We’ve been talking about how to build an office-friendly wardrobe that will also work for those hours and days when you are NOT at the office. The goal, of course, is to have a closet full of basics that you can mix and match and wear for years to come. The place to start any wardrobe overhaul is by assessing your existing wardrobe, which includes making a list of pieces that you are missing.

As you go through your closet and try on everything that has survived the purge (pieces that fit AND are in good condition AND are classic enough not to reflect a specific trend or moment that has long passed), you need to take note of what you DON’T have. While you might easily identify gaps in your basic pieces — no trench coat, for example, or no office-appropriate jeans — you also need to think about the details: Do you have the right undergarments for every piece in your closet? The right shoes for every outfit? The right accessories for every look?

That fabulous white shirt won’t look so fabulous if you’re wearing it with a green bra, trust me. Or even with a white bra that shows RIGHT through.

Make two lists as you clean your closet: one list of Big Pieces (trousers, skirts, blouses, dresses) and a second list of Foundations and Accessories (lingerie, jewelry, bags, shoes). These are the things you need to shop for, because these are the things you actually NEED. Nothing else, at least for right now.
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1925 diamond, onyx, and platinum bar pin, $13,995.00

A pin is a simple way to change the look of the most basic outfit. Pins or brooches are timeless and classic, but not always easy to find; right now, bangle bracelets are all the rage, which makes a really cool pin even more of a find.

That’s not to say, though, that finding a great brooch is impossible — you just have to know where to look. I have a soft spot for vintage pins, both because the craftsmanship on older pieces of jewelery is often far better than what you find today, and because an antique or vintage piece will certainly be one-of-a-kind, at least in my circle of friends. Keep in mind that vintage and estate and antique can mean very different things; vintage and antique are often used interchangeably to refer to pieces manufactured 20 or more years ago (a pin made in the 1980s is thus “vintage”). Vintage can also be used to reference a specific time period (Victorian or Art Deco for example). Pieces that are dramatically older than the 20 year mark (say from the early 1900s) may be referred to as antique rather than vintage. Estate jewelery, on the other hand, is pieces that were previously owned; some estate jewelery may be very old, while other pieces may be recent.

Pricing for vintage pieces depends on several factors: age, materials, and manufacturer. Pieces like the brooch pictured above will be out of reach for most of us, because of the price. The good news, though, is that cool vintage and vintage reproduction pieces are available at all price points.

Although I must confess that I am in love with that bar pin. Truly and deeply.
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I love jewelry; I love how easy it is to take a basic jeans-and-tee outfit and dress it up with the right pieces. But it is also easy to fall into a rut with your jewelry. Ever notice how every time you get dressed up, you put on the same earrings and necklace?

Next time you go somewhere, try something different. Try adding a pin. You heard me! PIN. Brooch. Something sparkly and shiny and exotic.

It’s easy.
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I wear glasses — more specifically, I wear a pair of glasses that I bought in 1997, and occasionally another pair from 1999. Mostly, though, I wear contacts, because I really desperately need new glasses but I can’t bring myself to spend the money on the frames. And because my kids both wear glasses and good lord are little kid glasses EXPENSIVE.

Recently, though, the very pretty Mir introduced me to Zenni optical, where I have frittered away a substantial portion of the past couple of days looking at frames FOR UNDER $20.00! I don’t even know how that is possible, but there it is. You can read Mir’s full review of her new Zenni glasses at WantNot, and then you can fritter away YOUR day looking at totally cool frames for UNDER TWENTY DOLLARS.

Dude.
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We’ve talked before about building a basics wardrobe, and about how important it is to have go-to outfits; now it’s time to think about ways to keep that closet of essential, workable pieces interesting and fresh.

The answer, of course, is accessories.

Kashmere scarf, Bluefly, $65.00

The idea of accessorizing scares a lot of women, though — they don’t know what to choose or how to wear it. Here is a short list of five accessories you really need in your closet; over the next month, we will talk about how to make them work, for every day and and for special occasions.
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