Bringing Social Justice to My Closet--Part Two

This is part 2 in my series on bringing social justice to my closet.  As I explained in part 1 of this series, I started off my clothing overhaul with a closet inventory and then purged out all the items that I honestly did not wear.  The next step was to decide what I really wanted in a wardrobe.  There were a couple things that I knew absolutely for sure:

1.  It has to meet the KISS standard.  That's right "Keep it Simple and Straightforward".  I'm getting ready to be a full time student added to my already full time Mom and full time wife, I don't have time to be a full time "fashionista".  :)

2.  I want to stick to classic staples, not trends that come and go.

3.  I want my clothes and the choices I make about them to be a visible "emblem/billboard" of my beliefs about social justice.

I was so completely lost on where to start "finding my style".  I took to Pinterest to find the answer.  I might be a little addicted to Pinterest, but I can quit anytime I want,... as soon as I scroll to the bottom of the page.... ;)  After a lot of searching through a lot of style boards (and a little bit of getting distracted on humor and book boards) I found a style concept that totally appeals to me and fits all my criteria:  The French Five Piece Wardrobe.

The French Five Piece Wardrobe is a concept where you build a basic capsule wardrobe of classic items, and then you only purchase 5 items that have more personality (or, for Wicked fans, are more swankified) each fashion season to augment the basics.  The whole idea is that instead of haphazardly buying random clothes, you are forced to carefully consider what you really want and then make intentional purchases.  Exactly what I was looking for!  There are five basic rules:

1.  Basics don't count and are always allowed (ie, if you need to replace your white t shirt because your five year old dumped a red Slushie on it and didn't tell you, you can replace it without counting it as one of your five items)

2.  Accessories don't count (Which gives me the freedom to continue my love affair with scarves)

3.  Shoes DO count

4.  Socks and Underwear don't count

5.  All the rest counts

 I totally fell love in love with everything about this wardrobe plan.  Especially considering I just purged out a closet full of items where nothing matched.  To start myself off, I needed to assess what I already had for basics, and what I needed to look for.  The basics list varies from source to source, so I made a compilation based on what works for me, and then added a few items that I felt necessary due to where I live.

The basics:

(Items I added for my individual lifestyle in italics)

Tops

Black, grey, and white t-shirts

Black, grey and white tank tops

White blouse

Little Black Dress

Blazer

Cardigan

Black, grey, and white long sleeve shirts 

(I added this because I live in Iowa and it gets cold here in the winter.)  

Black, grey, and white sweater 

(Again, IOWA.  Seriously, it gets cold here.  Like -60 with windchill cold, layers are vital)
3 Basic dresses
(For church)

Bottoms

Black Skinny Jeans

Boyfriend Jeans

Black pencil skirt

Black trousers

Leather trousers

A complete black suit

Outerwear

Leather Jacket

Trench Coat

Wool Coat

Once again due to my geographical location I added the following

Snow Pants

Heavy Winter Coat

Bear Suit

Shoes

Black Pumps
Nude Pumps
Summer Sandals
Mid-heeled ankle boots
Sneakers
SnowBoots
Warm Winter Boots

This wardrobe concept fits all my criteria! First of all, it gives me a great classic wardrobe of items that I can mix and match with no problem.  Secondly, because of the emphasis on buying quality items that comes from only purchasing 5 items I can be truly deliberate about what I buy and spend time researching to make sure the items are fair trade.  This whole plan greatly encourages shopping with a purpose.  

I have been so excited to get started on this.  I wish I had taken a before picture of my closet, but I did not.  Trust me when I say it was overflowing.  This is a shot of my basics now.  

 And here is a shot of my pared down scarf collection

Quick shot of some the extra clothes I kept (TaeKwonDo uniform, Red Cross vests, t-shirt for my daughters softball team and a couple "flashier" dresses and sweaters to start off with until I begin buying the 5 items for each season) 

And, finally, what I kept for shoes.

And that is everything in my closet!  It feels so great to have it be so organized and clean.  :)

Now I get to go on to the fun part of filling in the rest of the basics, and deciding what I want my five pieces of fall/winter clothing are going to be.  I have two posts to conclude this series in the works right now.  One will cover why this all matters and how slavery exists in the clothing industry.  The other will highlight some fair trade clothing stores I have found and the items I'm considering adding to the closet.