The 4-5 piece French wardrobe #1

[fashionista-ta]

^ That's a good point ... my own view is that you shouldn't constantly be running to do laundry because you don't have anything to wear. It's not very green, for one thing, and for another, it's a pain in the ****

 

[Crying Diamonds]

The 4-5 piece French wardrobe is mentioned in the book I am reading at the moment: Elegance by Kathleen Tessaro.
In the book the first person character is reading a book entitled Elegance by Genevieve Antoine Dariaux, who is a real person who actually wrote a book of that title. The book is a guide to becoming elegant.
Here is a quote from the book Elegance by Kathleen Tessaro:

Quality/Quantity

One of the most striking differences between a well-dressed Englishwoman and a well-dressed Parisian is in the size of their respective wardrobes. The Englishwoman would probably be astonished by the very limited number of garments hanging in the French woman's wardrove but she would also be bound to observe that each one is of excellent quality, expensive perhaps by British standards, and perfectly adapted to the life a Frenchwoman leads. She wears them over and over again, discarding them only when they are worn or outmoded, and she considers it a compliment (as it is meant to be) when her best friend says, 'I'm so glad you decided to wear your red dress - I've always loved it!'
Foreign visitors are often shocked by the high prices in Paris shops and they wonder how a young career girl, for example, who earns no more than her British counterpart, can afford to carry an alligator handbag and to wear a suit from the Balmain boutique. The answer is that she buys very few garments: her goal is to possess a single perfect ensemble for each of the different occasions in her life, rather than a wide choice of clothes to suit every passing mood.
I wonder if the Englishwoman wouldn't profit by replacing once in a while her penchant for quantity with a quest for quality. She mght find that not only is her elegance increased, but also the enjoyment and even the confidence that she gets from her clothes.

 

[Crying Diamonds]

Looking around my room at all of my clothes (and, partially due to a casual karma comment from Ms Fashionista-ta ) I've been seriously considering taking up the 4-5 piece French wardrobe for when I move to university.
This would mean cutting out about 995-6 pieces of clothes from my daily wardrobe lol and creating a few certain looks for myself.
I think I could do it.
My What Are You Wearing Today? days would be over

 

[pucci_mama]

Thanks for the extract Craying Diamonds.

Would you recommend the book?

 

[fashionista-ta]

Looking around my room at all of my clothes (and, partially due to a casual karma comment from Ms Fashionista-ta ) I've been seriously considering taking up the 4-5 piece French wardrobe for when I move to university.
This would mean cutting out about 995-6 pieces of clothes from my daily wardrobe lol and creating a few certain looks for myself.
I think I could do it.
My What Are You Wearing Today? days would be over

I think you would find it an interesting challenge It's true, it's not a different ensemble every day of the year ... but I find that at this point--always wearing separates as I do--that I can go awhile without repeating. Like right now I visit my client twice a week, and have since December ... I've repeated pieces, certainly, but I don't think ever the exact same outfit.

And since you love ties, they don't count & take up very little space. Just think how much you could do with a few great pieces & your tie collection ... hey, maybe you can still do WAYWT

PS Thanks for posting the excerpt, it describes it quite beautifully

 

[fashionista-ta]

I had an idea ... let me know what you think. I thought it might be interesting to post the different combinations we put together with our limited number of pieces. For me it would be just text as I am camera challenged I was thinking a separate thread for this purpose--a spinoff of this one (like sitcoms on TV) Any interest in doing this?

PS Forgot to mention, the first step would be posting a list of the pieces you're working with.

 

[Nemova]

^That is a wonderful idea, ta-ta. It should come in handy for those of us trying to make do and be creative with a limited wardrobe.

 

[[vogue]]

I love that excerpt - thank you!!

 

[classicalbang]

I had an idea ... let me know what you think. I thought it might be interesting to post the different combinations we put together with our limited number of pieces. For me it would be just text as I am camera challenged I was thinking a separate thread for this purpose--a spinoff of this one (like sitcoms on TV) Any interest in doing this?

PS Forgot to mention, the first step would be posting a list of the pieces you're working with.

I love this idea!

 

[fashionista-ta]

Here's our new thread ... please add your combinations

http://www.thefashionspot.com/forum...be-combinations-thread-77102.html#post5431594

 

[The_Ida]

^ta-ta, that thread is brilliant. It has made me realise that I need to replace some items with higher quality items (esp jeans and cardigans) and just get rid of a lot of the girly stuff. It's just not me anymore...

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ You're in good company ... just came across this little tidbit on garancedore.fr ...

Outside of that, met Kanye West yesterday. (Wait, you missed it? It was in the news ! See what I’m saying about the overabundance of info to look out for?!) He showed up in a pair of jeans and told us he was in the middle of reducing his wardrobe by 25%, concentrating on only the essentials.

 

[The_Ida]

Well, if Kanye does it...!

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Exactly ... now we know it's right

 

[Crying Diamonds]

Thanks for the extract Craying Diamonds.

Would you recommend the book?

Yes, I would. Though not too well written, I find it v funny in places, plus it realistically describes how difficult it is to artificially incorporate elegance into your life

 

[floodette]

I have both the Tessaro and Dariaux books, and I found that some of the Tessaro's excerpts are not the same with the original text in Mme. Dariaux's book. I love the Dariaux one so much I almost know it by heart, ehehehehe, so maybe that's why I notice.

 

[maiden voyage]

I love the Dariaux one so much

yes i really like that book. it's so opinionated and to the point. and very funny as well.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ I'm just about to order it from Amazon

 

[Lina5]

I also love her other books - about entertaining and men (old books but it makes you realize that some things never change - or should not change to put it differently).
and tessaro´s book is such a good idea, one of the rare ˝chick lit˝ books that a woman can sort of relate to

 

[Lina5]

and something about this topic - I moved to another country last year with one suitcase practicly, so I had to bring only the capsule wardrobe and beauty products as well (I think not having piles of them also suits this tread). and I have to say that life has been so much easier. I have just what I need, I know and like everything I have in my closet and in my beauty cabinet. It´s all about having necessities that you like and then some special pieces for special occasions.
Life is also easier and more managable when you dont have too many things, and you can actually still dress creatively.