A five-piece week
One dress, one knit, one jacket, one skirt, one set — and how they cover Monday to Sunday.
Most wardrobes don't need more clothes, they need pieces that work with each other. Five well-chosen ones will carry a full week without anyone noticing a repeat.
The anchors
Start with a dress you can wear alone and a knit that layers over it. A midi length in a solid colour is the most flexible: it takes trainers on a weekday and a heel at night.
If every top works with every bottom, five pieces become a dozen outfits.
— the studio, Kelowna, British Columbia
The layer
A jacket changes the read of everything under it. A cotton utility jacket dresses an outfit down; something tailored dresses it up. Pick the one that matches how most of your week actually looks.
The swap
Add a skirt that works with the knit, and a matching set you can split. Worn together the set is a complete outfit; worn apart it is two more separates.
The rule
Keep the five within two or three colours. If every top works with every bottom, five pieces become a dozen outfits.
More from the journal.
- What we're wearing this OctoberCold mornings, warm afternoons — the season is one long layering problem and a handful of pieces solve it.
- How to measure yourself in four minutesThree numbers, two units, and the four minutes that make every chart in this shop work for you.
- Packing a carry-on in knitsKnit fabric rolls flat, springs back, and never reads as slept-in — a good carry-on is a knit problem.
- How to layer a knit over a dressThe fastest way to take a summer dress into autumn, and the three proportions that always work.
- Matching sets, three waysA set is one outfit you don't have to think about — and two separates when you do.