Originally Published on DivineCaroline.com
If you are like me and suck at styling yourself, the streets of New York are a never-ending look-book for free inspiration and motivation. I also happen to work on the most stylish street on the Lower East Side: Bond Street.
There is never a morning when there isn’t a random photographer perched on the street and most often than not, immortalizing the most ridiculous subjects on film. (For example, yesterday evening I noticed two student photographers totter behind a cockroach for a suitable angle!)
The point is—when you have the likes of Naomi Watts and Ricky Martin live right on your street and a modeling agency in the same building as yours, you have to look a million bucks at all times. But the problem with always wanting to look like a million bucks is an oversized credit card bill and a double-digit bank balance.
To stop myself from committing that kind of faux-pas this fall, I’ve created a wardrobe checklist for myself that I carry around with me fanatically and refer to before making a purchase. If I can’t tick off an item from the list, I am not allowed to make a purchase.
Yesterday I shared my check-list with my sister and my cousin and they loved it so I thought that perhaps other women like me may find it useful as well. So here goes! Enjoy and be sure to leave a comment and let me know if there’s something I should add to this!
(P.S. I work at a creative agency and so my wardrobe doesn’t require work pants and shirts. If your work wardrobe is formal to semi-formal, you can still use this list to put together your off-work wardrobe. There are some basic pieces that you can use for both)
Fall/Winter Wardrobe Checklist
- 1 Black Cashmere Sweater (I bought one last season from JCrew and it will last me for at least two more seasons. If you live in NYC, try UNIQLO for affordable cashmere)
- 1 Neutral (Beige, Cream, White etc) Cashmere Sweater
- 1 Black Thin Turtleneck
- 1 Fun Color Thin Sweater (Mine is a striped blue/white Turtleneck)
- 1 Black Formal Blazer (Mine is from Zaras)
- 1 Off-white Formal Blazer (I just bought two sexy little blazers from Banana Republic yesterday on sale: Light Gray and Cream/Beige)
- 1 Fun Color Blazer (Mine is a sexy blue cotton blazer from DVF)
- 10–12 Soft Tees and Tanks for Layers (I’ve stocked up Supima Cotton Tees in Black, Gray and White and a collection of inexpensive tanks in bright colors that pop)
- 1 Block-Colored Work Dress (I picked up a bright red from Club Monoco last year that I will recycle this winter again)
- 1 Printed Work Dress (Again I love DVF work dresses. Can’t go wrong there!)
- 5–6 Leggings in various colors including neutrals (I have the usual Black, brown and grey—and I added a bright burgundy, a green and a lemon yellow to my collection this year. Just pick leggings and tanks that complement the rest of your wardrobe. )
- 2 Wool Skirts (I own beautiful Jcrew ones in Red and Blue. I’ll add a neutral black this year)
- 2 Dark Blue Fitted Jeans (I invest in really good pairs of denim because I can dress it up or down and wear it to work meetings or pair it with a blazer and make it a semi-formal outfit)
- 1 Black Denim (I have none! Where can I find one?)
- 1 Wool work pants (for those formal meetings)
- 4 Work-to-evening blouses/tops (I recommend silk blouses either blocked or printed. They transition very well from work to fun)
- 1 Fitted Black Boots (Zappos.com, Piperlime.com, Endless.com, 6pm.com are great resources!)
- 1 Fitted Brown Boots (Check out online sample sales such as ruelala.com, hautelook.com and giltgroupe.com for great deals as well)
- 1 Colored Flats
- 1 Sexy Leather bag in a bright color (Neutrals are fine too – but it’s always nice to have a pop of color on your outfit)
- For accessories, I just like to wear my engagement ring and diamond studs. I’m not a fan of spending on fake accessories when I could let that money add up to something tiny, pretty, real and classy. But this is totally your call!
I know it’s pretty basic but there’s just something about a list that makes my life so easy!
Originally publilshed at www.DivineCaroline.com. Check out Jinal Shah’s profile page on Divine Caroline.