Details: MaxMara sweater (Poshmark), Jessie skirt, BR belt, Chie Mihara shoes (all thrifted)

Notes: It’s been far too long since I last wore this MaxMara sweater. I still adore its whimsy; it makes me smile. As I was debating what to pair it with this time, I realized that the colours of the flowers matched those of the skirt flowers. The design is different, but visually “close enough” is good enough. I really love this pattern mix, if you can call it that. I was a little bit concerned at first that it might be too chaotic, but I don’t think it is.

Details: mystery dress, necklace (both thrifted), Zara boots (retail)

Notes: When I say this is a mystery dress, I mean it. I have so many questions about it, none of them satisfactorily answered. There is no brand tag. The inside tag lists the RN # for Michael Kors, but a Google Image search for this pattern only returns Dries Van Noten dresses. It’s silk with hand-finished hems, which you would not expect from a counterfeit (assuming that’s what could explain the other oddities). So, who knows? I like this weird, mystery dress and I paid $4.50 for it, so I am not too fussed about it. It certainly has a 2018 Adina vibe to it, but I enjoy a good throwback now and then.

Details: vintage sweater, Woolrich vest, Everlane pants, Laredo shoes, Coach bag (all secondhand)

Notes: My husband said that I looked very Canadian in this outfit, and it’s hard to argue with that. I love this not-really-Hudson’s-Bay-but-pretending sweater and it makes a statement outfit out of any basic pieces. That being said, the accessories are maybe my favourite part; these shoes and this bag are on repeat and I just can’t get enough. Luckily, they go with everything.

Details: Lewit sweater (swap), Elena Wong coat, H&M pants, Gap belt, Modern Vice shoes (all thrifted), Tignanello bag (Poshmark)

Notes: Remember this coat? It’s still one of my faves. I love how unusual it is; the graphic pattern makes a great visual impact. I like to play up the yellow accents. Here, I doubled up with the yellow bag, and added blue for contrast. This shade complements the yellow really well. I wanted to keep the rest of the outfit neutral so I chose my tan paperbag waist pants; they are the best “blank” canvas piece.

Details: Oak & Fort turtleneck, H&M Studio skirt (both thrifted), BCBG belt (Poshmark), J. Crew shoes (retail), Warren Steven Scott earrings (retail)

Notes: I don’t like to wear orange; I feel like it clashes with my hair and isn’t kind to my complexion either. But I enjoy it in this context, because it’s a splash of colour far enough away from my face not to cause me any grief, but bold enough to make a statement. Since I don’t have a lot of orange in my closet, I decided to use red as an accent colour since the rest of the outfit is very neutral. Red and orange might not seem like a very felicitous combination, but I like it here. I added the white belt to tie the outfit together and I think it does that very well.

Details: Toni T dickie, Esprit vest, Higher State dress, vintage petticoat, Nine West shoes (all thrifted)

Notes: I call this Jo March, winter edition. I know petticoats are old-fashioned, but I like how the mostly-black outfit is bookended by white in this way. I think it makes the outfit “pop” more. The grandpa vest gives it some visual definition – otherwise, the black might be a bit overwhelming (and too Wednesday Addams, which isn’t the vibe I was going for this time).

Details: Oak & Fort turtleneck, cashmere cardigan, Twik pants, Fossil belt, American Apparel coat (all thrifted), Mia shoes (retail), Coach bag (swap)

Notes: I’m obsessed with this shade of brown — I call it whiskey brown — in case you couldn’t tell. I’ve been wearing it a lot this fall, and I especially like it paired with black. Here, I softened the palette a bit, adding yellow and grey into the mix. The grey wasn’t something I came up with on my own; I was inspired by the coat itself, which has a brown collar. It made me realize that brown and grey could work together too. See … inspiration is everywhere!

One of the questions I was asked recently on Instagram had to do with outfit building blocks and formulas. I consider myself an “instinctive stylist”, meaning that I tend to follow my gut rather than a systematic process when I’m putting together outfits. But that isn’t entirely accurate, I think. What’s actually happening is probably that I am subconsciously following a process without realizing it. Let’s see if I can reconstruct it all for you here.

