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A Tale of Two Closets

 This is not a new subject on this blog, but I think it is important to have a small, perfect wardrobe and to use your creativity to make it seem larger. A from My French Corner does this so well and when she suggested this dual post (our second!) I jumped on the idea.

We both have similar styles and own many similar clothing items, as some of you know from reading the Sweater Project on my blog a while back. We also pretty much stick to the same color palette: grays, blacks and navy.

I am slowly adding beige into this mix and during the warmer months wear my signature color: turquoise.

Anyway, I’ve mentioned this before, but my love of a minimalist wardrobe was sparked by my European friends. I saw how chic they looked with only a few clothes in their wardrobe.

I have found that the secret to style — for me at least — is less is more.

I also love the challenge of creating a chic wardrobe without spending a lot of money. I may splurge on some items, such as boots, a huge cashmere scarf, perfume, lingerie, high-heel sandals, whatever, but more often I try to find what I need secondhand.

This week, A and I have each chosen a number of items from our closets that we will mix up and try to make work each day of the week without drawing on other items. I hope you enjoy it.

light gray, black, charcoal sweaters

black, gray, navy scarves

ankle boots

black cords - levis - black skirt

Information about the clothes:
Sweaters:
I found the light gray cashmere sweater in the men’s extra large section at my local consignment shop. I had credit there for items I had sold so it was free.
The black turtleneck sweater is from Gap but I found it at the neighborhood thrift store with the tags still on. I think I paid about $10 for it, but can’t remember right now.
The charcoal sweater was my husband’s friends. He was visiting one day and I commented that I wanted to find a sweater just like his for myself, so he took it off on the spot and gave it to me.

Bottoms:
I bought the black cords (Union Bay) at Macy’s on sale for $14 or $19, I think.
I found the Banana Republic skirt at the thrift store for about $5
The jeans were also from the thrift store, think I paid a few bucks for those as well

Scarves:
The black one is my husbands. I think my brother gave it to him as a hand-me-down
Actually, come to think about it, that’s how we got the gray one, as well!
The navy one is a special gift I bought for myself in the fall from Banana Republic. I spent way too much money, but I did get it on sale and I adore it. It makes me happy everytime I see it.

Boots:
The mod looking boots I found at the consignment store. They are Liz Claiborne. Again, I either paid next to nothing because I had credit, or I paid nothing at all, can’t remember.
The high-heeled Etienne Aigner boots I bought at Macy’s in the fall of 2008, I believe. I probably paid less than $100, but don’t remember.

Categories: A Tale of Two Closets Tags:
  1. March 7th, 2010 at 15:21 | #1

    My closet basically has exactly the same items!

  2. March 7th, 2010 at 15:38 | #2

    Andi,
    great minds think alike!

  3. March 9th, 2010 at 20:21 | #3

    I love this idea of a minimalist wardrobe – in fact after reading your site – I think the best way is to take everything out of my closet and then only put back in the few items that I chose for my new winter wardrobe.
    Do you think that these colours will work equally well for a blue eyed blonde – or is there another colour I could add to give a lift to my more sallow complexion.

  4. March 10th, 2010 at 14:43 | #4

    Dianne,
    If you look at Clemence Poesy, she is a blonde and wears almost all the same colors as I do, but a lot more beige which looks great with her hair. She wears mainly navy, gray, black and beige ….

  5. March 11th, 2010 at 00:38 | #5

    Thank you kristi – I have looked online and yes! Clemence looks lovely in beige
    I will search out a nice beige scarf and also she looked great in all black with a beige jacket.
    Dianne

  6. March 14th, 2010 at 09:10 | #6

    Love your scarves! I love wearing them too!! They are so fun! I have to be careful around my kitty. He jumped up one day and grabbed my scarf and almost choked me! LOL Stopping in and saying HI from ThePRPlace!! Come visit me at Scraps of Life!!

  7. March 14th, 2010 at 09:16 | #7

    Thanks for all the well wishes everyone.
    Susie, I just dropped by and copied your Lidia’s recipe for scallopine. Yum.
    Also, I have no idea what to do with the PPRP yet … I was hoping to be able to review some products of my own choosing and/or get some items to giveaway to my readers, but not sure that’s how it works …. have to check it out more …

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What is it about those Italian women? You know the ones I’m talking about: beautiful, sexy, dressed to the nines just to take the kids to the park. They have a certain something that is indefinable. It is in the way they dress, the way they prepare their meals, the way they spend their leisure time.

It is because they know the importance of la bella figura. Roughly translated from Italian, it means putting you best foot forward in everything you do. It means cutting a beautiful figura. The opposite of la bella figura is la brutta figura, which is what someone might say about the falling down drunken guy at the party or the super tackily dressed woman at church. It means ugly figure.

La bella figura is much more than your appearance. It goes much deeper than that. It is about how you act. It is about how you treat others. It is about how you care for yourself, your home and your family. Living a life in line with la bella figura doesn’t take money. In fact, it is more about how to have class without a lot of money.

Someone who exudes la bella figura will have clean, pressed clothes and be well groomed. They will not be rude or sloppy. Their fingernails will be impeccably groomed. Their hair shiny and clean and their shoes will be polished. They will not have stray threads hanging from their suit hems. They will not be driving a car in need of the car wash.

La bella figura means driving that 15 year old car and meticulously cleaning it and caring for it. It means keeping your belongings in good repair. It means taking time to clean your house and not cluttering it up with meaningless objects.

When you focus all your spare energy, time and money on the things that bring you the most amount of pleasure, then you are truly living a life in line with la bella figura. The best part about it is that you don’t have to be Italian to do so. You just have to think like an Italian.

Italian children are raised to present la bella figura in whatever they do. From the time they are small and are groomed perfectly to attend church or school, they know that appearances count. They count because it is the first thing people judge about you. That first impression does matter. Appearances are also important because when you take the time to look nice, you are showing that you care about yourself. When you care enough to look good, it shows you have good healthy self esteem. Nothing is more attractive than self confidence.

In addition, dressing nice also shows respect for others. If you invite people over for dinner and greet them in flip flops, baggy sweats and a stained shirt, it is really disrespectful to them. The same if you dress sloppy to go to church or even to the market. By dressing nicely and being well groomed, you show respect for everyone in your world.

Having la bella figura means presenting yourself in the best light possible in all your interactions.