The 4-5 piece French wardrobe

[stealthmodesteph]

^That's a great article. I think that way about my home furnishings- I would rather go without say.. a coffee table.. until I can afford a beautiful one that I will hold onto forever. I am somewhat the same with my wardrobe, within reason. It doesn't have to be expensive- sometimes I fall in love with something at a thrift store, such as this amazing belt I got for $20 that I will never get rid of.

[fashionista-ta]

^ I'm not so much into vintage clothing (just a personal preference after shopping thrift when I was younger for $$ reasons), but I find vintage things for the home to be the best Broader selection and often more interesting than what you can find now (not to mention less expensive for better quality) ...

But I loved this because it expresses really well the satisfaction of buying fewer things, each of which is exquisite ...

[maiden voyage]

m&c, good article. feels good to know others are thinking along these lines...

stealthsteph - your parisian purchases sound tantalizingly great... maybe it's a coincidence, but i feel like i saw a similar post with photos somewhere - do you have a blog, perhaps?

ta-ta, i love this phrase: "a haven furnished with items that please and nurture you...". that's a goal i've been focusing on over the last 4 years. i've even pared down my books, something i would never have considered in the past!

[stealthmodesteph]

^I posted a few of them in the Isabel Marant thread as I got a few things from her while I was there. Also have a blog where I posted everything!

[fashionista-ta]

^ Link link link, we need a link

That's great, maidenvoyage I too have pared down my books, and now that my head is in the right place, it's actually easier to do than anything else (see clutter clearing style thread for more).

I got a catalog from these people, haven't ordered anything yet, but I love what I see so far ... http://www.wraplondon.com/index.htm Besides the clothes themselves, one nice thing is they use lots of linen including in knits, something you rarely see here, but that is very green (linen is normally grown without pesticides). J Jill used to be my go-to source for basic tops and sweaters, but I have a feeling they've had a design staff change & it's just not working for me now ... I have a feeling this could take its place. Anyone have any experience with this line?

[salomelovesjohn]

Ah interesting that furniture got brought up! I've been working on a furniture look book and browseing around for ideas. I think I've settled on a 1940s sort of Hollywood inspired look with some antiques/oriental items thrown in so it doesn't look so "done." Anyways, I was recently talking to a friend who just bought tons of new furniture from Ikea about furniture shopping - how she preferred cheaper things so that she could replace them when she got sick of them, etc. It was just such a different viewpoint then me. I don't really have that much but I love everything I've bought and I'm looking at better quality/reupolstered vintage to complete my look. (Redoing vintage chairs can save $$$ for a great look that you know ages well!)

As an example, a couple of years ago my fiance got a pretty good quality leather couch from Restoration Hardware and we're thinking this is a 10 year couch, maybe more. I've seen my friend's couch wear out in a couple of years and her rugs look terrible after about a season. The odd thing is we both bought handmade rugs when we traveled together to Turkey and of course those are still fine. Its just interesting that her clothing aesthetic is also similar....

[salomelovesjohn]

Ta-ta, I like some of those looks. I've been looking for someplace to replace Ann Taylor shells in my wardrobe. I don't want to dry clean, but I want something that works for business casual. So maybe nicer then AT, but not silk? I love that knot trim top in indigo!

[fashionista-ta]

^ I agonize over furniture choices because I believe that once something comes into my home, it pretty much stays forever. I too like to mix new & old for a look that no one else has

My sofa is a slipcovered one from Quatrine (www.quatrine.com), and I've had it for 7 years. One of the cushion covers is starting to wear thin on one side, I figure flip it over and there's another 7 years Plus, you can order new slipcovers at any time, even if they've discontinued the furniture they still have the patterns. I've also considered maybe just replacing the cushion covers. It would have to be a different fabric as I know they've discontinued mine--I got part of the last bolt for my slipcovered ottoman that matches. (It's plum vegetable-dyed linen with ivory linen knife-edge piping, about 1/2" wide).

What ticks me off is the lifespan of mattresses, given how pricy they are

[misstarshine]

Its funny, being a student, i'm at the stage where an Ikea couch is a huge investment for me. Nearly all my furniture has been given to me by family and friends or found.

[fashionista-ta]

^ Like in the Volkswagen ad The sofa I mention is actually my first I could never find one I liked. I bought this one at the same time I bought my house ... the house kind of told me what it wanted.

PS Just occurred to me, that VW ad may not have run in Australia ...

[LaurieAnn]

Originally Posted by fashionista-ta

^ Link link link, we need a link

That's great, maidenvoyage I too have pared down my books, and now that my head is in the right place, it's actually easier to do than anything else (see clutter clearing style thread for more).

I got a catalog from these people, haven't ordered anything yet, but I love what I see so far ... http://www.wraplondon.com/index.htm Besides the clothes themselves, one nice thing is they use lots of linen including in knits, something you rarely see here, but that is very green (linen is normally grown without pesticides). J Jill used to be my go-to source for basic tops and sweaters, but I have a feeling they've had a design staff change & it's just not working for me now ... I have a feeling this could take its place. Anyone have any experience with this line?

I too have noticed that since J. Jill was purchased by Talbot's that their colors and designs aren't as appealing to me as they once were.

[fashionista-ta]

Originally Posted by LaurieAnn

I too have noticed that since J. Jill was purchased by Talbot's that their colors and designs aren't as appealing to me as they once were.

Thanks, I didn't know that!! Are they trying to drive the competition into the ground?

I saw a sweater in the catalog & went into the store to try it on ... the fit was really awful. Very square so you had no waist, and so much detail and mess down the middle that there was no way someone who's not flat-chested could wear it And that was one of the very few things that appealed. It also seems that prices have gone up ...