To begin with, let’s tackle terminology. To me, outfit building blocks are the individual pieces of clothing in my closet. Some pieces form the backbone of the outfit; they’re like bricks. Some pieces hold outfits together without calling attention to themselves; they’re like mortar. And some pieces are pure decoration; they’re like … I dunno, my architectural vocabulary is pretty limited, guys. Maybe, like, crown molding? Anyway. Here’s an outfit breakdown for illustration purposes:

The backbone of this outfit is clearly the skirt; it’s doing all the heavy lifting here and it’s the immediate focal point of the outfit. The mesh turtleneck and black crop top are very much necessary to complete the outfit, but they are not, in themselves, memorable. They are also pieces that can be worn in an almost-infinite variety of ways because they are simple and versatile. They can “glue” together any number of different outfits. Lastly, the belt is purely decorative (functionally unnecessary) but that doesn’t mean that it’s surfeit. It very much contributes to the overall effect created by the outfit.

Here is another example:

The backbone of the outfit here is blazer and vest; the white shirt is the “glue”. But what about the skirt? The skirt is a statement piece, which is a bit of a sui generis category. More than mere decoration, but not quite foundational either. Going back to our architectural analogy, a statement piece is a like a sparkly brick. It stands out just a bit more, and as a result it’s just a bit less versatile. You can build outfits around a statement piece, but you don’t necessarily need a statement piece to make an outfit.

Now, I don’t want us to get too hung up on taxonomies and classifications. The main thing is to understand that your closet is made up of different types of building blocks, each of which has its own function and purpose in outfit building. In my view, a well-functioning closet depends on 2 key principles:

1. that all or most of the individual building blocks generally align with your personal style or preferred aesthetic(s); and
2. that you have the right proportion of the different types of building blocks suitable to your personal style or preferred aesthetic.

Lets look at that more closely.

If you have a fairly cohesive personal aesthetic, then the first principle is pretty self-explanatory. Don’t buy a bunch of pink clothing if you only like to wear black. Don’t own 10 skirts and one pair of pants if you only like to wear pants. If, like me, your personal style has several facets, the same principle applies but requires a bit more finesse. The “glue” pieces should always be “anonymous” enough and/or versatile enough to work with any and all of your aesthetics. When it comes to the foundational “bricks”, I personally try to find things that can serve as “throughlines” – aka be as versatile as possible across different aesthetics – and then I can rely on the “decoration” building blocks to fully differentiate each particular aesthetic. This is easier to do when the different aesthetics all share some basic DNA. Harder to do if your aesthetics are “goth grunge” and “50s pin-up” (harder but maybe not impossible?). If you’re in that situation, it may be easier to rely on statement pieces – aka “sparkly bricks” – to bridge the gap.

The other thing to consider, when dealing with a multi-faceted personal style, is how much you use each aesthetic. If you’re “goth grunge” 80% of time, there is no point in having half of your statement pieces be “50s pin-up”. You’ll end up with clothes you rarely wear AND feel like you don’t have enough clothes.

This ties in with the second principle.

I’ve seen various recommended ratios for the different categories of building blocks – a common one is 80% “basics” (which I assume includes my bricks and glue) and 20% statement pieces. I don’t like arbitrary rules applied with an indiscriminate hand. The ratio is important because if you have too much of the wrong thing, or too little of the key things, your closet will feel out of whack. But the ratio will very much depend on your personal style and lifestyle. A minimalist aesthetic might need fewer statement pieces than a maximalist one. We’ve already talked about how a multi-faceted personal style (with different aesthetics) will impact the kinds of building blocks you need. I can’t tell you what your ratio is … and you might not know right off the bat either. But there are ways to work out the answer.

The first clue is how does your closet feel? Does it feel chaotic and disorganized? Does it feel like you have simultaneously too many clothes and not enough to wear? If so, your ratio is probably off. In contrast, if you feel satisfied and in control of your closet, you’re probably working with a good ratio.

If you fall into the first category, the fix takes a bit of work but it’s not an insurmountable problem by any means. I would ask myself 2 questions:

1. when I’m getting dressed, do I ever say “boy, I wished I had X to make this outfit?” That is a clue as to what might be missing from my closet. If you start writing down those things as they occur to you, you will start to get a sense of which category of building blocks might be underrepresented in your closet.
2. which pieces do I rarely or never wear? Which category do they tend to fall into? This could be a sign that the category is overrepresented. (It could also just mean that some pieces don’t fit you, or don’t suit your style, so eliminate those first before you draw any other conclusions).

Ultimately, only you can decide what’s too many or too few statement pieces for you. Sorry, I wish there was a generic answer but, hey: if we’ve learned one thing over the years, it’s that style is personal and, therefore, never generic.

