Desert Island Dressing: What if your wardrobe had only 10 items?

My 10 items for a Desert Island Dressing wardrobe

For example, I’ve talked about taking a wardrobe vacation: making a list of the clothes you’d take for an enjoyable vacation and using that as a starting point.

The more enjoyable the process is, after all, the more likely you are to complete it.

So here’s another fun way to think about what’s in your closet that you like best, the true keepers.

It’s called Desert Island Dressing.

Desert Island Dressing

This little exercise is inspired by a music game that’s been around for a while called Desert Island Discs, in which the challenge is to choose the 10 CDs you’d want to have with you if you were stranded on the proverbial desert island. In this case, as you may be able to guess, the goal is to pick 10 items from your closet that you’d be happy to wear if they were all you had.

Have the wheels started turning in your head yet?

Some ground rules might help. Although the conceit involves a desert island, don’t feel constrained by the idea that these have to be warm-weather clothes. And to make it easier on ourselves, let’s take underwear and shoes as a given! What about accessories, you may ask? Why don’t we leave those for another list someday.

I’ll go first. (And although I have some favorite clothes, I have to admit this was a little harder than I’d expected!) So here is my Desert Island Dressing list:

1. Habitual jeans
2. Ann Taylor Loft denim split skirt (culottes)
3. J. Crew cotton khaki A-line skirt
4. Garnet Hill leopard print 3/4-length sleeve cardigan
5. Ann Taylor Loft white cotton boat-neck tunic
6. Whistle & Flute mint green scoop-neck button-front 3/4-length sleeve shirt (that’s a mouthful!)
7. Stella McCartney boat-neck 3/4-length sleeve cotton tunic
8. Rogan heather grey ringer T-shirt
9. H&M V-neck empire waist blouse with flutter sleeves and black velvet tie
10. Calvin Klein olive green scoop-neck empire waist tunic

And now I can clearly see what kinds of patterns have emerged from this exercise for me. In tops: tunic style, open necklines and empire waist. In everything: lots of solid, neutral colors in clean lines with minimal embellishments.

I’ve found some shapes and styles that look and work best for me. Now I can build on this with some variations in both silhouette and color, all while staying within this family of garments.

Now It’s Your Turn!

• What’s on your Desert Island Dressing list?
• Do you see a pattern in your clothes?
• If so, is it because these items flatter you most?
• If you don’t have a consistent style, do you prefer any garments more than the others? Why?

With this information in hand and a clearer perspective on what suits you best (and what you like the most), you’ll find you have a head start on returning to the rest of your closet to complete your editing exercise.

Other working mom style advice you might like:

1. New Year’s style resolutions
2. It’s my blogiversary!
3. Getting rid of what doesn’t fit
4. Red carpet to reality: 3 Golden Globes trends you can wear now