A Timelessly Personal Wardrobe

(article written originally for People over Product magazine)

Imagine this:

You open your closet and can’t help but smile. It feels like your clothes are smiling back. Every single item, you’d wear in a heartbeat.
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That’s the beauty and ease of embracing a timelessly personal wardrobe curated for nature’s seasons. Each season has its own pieces you adore and look forward to wearing during that time of year. Timeless doesn’t mean essential staples. Timeless means personal joy on repeat.

Counterintuitive as it may seem, buying new items each season (no matter how cute!) creates more styling work. Since they’re new, you don’t know their quirks or how they work with other pieces in your closet yet. Having go-to favorite seasonal items makes styling easier because of familiarity. You don’t have to think twice. You know how to work your favorite cardigan and it looks good every time. When you love your clothes, it shows! 

Building a closet of clothes you adore takes patience and trust in yourself. Take a cue from Mother Nature and embrace the process! To quote Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

Below are three keys to owning a timeless wardrobe that feels like you.

1) Be an observer of trends and seasons. 

Both seasons and trends are cyclical. When observing nature, the timing and temperature of each season isn’t always the same. Some years, there are unusually warm or unusually cold seasons. Transition times between seasons are especially great for stepping out of your styling comfort zone. Fickle weather requires using items you might not often pair together. 

In the past, fashion seasons were more in sync with nature’s seasons. These days, trend cycles move extremely fast. This makes it harder to re-wear clothes without looking dated. This is where styling is your best friend! 

Style is about curation with intention and observation is at the core of intention. Choosing to wear an item differently than the way it was worn as a trend, gives that item a different vibe. For example, the linen vests/waistcoats worn as a top with matching wide-leg linen pants were a big trend in summer 2024. One way to shift from that trend look, is to unbutton the vest/waistcoat and layer it over a jumpsuit or dress. 

Being an observer means you don’t have to participate in every trend or season. When we think of fashion as ‘rules’ it gets too rigid and can feel restrictive and hard to be ourselves. Each season means something different to each person. Embrace what you love about each season and express it in how you dress. 

2) Approach outfit styling like you approach recipes 

Dressing seasonally often gets summed up as prints in spring, colors in summer, layers in fall, and textures in winter. Actually, these can be worn in all seasons! The key is focusing on what excites you most. The list below isn't about ‘dos’ or ‘don’ts’. See them as recipes to experiment with to find ‘flavors’ you love for each season. Have fun and let your closet surprise you! 

Prints: There’s a wide variety of prints: tiny, large, bold, subtle....etc. Take note of the similarities and differences among the prints in your closet. Pair prints with solid pieces or mix and match them with other prints. A helpful way to wear different prints together is to focus on a shared element in both of the prints. For example, if both prints have squares, that's a shared shape. Or if both prints have pink that’s a shared color. Remember opposites attract! Don’t be afraid to pair opposite prints together like a bold stripe with a subtle stripe. 

Colors: Nature’s seasons are great inspiration for color palettes. Why not come up with your own personal color palette for each season? If color feels intimidating, remember to trust your eyes! All colors have a relationship to each other. The best way to observe how colors work together is by placing them next to each other. NOTE: black, white, and gray aren’t colors. They exist to brighten or darken colors. So pairing colors with black, white, or gray often makes them more intense. A simple way to play with new colors is to pair them with either a blue, red, or yellow garment. Those are primary colors which means they have a relationship with every color. That’s why blue denim is so versatile!

Layers: When I survey friends about their favorite styling season, fall is the most common answer. The main reason being the layering of various pieces from sweaters to jackets to scarves. However, there are also many thin layer options for warmer seasons. If layering is something you love, challenge yourself to come up with different layered looks for each season. I personally love to wear scarves year round; lighter ones in warmer months and thicker ones in colder months.

Textures: An instant way to add visual interest to an outfit is with contrasting textures. Smooth and rough, sparkly and matte. Opposite textures are fun to play with and, more often than not, they look great together. The key is to let your eyes decide. A lot of times we dismiss amazing ideas because we’re too much into our heads. Thinking “those don’t go together” but if you’re open to trying, you might be pleasantly surprised!

3) Have seasonal date nights with your closet 

The secret sauce to a wardrobe you’ll love again and again, is that the individual pieces and the outfits they create together feel like you. As you might’ve guessed, the way to do this is by observing what you like and why you like it. The best clues are in your favorite pieces, the ones you can’t help but smile at. 

Below are a few questions to help you reflect on what inspires and challenges you about the current items in your closet. Make it a date! Grab a treat, then go to your closet and ask yourself the following questions.
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• What items jump out first? Why? 
• Are there any overarching themes or similarities among my clothes?
• What items do I want to wear more often? Can those be paired with each other?
• What clothes do I miss wearing when it’s not their season?
• What items do I love to wear year round? 
• What items do I avoid because they feel dated? Is there a way to style them differently using prints, colors, layers, or textures?