Let’s talk about how to build a great wardrobe! When you’re crafting a wardrobe, it’s important to be mindful and strategic of what you’re buying. That is what will help your wardrobe become more functional and therefore WAY easier to use.
One of the most common style mistakes women make is buying random pieces that catch your eye instead of having a plan to build a well-built, mix-and-match, easy-to-use wardrobe.
There are a ton of things involved in crafting your wardrobe, from figuring out how to build one that works for your lifestyle, personal style, body shape, etc. to specific pieces to build your wardrobe with. We won’t get into all that in this blog post because it’s quite a lot! For today, I just want to focus on an important philosophy to keep in mind when crafting a wardrobe.
And, it’s this: build your wardrobe with a mix of foundational pieces + flair pieces.
This is the concept that I use when I create capsule wardrobes, Wardrobe & Outfit Guides, and my own personal wardrobe, and it’s what I teach students inside of my online style course Simply Put Together—I base everything on it!
A great wardrobe has a mix of foundational pieces and flair pieces. Let’s talk about what those are and why they’re important!
What Are Foundational and Flair Pieces?
Foundational pieces are essentially the timeless basics. They’re the pieces that are pretty standard, like a great pair of dark wash jeans, a standard white tee, a denim jacket, or a black blazer. Things like that. They often act as the foundation for outfits.
Flair pieces are the ones that make more of a statement and/or have more distinct features and characteristics like a floral print blouse, a graphic tee, a printed skirt, a blazer with a trendy cut or silhouette, jeans with a trendy silhouette, and so on. BTW, I put pretty much all trendy pieces into this category because they are not timeless. You’ll see why this is important in a moment when we talk about purchasing decisions.
The food analogy…
One way I like to think of it is with a food analogy. When you make a sandwich, you have bread. There’s always bread. Bread is one of the foundations of the sandwich. Then, you’ll add all different kinds of meats, veggies, and condiments to really bring that sandwich to life, according to your taste. The meats and veggies and condiments add that oomph of flavor to the sandwich and give it dimension. With clothes, we have foundational pieces like a standard pair of jeans or a white tee. Then, you can combine them with flair pieces to bring your outfits to life.
A great wardrobe needs both
Every great wardrobe needs both foundational and flair pieces.
Flair items keep your wardrobe feeling fresh and help you show off more of your personality through your clothes (depending on your style personality).
Foundational pieces are necessary because they serve as the glue that pulls together all those flair or statement pieces.
How many foundational vs. flair pieces should you have?
As far as how many foundational pieces vs. flair pieces you should have, I believe it’s different for every person, depending on your style personality. (BTW, inside of Simply Put Together, we go through an exercise to help define your style personality.)
Some style personalities naturally lend themselves to more basics and foundational pieces while others naturally lend themselves to having more statement pieces. Rather than focusing on a specific percentage, the more important thing to pay attention to is whether you find your wardrobe boring or whether it’s difficult to create outfits. If your wardrobe is boring, then you probably need more flair items to liven it up. On the other hand, if you constantly feel like you can’t put together outfits, then you probably need more foundational pieces to be the glue and pull everything together.
If we go back to the sandwich analogy, some people like thick bread and/or very little meat, fillings, or condiments inside. In style, that would be the equivalent of liking lots of basics and just a little dose of pizzazz. On the other hand, some people like to stack and LOAD their sandwiches with the fixings, and the bread is secondary and just a means of holding all the fixings together. That would be like wearing primarily statement-making pieces and only needing the foundational items secondarily. (Side note, I can’t decide if my sandwich preference mirrors my style preference. Haha! I’m thinking it’s actually kind of the opposite. I’ll have to think more about that…🤔)
Depending on which end of the spectrum you are on, you can adjust your ratio of foundational or flair items to match it.
Where you are on the spectrum can also inform your purchasing decisions. Which brings me to….
How Foundational and Flair Pieces Affect My Purchasing Decisions
I’m not attempting to give a strong or strict framework for this because it will be very dependent on your style and what you value in clothes. So, I first want to make a caveat to this section and say that I’m sharing MY personal preference, but that does not need to be yours.
However, I’ll share my framework for thinking about purchases just in case it helps you think through a framework for yourself and helps you be more intentional about how you spend and craft your wardrobe.
When it comes to foundations and flair, my style leans a bit more on foundational items, so I tend to more readily spend more on foundational pieces and less on flair, at least as a starting place. There are often several other things I consider when deciding whether or not to keep a piece, (like quality, how it feels, how hard it is to find the type of item that fits me well, if it’d be hard to find that kind of piece for a lower price point, cost per wear, etc.) and sometimes I might spend more on flair pieces. But as a general starting place, I keep my flair pieces at a lower cost, and I’m willing to go for higher priced items for foundational pieces.
However, your style might be the opposite, where you lean more on flair or statement-making pieces and mix in just a few foundational items to glue things together. In that case, perhaps you might spend more on flair and less on foundational items. Know what I mean?
Alright, a bit more as to why I spend more on foundational items and less on flair. I do this because foundational pieces are timeless, and I tend to keep them for a longer period of time. Like, there are soooooo many pieces in my closet that I’ve had for years and years and continue to wear the heck out of. Things like my Wit & Wisdom jeans, utility jacket, denim jacket, white tee, and white sneakers, just to name a few. I’m willing to spend more on those because I know they are foundational to my wardrobe.
For flair items, I often approach them with the mindset that they may not last in my closet beyond one or two seasons. And that’s usually an intentional choice, not because I made a poor purchasing decision or a shopping mistake. It’s because, while I wouldn’t say that I’m super trendy, I do like to keep my wardrobe at least a little fresh, you know? But, since trends are fleeting and they change constantly, I’d rather spend less on those flair pieces.
One note is that not all flair pieces are trendy. Sometimes they might still feel current for years. And often, I do keep flair pieces for years and years. Nonetheless, I usually start with the assumption that I won’t keep flair pieces that long and therefore aim to spend less on them. If I end up loving them longer than expected, then that is fantastic!
Aaaaand, like I said, spending more on foundational items and less on flair items is just my general starting place. I don’t hold it as a strict rule at all. Like, if I found a unique flair piece that made me feel amazing, I might splurge on it and spend a little more on it, simply because it’s unique and sometimes you have to pay more for more unique things. But, I will start shopping for flair pieces at lower price points, and it’ll take me a lot more thought and consideration before spending more on one compared to how readily I’ll pay more for foundational pieces. Hope that makes sense!
Alright, wrapping it up… remember, how many foundational pieces versus flair pieces you have will be dependent on your style. How you approach purchasing decisions will also depend on your style. No matter what though, I encourage you to have some sort of plan so that you are intentional about your wardrobe and your purchases.
And, I’d love to know:
- Does your style focus more on foundations or flair?
- Do you feel like your wardrobe currently has the right mix of foundations and flair for your style? i.e., Do you find your wardrobe boring, or is it hard to make outfits because nothing goes with each other? Or neither? (Neither means you’ve got the right mix!)
- Does your sandwich preference match your style preference? 😜
If you want more help crafting your best wardrobe, start by downloading my Starter Kit Wardrobe Checklist, which will help you create a small but versatile starting capsule with both foundational and flair items — that will easily mix and match into tons of outfits!
