How to Build Your Perfect Wardrobe

The key to chic is a well-edited closet. Here are seven simple steps to creating your own wardrobe oasis.

1. Know thyself. That includes clothing personality, body architecture and lifestyle. Defining your essential style enables you to maintain a cohesive image irrespective of seasonal trends.

2. Edit your closet; it’s a toolbox not a junk drawer. Remove anything that doesn’t either light you up or is a useful tool even if only used occasionally. Studies show that most individuals wear 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time.

3. Look at your lifestyle and put your money where you’ll use it. For the most part everyone has a chameleon like life where in one day you may need to be appropriate in a multitude of venues. To that end, create a silhouette that works for your body shape and personality. This is where you’ll find the most value for your dollar and usability in your wardrobe.

4. Your basic apparel pieces are the foundation of your style and the substructure of your wardrobe. There’s nothing better than being able to grab and go on necessary mornings.

5. Color used well infuses us with vitality and confidence as well as making us appear more attractive, slimmer and more interesting. The universal quality of black can be achieved with anthracite, espresso brown or charcoal, injecting needed coordination into your wardrobe.

6. The power finish. A great coat makes whatever else you’re wearing look better.

7. Learn to recognize those items that make your impeccable basics come alive. The collectables that give you rock star confidence; those are your Style Signature pieces. You are shaped by them and they are your memories. An ideal wardrobe is what’s ideal for you.