I rather like this enforced limitation. It's like bonsai in a way. I'm regularly pruning away the clothes that don't fit, haven't washed well, don't look the way I hoped, or that I've simply become bored with. (Did you know that most women wear only 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time?) So what's left is really the stuff that I consider to be the best of the best.Granted, it's a little frustrating when I'm hunting for something that I "retired" six months previously, and I'm often replacing identical items, so it's probably not the most cost-effective way to manage a wardrobe.
Now we come to the guilty part. Post-cull, as I was re-hanging all my clothes on matching non-slip hangers (because that's the kind of anal-retentive I am), I discovered that I own twenty-three dresses.
That is twenty-three dresses post-cull.
Surely twenty-three dresses is an excessive number of frocks, even for me. Especially twenty-three dresses that I simply couldn't bear to part with, regardless of whether I ever actually wear them or not.
Mindful of the 20:80 percent rule, I've decided to make a concerted effort to ensure that every dress in my wardrobe earns its keep in the coming months.
So, in the interest of that, today's wardrobe was this safari-esque dress from Barkins (www.barkins.com.au).
Dress: Barkins www.barkins.com.au
Shoes: Zu www.zushoes.com.au
I feel very Katherine-Hepburn-In-African-Queen, though I'm sure the inestimable Kate would never have voluntarily donned a skirt this full.
It's a two-season-old dress, so it's unlikely to be still in-store, but if you like the look, check out the two Igigi (www.igigi.com) dresses below - they're both radically on-sale (find them under the "final clearance" section of the website) and they're very limited sizes, but you might be the lucky one.
Trench Dress in Stone - RRP $145, sale price $41.70
Tailored Portrait Dress in Grey - RRP $145, sale price $58