand what you are saying about appreciating, being grateful for what we have instead of always wanting more or thinking that it isn't enough. I just recently discovered your blog and am reading your book.I love the idea of a 10 piece capsule wardrobe. I am tired of (bored with) having so many clothes that I so seldom wear. I find the idea very refreshing.

Thank you Janice, and have fun compiling your ten-item wardrobe!


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This year's fall/ winter ten-item wardrobe was a bit of an experiment as I built the body of the core pieces primarily on budget finds from mid-level retailers. In this week's video I share with you my experience so far with these clothes. Which ones were good purchases and which ones were not?

One of the many benefits of the ten-item wardrobe is that you are so conscious about the items you bring into your closet, that each one becomes a case-study. If you go through the season and one of the garments didn't work out (shrunk, you never wore it, you realized you don't like its style) you can analyze the problem and not make the mistake of buying a similar item again!

In this week's video, I do not go through each of the ten items in my wardrobe, but share highlights of what worked and what didn't work. One of the Loft dresses, if you will remember from my ten-item talk-through, was of concern to me because I thought it might shrink and become too short. Lo and behold... it did!

I knew this at the time... I had the instinct that the length of the dress might be a problem, yet I purchased it anyway. Why I didn't listen to my instinct, I'm not quite sure. But now I know to not purchase anything in the future that has a questionable length. I've learned my lesson!

Higher vs. Lower Brands

So, what's the crux of my thesis regarding high-quality vs. budget fashion? Purchasing higher-end brands like my favorite A.P.C. has it's major benefits. The clothes are of supreme quality and last a long time. I'm finding that they last around 3 times longer than the less expensive brands like Loft.

On the other hand, Loft is more affordable. Also, some women might get bored of wearing the same garment for many years in a row and prefer more "temporary" pieces.

Regarding budget, you must be able to completely afford the higher-end brand at the point of purchase as I never advocate incurring debt due to clothes shopping.

If you can afford the higher-end, higher quality purchase and are prepared (and excited!) to have your garment last more than one or two seasons, then it's worth considering the investment piece.

If you cannot afford the higher-end brand right off the bat, then I do recommend the less expensive brands. If you shop carefully, your clothes can last past the season, ending up providing excellent savings in the end.

Ultimately the best choice for many people, I believe, is a healthy mix of the two. Have one or two high-end pieces in your wardrobe and supplement with more affordable brands.


Be sure to check out this week's video for more of my insight on this subject. If you are unable to see the video above, click here, look in the sidebar of this blog, or visit my channel: www.youtube.com/TheDailyConnoisseur
News

Katie Lauren Parker gives At Home With Madame Chic an excellent review

Driven Woman blog cites my TEDx talk on the ten-item wardrobe as inspiration for her post, Wardrobe Secrets of a Driven Woman.



Madame Chic Inspiring Thought
This week, go through the garments in your fall/ winter wardrobe and examine why some pieces worked and some pieces didn't. For the ones that didn't work, figure out why and make a note to learn that style lesson and make a better choice in the future. Just imagine, one day, you will be so in tune with your true style and make such wise wardrobe purchases, all of your pieces will live in harmony and integrity.

Question of the Week
Lisa writes:

I need self discipline to challenge myself to seek out the arts. Too often, I let these chances for life enrichment pass me by! Please, could you devote some time this year to tips in this area?

Dear Lisa,

I am going post a future video on the dumbing-down of popular culture and how we can escape it. Please look for this in the near future!

Testimonial
The testimonial of the week comes from Marija, who writes:

Hi Jennifer,

As always, it is a pleasure to watch your weekly video!
With regards to self-discipline, I have you to thank for assisting me with shopping - mainly clothes shopping with the 10 Item Wardrobe, but other things too.

The other day, I was walking through a department store on sale, when I passed two women, with one saying to the other:' Get me out of here, I can't stop myself!'
It then hit me that I no longer feel like this when shopping. I now go out with firm ideas of what it is that I am buying, and I am in control, sale or no sale.

As I was walking away, I smiled to myself, and wished I had your book with me to give to the two ladies...

With the warmest regards,
Marija


Thank you Marija!

Arts Recommendation
If you are looking for a good, thought-provoking, realistic film, I highly recommend Force Majeure, a Sweedish film, directed by Ruben Östlund. This marital drama follows a young Sweedish family as they vacation in the French Alps. I don't want to give anything else away but highly recommend you view it! It's the first film I've seen in a long time that really impressed me.

See you soon!

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It's finally here! My spring ten-item wardrobe video. I had a lot of fun making this video, as you will see. This wardrobe will take me from now until the end of summer. It is a combination of new and old pieces (some are very old!) and I am in love with it.

This week, you can watch the video, which is set to music and is shot fashion show-style. Take notes, enjoy the show and get inspired to curate your own ten-item wardrobe. Next week's video will be a talk through of all of the pieces so you can see where I got my inspiration, identify the old and new items and understand my thought process when putting this wardrobe together.


So this week, sit back and enjoy the show! 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

And now for a list of items featured in the video.

Please note: because many of the items are older and not purchased this season, I am providing links for the brands, rather than for the specific item. As always, this video is meant to provide inspiration for you. If you like some of the older looks, have fun searching for similar garments in the shops. Everything featured in this video was purchased by me, with the exception of the Wink & Winn handbag, which was sent to me to review in a forthcoming post (it's custom designed by me... very cool and we will be doing a giveaway on the blog!)

Let's check out the core items first...

Dresses



Anthropologie watercolor dress
A.P.C. chambray dress
A.P.C. suzie nautical dress
A.P.C. linen dress
Rebecca Taylor dress

Blouses



Zara blouse
Equipment aqua silk blouse
Equipment sleeveless silk blouse
Equipment nude silk blouse

Jeans



Paige skyline ankle peg jeans in white
Paige skyline ankle peg jeans in light denim (Whitley)

Extras

Tee shirts:


B.P. Nordstrom White tee
Zara (nautical)
lace tee Anthropologie
B.P. Nordstrom Flowy tees (black and white)

Sweaters and Cardigans


For Spring/ Summer if you live in a hot climate like me, put a few sweaters in your extras. If you live in an unpredictable climate where the weather often turns, include some in your core items and keep as many as you need in your extras to stay warm. (This will be discussed further next week.)

Ann Taylor Loft lightweight mint sweater
J Crew cashmere mint sweater

Lightweight Coat


Zara


Blazers


Zara pink blazer
Zara red blazer

Shoes


Sam Edelman nude patent t-strap sandal
Dolce Vita white snake sandal
London Sole spring green driving loafer
London Sole red patent croc pirouette ballet flat
London Sole nude patent Henrietta ballet flat
Ferragamo low-heeled tan suede pump

Hats


Straw and Black Panama hats (Purchased from a stand at the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica)

Handbags


Wink & Winn bucket bag (a custom design by me)
Jewell navy “style icon” handbag **I purchased this from my friend Lisa, who is Jewell stylist. Awesome handbag line.
Louis Vuitton Totally MM

Sunglasses


Oliver Peoples

Jewelry


Tassel necklace and Stone necklace Stella & Dot ** I purchased this jewelry from my friend, Lucy, who is a Stella & Dot stylist. Great affordable pieces!
A.P.C. Amazon necklace




Let me know what you think! Use the hashtag #TenItemWardrobe and help spread the word. See you next week for a ten-item wardrobe talk through.

For more on the Ten-Item Wardrobe, check out my book, Lessons from Madame Chic x

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