One thing I have always admired about European women is their ability to make do. They make do with tiny little apartments. They make do by whipping up a delicious dinner from what they find in their pantries. They make do by cultivating small perfect wardrobes where they love everything and wear everything.

Somehow they are able – with a small number of clothes – to look chic, stylish and unique in every situation.

I noticed this with my Spanish, Greek and German friends in college. 

After college I lived in Los Angeles in a big house with several roommates. One of them was from Copenhagen, was incredibly sophisticated and chic and became a close friend. She had lived in Paris and oozed European chic.

When I met her she was visiting America but then moved in with us and decided to stay for a few years.

 When she arrived she had a large backpack with all of her belongings. All her clothes fit into it, along with any other personal items she brought.

Although, this was some 20 years ago, I remember some of the clothes she pulled out of that backpack:

*  A black turtleneck

*  Black ballet flats

*  Black opaque tights

*  Jeans

*  A red small print flowered miniskirt

These are the only items I remember, but I do remember that she did not have a whole lot more than that. She bought a few items while she lived with us, but considering she stayed in America for two years, she bought very little to supplement a backpack full of clothes.

She didn’t have a lot of clothes or a lot of money, but she always looked chic.

Sometimes we would drive into the less savory parts of LA to shop at the Goodwill thrift stores. We were always hunting for the perfect fitting pair of men’s 501 jeans.

One of my favorite outfits she wore was a pair of these Levis, a little baggy on her slim frame, with a man’s shirt. The shirt was from our friend who had a slight build. It was a short-sleeve brown button-up linen shirt with cream embroidery on the front – sort of a Mexican style pattern. She looked fabulous.

She also had found a few vintage 50s dresses from the thrift stores we frequented. Although I never saw her wear them, she would hang them with hangers on her bedroom walls. They were treated as art pieces.

I also remember she lived in her black cashmere turtleneck sweater and a Patty Hearst style beat-up black leather blazer jacket. Once she lost her sweater and was distraught until she could locate it again. I remember thinking to myself how odd that she was so upset over a sweater – why didn’t she just go buy another one. I guess I didn’t get it at the time. It was probably THE perfect sweater that she had picked out very carefully and thoughtfully.

Part of it was her attitude, but part of it was her innate ability to make whatever clothes she had look chic without spending barely any money.

A few years later I went to Europe myself for two months and saw European chic in person. I have since been on a quest to achieve this effortless chic, keeping my closet small but filled with perfect items.

This week I am doing a dual post with A from My French Corner called “1 Sweater, 5 Ways.”

Each of us are taking an oversize gray sweater and showing 5 different ways to wear it. So by reading our two blogs you will see 10 different outfits with a gray sweater as the base.

 I encourage everyone to try something like this for one week. Take a beloved item in your closet that you wear often and try to think of all the ways you can wear it using the clothes and accessories you have. Sometimes you will find ways to wear it that you had never considered.

Although I have chosen five different ways to wear my sweater, I “tested” out another half-dozen before choosing these five as the best looks. For instance, I tried black tights, and a flower print dress under the sweater – totally didn’t work, but at least I tried.

Thanks for reading our dual post and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.