And you're right about the colors ... I think you and I have similar coloring. Fuchsia and dead-white are not the ticket ...

I hate it when something like this happens ... there are so few reliable sources to begin with ... and now this one & Simply Vera are both terrible this season

[mermaidsandcats]

You guys convinced me to do more vintage shopping so I bought this book called Secondhand Chic by Christa Weil and I am very excited for it to arrive.

Originally Posted by maiden voyage

so, i noticed something interesting about my shopping patterns - i keep a list of what i buy each year, at least i have since 2005... i looked them over yesterday and noticed that the lists have been getting shorter and shorter each year... even though my budget's been the same. less stuff but more enjoyment!

i would love to see your lists or a quick summarization because that sounds very interesting!

Originally Posted by stealthmodesteph

A lot of my 'essential french wardrobe' has actually been purchased in France! I went to Paris over x-mas and came armed with a list of things that have become my staples- new black leather everyday bag (Isabel Marant), ballet shoes (Repetto, obv.) trench coat (APC), black dresses (APC and Vanessa Bruno) I'm really happy with all the planned purchases I made. I was very close to throwing the list out the window and buying a completely unpractical (although beautiful) Junya Watanabe coat from Colette, but I decided I needed "staples/basics" first.

I really like the point in that one article that mentioned paying cash for everything. That is my goal. I have managed to pay off one of my credit cards (although I had to put my recently purchased Acne shoes on there.. hmmm) So I'm not allowing myself to buy anything else until I pay off those shoes.

Did you know know about that exact pieces before you went to Paris or did you had your lists and just went into stores to see what they carry etc.? This month or at the beginning of the next one I will be in Paris, are you any shops that you would recommend?

Always paying cash is really a good way to keep everything moderated, I can't count how often I have bought something just because I could pay with 1 click by PayPal, but which I would have never bought in stores

fashionista-ta, do you have a blog or something like that? Would love to see more of your wardrobe & fashion essentials choices!
And I am sorry that I didn't write anything about E. Tolle yet, but I forgot the music player where all the audiobooks were saved on at a friends house and I don't know when I am able to get it back.

Originally Posted by misstarshine

Its funny, being a student, i'm at the stage where an Ikea couch is a huge investment for me. Nearly all my furniture has been given to me by family and friends or found.

I can feel what you're talking about... I don't have a lot of money, but I am good at saving it. Before I changed my goal to "More quality than quantity" there was one pair of shoes costing 140 dollars in my closet(and they were simply love, they sold out in my size and called the shop several times a day to hear if my size came in! and when they did I send a friend there to hold them in their hands so noone else could buy it until I arrived ), all the others were 23 dollars maximum. Most of my clothes are gifts my mother bought me or her clothes, they clothes I borrow from her usally are they most expensive item I wear that day, the other things I wear being worth 25 dollars mac. Spending an amount of 100-200 $ on one thing is a special occasion for me, but I think it will definately be worth it. Somewhere in this thread it says "Buying the best you can afford."
Can I afford a 1000 $ high - end designer coat that will last me a lifetime? No.
Can I afford a 100-200 $ good quality coat that will be a staple for some years? With moderation, yes!

[fashionista-ta]

^ m&c, I don't have a blog ... or if I do, you're reading it I have been recording all my purchases here of late ...

Btw, someone asked what my new blouse went with ... I've also worn it with my coral jeans. I'm sure there's more it'll work with ...

What I need now are some very lightweight layering pieces for summer, like a very lightweight SS cardigan ... But my dishwasher is dying, and its swan song is much louder than any demands emanating from my closet The thought of washing all my dishes by hand is terrifying ...

[stealthmodesteph]

Did you know know about that exact pieces before you went to Paris or did you had your lists and just went into stores to see what they carry etc.? This month or at the beginning of the next one I will be in Paris, are you any shops that you would recommend?

I didn't know the exact pieces, but I had an idea.

I knew I wanted a pair of Repetto ballet flats, but I didn't know what colour. I figured maybe patent red or grey suede. My options were a little limited when I got there. The actual Repetto store had nothing I liked in my size! I ended up buying them at Printemps. They are such basic staples that I ended up buying two pairs, which I justified because they were both different. 1 patent cherry red and 1 metallic silver leather.

I've been wanting a trench coat forever- I knew I should have bought a second-hand Burberry one at the flea market in London! In the back of my mind I knew I kind of wanted an APC one, but would have been happy if I found another one by a different brand that was nice.

I went with "black dresses" on my list, so that was kind of wide open. I got one dressy one and one casual one.

All in all I went with a semi-specific list (or I would be all over the place -there is too many gorgeous things) and with a huuuuuge shop list complete with map and index. Ofcourse if something beautiful and too hard to resist (that was within my budget) came up then ofcourse I wouldn't say no (like the second pair of Repettos, and hard-to-find Diptique candles!) as long as it wouldn't jeopardize buying other things on my list that I truly "needed". For example I really loved this Junya and Rick Owens jacket but buying one would leave me barely any money to buy anything else on my list, so I resisted the temptation and got the things on my list that I planned.

I'm really surprised the list/planning thing worked out for me- usually the temptation would overwhelm me and I would just buy crazy impractical things!

Over the few months of planning before I went I just mapped and indexed each shop I found online reading different blogs or visiting different websites so that I could hit each area and know what shops I wanted to visit/where they were in relation to other things. It took a lot of time but def. worth it. It depends on your personal style as to what shops you might want to visit. What kind of clothing/brands do you like? Maybe I can help point you in the right direction...