Hello fellow Hivers!
How many of you are familiarized with the term "Wardrobe Curation"?
The other day I woke up with this concept in my head, I could imagine what it was, but I had no clue how I woke up with that in mind.
(It could have been the weight of knowing I needed to clean and donate clothes or it could also have been divine inspiration, either way, doesn't matter)
With that in mind, I did some digging, and with some knowledge, that I've been putting together about Kibbe ID, personal style, and visagism, I decided to put an end to this haunted closet.
A "Wardrobe Curation" goes past the basics. It won't tell you to dress up as a cartoon or the same black turtleneck with black pants, every day for the rest of your life (you know Steve Jobs)
But it teaches you the wardrobe basics so you can be fashionable, less of a hoarder (I should say minimalist, but that's a reach), and above all: be stress-free.
The aim is to have functional clothing - that means that almost every piece goes well with everything.
This can be rather challenging if you live by fashion.
I love fashion, always did, and I can say that I've postponed this curation to the last minute.
However, after being desolated by most of Fashion Week's Shows (Balenciaga should have just shown "The Simpsons" special and would be better) and seeing that chaos is still "in", I threw in the towel.
If you have a younger sibling, you know that clothes disappear out of thin air, you don't even have to sweat it.
I used to have a pile of "no longer wanted" or "I don't like it anymore" and within 2 days, it was gone.
Albeit, we had a very different taste and sense of style:
I had to go ruthless but in the right way - not in the OCD maniac episodes as I usually go at it.
This is what I found to be efficient (you don't have to take down your closet all at once - this is a continuous work):
- Know Your Style
Knowing your personal style is being one step ahead because it leaves you just the work of getting rid of what pollutes your "zen".
One person can have more than one style - for instance, drunk me once bought a pair of chunky white sneakers and clear resin sunglasses (the sneakers are gone but I kept the sunglasses, those are good for the snow)
If you haven't found your style, think of how you want to be perceived.
I always tend for elegant, classic styles but most often than not I ruin a great outfit by jumping into some very comfortable jeans.
This time I just kept in reach those jeans that are a lot straighter and no wash and kept the oldies away (you never know when they might come in handy - but don't keep the 300 pairs alright?)
- Fabric Composition:
All hail Fabrics!
In years of mindless shopping you eventually notice that fabric quality has been decreasing (blame me and fast fashion) and after paying too much for too little I started reading the tags.
Getting to know the fabric world is a one-way street and there's no turning back.
When my eyes meet the 100% polyester tag I can feel the sweat already coming out of my pores.
Not only synthetics are unbreathable fabric (that leads to all those weird smells), they won't pass the test of time.
They most likely get wrecked after a wash, wear, you name it.
Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of those (especially faux fur) but good quality fabric not only will last longer but also make you spend less in the long run.
Besides, good (usually natural) fabrics make you look like a million bucks (linen, silk, cotton, cashmere).
- Color Palette:
This one seems harder than ever.
With so many monochromatic looks in fashion, one could only think that working a color palette would be easy.
It's not hard but it's not easy.
The Palette should have colors that work all year round (here is when Visagism can be important and help), and then add a few tones to that accordingly to the season.
This is helpful if you are looking for cutting down on the number of pieces you keep.
A color palette will consist of bases (nudes, whites, off-white, black, beige, etc) - complementary colors, accent colors, and finally accessories color palette.
You can always keep some of your prints as well.
This whole "Wardrobe Curation" was a process, but I couldn't be happier.
Growing up, I had two houses on my street where they had tons of kids living there (you know, some taken from their parents, some given for adoption, etc)
Some of the children were my age obviously, and I remember back then how things were different and how teachers and parents even had some reservations while approaching the topic.
One day when my little head realized they "didn't have parents" and so they didn't have anybody to buy them presents and pretend to be Santa, I wanted to be Santa.
That was when I donated something for the first time. I gave away many toys and they were so happy that for the next couple of months I wanted to donate everything around my house.
The "donation craze" took a step back after my mother suggested I donated some of my childhood books, that was a nice way to finish it off.
But after that, twice a year, when exchanging clothes between seasons we would put bags together and donate them so someone else could love that piece as much as I had someday.
And how I remember being in the schoolyard and seeing a girl with a dress that had been mine once, with these amazing sunflowers at the bottom and a huge smile on her face while pirouetting.
All of the clothes I got "rid" off, are most definitely getting a new loving home.
Up to this day, I rather help local institutions because I know for a fact how things are taken care of rather than a big organization that gives me no clue of where things end up.
I'm one to help and not brag, but lately, I've seen so much evil, that I wanted to share it with the world and maybe inspire someone.
So, are any of you ready for a Wardrobe Curation with some Donation on the side?