When I was in college, I came home my freshman year to my mom with a tattered pair of skinny jeans, and she gave me some fantastic, lifelong advice: if I like something, I should get multiple copies of it. To this day that’s what I do. I hate shopping, and for day-to-day it’s difficult to find something that I like exactly. Now, in my day-to-day, where I do exactly that, I have multiple copies of the same Amazon Basics button-up, the same Amazon Basics linen pants, and the same bras, underwear, and socks. I have two copies of the same Rothy’s shoes and two copies of the same waterproof Birkenstocks. I have two pairs of Hokas, admittedly slightly different models, one for walking and one for hiking. We all go a little wild now and then.
I wear these things until they fall apart. As a mom of four, they often have stains and dirt and other household detritus. Since I work from home, as long as the button up on camera is clean, I’m good to go. A big advantage of this strategy is minimalism. I have a simple dresser with three drawers: pants, socks and underwear, t-shirts and button-ups.
But under my bed there is a fourth drawer for six extra pieces of clothing. These are the secret sauce to my wardrobe and make it appear as if I don’t just own approximately 20 pieces of clothing.
You see, when I go out for work trips or socially with my friends, I like to wear something special. How does someone who hates shopping and wears the same thing every day mesh with an interest in fashion and at times even designer clothing? Well, for the past five years, I’ve paid a subscription fee to rent a box of clothing every month from the company Nuuly. I pay about $80 (edit: now $100 – prices have gone up!) a month and pick out six pieces. I swear this isn’t sponsored by them, but I wanted to share my clothing strategy because I feel like it works really well: overall, I spend less on clothing than the average American and have a lot less clutter and decision fatigue. Occasionally if I have a long work trip, I’ll supplement with a second box, typically from Rent the Runway. Although I’m not sponsored, if you want to follow suit in how you suit up, here’s my referral code: https://share.nuuly.com/christine2489
What’s also great about this is that, as my body shape changes through maternity, postpartum, and beyond, and my needs change through staying at home with a newborn to high-powered work trips, I can customize my clothing to the season of life and the environment and my needs.Moreover, as someone who dislikes shopping, if I get the wrong size, I just send it back the next month. The algorithms, as well as the reviews, are fairly accurate in helping me predict what might fit.
My general strategy is to pick a jumpsuit, a jacket, a dress, a pair of pants and a shirt, as well as a wild card item. All in a coherent aesthetic, generally with a color theme of one to two colors. I do this from the app, generally while multitasking, and it typically takes me 5 to 15 minutes per month.It’s something I enjoy, especially after I lock on to the month theme. It’s a creative pursuit.
I asked Claude Co-Work to compile my historical capsule wardrobes from my email, which was very helpful and also gave me a lot nostalgia, remembering back to the various circumstances in which I wore these. My lookbooks of fashion picks make me happy, so I thought I’d share them with you. Which one is your favorite?
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