For what it’s worth, my own ratio is something along these lines: 70% bricks, 20% glue, 10% decoration. Of my “bricks”, I would say that about a third are statement pieces aka “sparkly bricks”. These percentages reflect the fact that, while I do love bold/unique pieces and have a multi-faceted style, there are many commonalities between my aesthetics, I enjoy having versatile pieces, and I am not an out-and-out maximalist.

A last word on building blocks and shopping.

When you are considering a piece of clothing for purchase, it’s good to consider where it fits into the bigger picture of your closet. Which category does it fall into? Is that category over- or under-represented in your closet? Does it align with your personal style or reflect a new style direction you are consciously exploring? Do you already have something similar and, if so, when given the choice between the old item and the new one, which one would you pick? This one is a big downfall for me. I tend to buy different iterations of items I love – maybe with different patterns, or slightly different cuts, or different fabrics – and then struggle to give each of them the attention they deserve. I find it very hard to choose which ones to let go once they’re in my closet, so I try to be as ruthless as I can upfront – i.e. before I buy. While I don’t strictly hold myself to a ”one in, one out” rule, I do try to follow it as much as possible. And, always, if it’s not a “hell, yes” it’s a NO.

I hope you have found this discussion helpful – feel free to share your thoughts and tips in the comments. Next week, we’ll tackle outfit formulas!

Details: Ralph Lauren sweater (gift), Ralph Lauren skirt (ebay), Jil Sander coat, Asos boots, Esprit belt (all thrifted), Echo scarf (consignment)

Thoughts: This was my favourite outfit of the season, and that is no overstatement. It all just came together so beautifully, I was chuffed. The skirt was an accidental eBay find; I was looking for a different vintage Ralph Lauren skirt (and the only listing I found was outside my budget, sadly) when I came across this one and instantly fell in love. And the best part? It was just inside my budget. I took a bit of a risk with the sizing, because the measurements given in the listing looked sus, but it paid off because it fits just right. It’s also a lovely, cozy, cotton flannel which makes it a good choice for fall/spring. The colours, patterns, and patchwork design are so me. I also loved how cohesive the accessories look in this outfit. Just 10/10, no notes.

Details: Ines de la Fressange x Unqilo shirt, Lord & Taylor sweater, Mondi skirt (all thrifted), Rafael Alfandary necklace (eBay), J. Crew shoes (retail)

Thoughts: It’s no secret that I love plaids, and I especially love unusual plaids. This red/chartreuse combo is rather unique, isn’t it? Mondi is an underrated vintage brand, and I was pumped to find this beautiful wool skirt in perfect condition. I decided to play up the unusual colour palette by adding the lemon yellow cashmere sweater, and red shoes for extra oomph.

Details: Alfred Sung top, Club Monaco belt (both thrifted), Paul Smith pants (Poshmark)

Thoughts: I adore this vintage silk top — the mix of plaid and floral patterns is fantastic — but I find the cut a bit of a struggle. The length, in particular, is not my favourite and the style is a bit, well, old-fashioned. Adding a belt helps to change up the proportions and vibe, making it feel more current. I doubled down on the plaid with the pants, making it a tonal outfit head to toe.

Details: Talbots sweater, Gap skirt, no brand belt (all thrifted)

Thoughts: If this doesn’t look like fall, I don’t know what does. Loving the texture contrast here between the chunky wool sweater and the leather skirt; it adds depth and richness to the outfit. Burgundy is not one of my go-to colours but it’s my favourite autumnal shade (apart from whiskey brown). Still, head to toe burgundy isn’t something I would normally get excited about, so it’s a sign of how much I love these pieces that I went for this outfit at all.

Details: F21 top, Joie cardigan, Nine West shoes (all thrifted), Giambattista Valli x H&M dress (Poshmark)

Thoughts: I got this iridescent green mesh top because I thought it had good layering potential, but so far, I’m not really sold. The sheen doesn’t come through as well as I had hoped, either in person or in photos. Still, it does work well with this dress, mostly because the black trim around the neckline nicely mirrors the black waistband on the dress. Is it a one-hit wonder? Time will tell.

Details: Pendleton sweater, Twik pants, Modern Vintage shoes (all thrifted), Pendleton coat (FB Marketplace), Ralph Lauren belt (Poshmark), Coach bag (swap)

Thoughts: This outfit was meant to simply be a backdrop for this amazing Pendleton coat, but I was surprised by how much I loved this brown/turquoise combo. It’s so vibrant! I will have to try it again soon. I told you these corduroy pants would make (many) more appearances on the blog, and I was not exaggerating. They really do go with everything!