(Photo: Once upon a time, the clothes in my closet ran the gamut of colors—I had warm hues, cool hues, neutrals, pastels, jewel tones, etc. What’s more, I had a variety of accessories to “match” this rainbow of apparel.
No more. In my quest for a minimalist closet, I found the secret to a well-edited wardrobe: choosing a base color.
Ideally, your base color should be a neutral like black, brown, navy, or khaki. I chose black—mainly because it’s flattering on me, travels well, and hides stains (if I splash something on myself at lunch, I can still make it through the day without looking a mess!).
This strategy has transformed my look, my closet, and my shopping habits. For the most part, I stick to black for bottoms (like pants and skirts) and add color with tops. Almost anything goes with black, but my wardrobe consists mainly of grays, burgundies, purples, and blues. I also have gray pants, and a gray skirt, that I can wear with either black or colored tops.
Furthermore, I’ve been able to significantly pare down my accessories. I no longer have the need for footwear or handbags in varying shades of brown or navy. A black purse, or pair of shoes, goes with everything in my closet—which means I can get by (and still look put-together) with far fewer purses and pairs of shoes.
The surprising part: although my wardrobe is a fraction of the size it used to be, I never feel I have “nothing to wear.” In fact, I find that I look (and feel) more well-dressed than when I had two closets full of clothes. Building a wardrobe around a base color ensures that everything goes with everything else—even if I dressed in pitch darkness (or by pulling out pieces at random), I’d end up with a matching ensemble. It doesn’t get any better than that!
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I second your method. I did this a number of years ago with black, red, camel and creme. The getting dressed part was a breeze. And even when shopping, if you keep your colors in mind you can pass up whole racks of clothes. Or if looking at mixed items (such as clearance racks) you can easily spy your colors. Saves time shopping.
Brenz, that’s a great point about how this method simplifies shopping–I too tend to “scan” the racks for my colors. Now if only there was a search engine that showed retailers’ offerings by color…
Love your blog! Keep up the great work!
Thanks, Mia!
I wear white, black, red and camel/khacki..classic yet it gives me a lot of flexibility. I do have to maintain a business professional wardrobe but I can mix and match to my hearts content and still have half a side of the closet empty. Love your blog and inspiration!!! : )
Thanks, Heather–oh, the joys of a half-empty closet!
I have another approach: bright primary colours. I’m a guy so I think I can more easily get away with (guys are allowed to have no sense of what colours “go” together) wearing a yellow t-shirt under a green snap button shirt, blue jeans and red sneakers with an orange jacket over top. Basically, everything goes with everything else because nothing matches anyways.
Ha, C-Note, I like that! You’re right, though–only a guy can get away with it.
I’m currently trying to edit down my wardrobe, and I like your concept very much. For example, I have five different white linen shirts, which is absurd. I’m a complete packrat so getting rid of things is very difficult for me, but I am trying. If I could get my wardrobe down to one closet and two tubs of seasonal stuff, that would be an improvement. I’ll never be a minimalist, but it’s good to strive for the goal, even if you don’t quite get there.
Hi Amanda! Recognizing that you have “enough” is a HUGE step in the right direction. Limiting your wardrobe to one closet is a great idea; just think, you’ll end up with only your *best* pieces, and always look (and feel) like a million bucks.
I do black bottoms and then tops in shades of pink, purple, blue. All shoes are black (and I don’t have many), aside from my sneakers. I own a small black purse and then a larger one. My tops style is also similar. I much prefer twin sets (since I can take the cardigan off if I get hot, which is often the case). I have nice cotton sweater ones from Land’s End and “t-shirt twin sets” from LL Bean, the latter are great for the summer. Basically I wear the same thing – I have a uniform of my own – but I look neat and no-fuss.
Tradd, it sounds like we have very similar systems! Thanks for sharing!
“Now if only there was a search engine that showed retailers’ offerings by color…”
shopstyle allows you to search by color and size, as does Amazon, Zappos, Landsend, yoox and my personal favorite, eBay! Shopstyle covers the major department stores and several specialty stores.
Also, never underestimate Google–just search for whatever the item is (black womens pants, blue womens sweater) and you’ll pull up a lot of options including other search aggregators–which vary in quality, but…
Ooh, that’s great to know, Kathryn! Sounds like a great alternative to wading through pages and pages of stuff…
oh, and never underestimate the value of a skin-toned pair of dress pumps–they elongate your leg and go with everything your skin goes with!
Kathryn, that’s really interesting; I would have never thought of that!
Very inspiring! When I pared down my wardrobe drastically over the last year, I got rid of most of my patterned outfits. Now I buy only solid colored tops. I did buy a couple patterned skirts last week, but I find that I get tired of patterns very quickly. Solid colored shirts never get old!
I’m with you on the solids, Red! They have much more longevity than prints in my wardrobe, too.
Francine,
Have you read Pattern Recognition by William Gibson?
As a minimalist I found it very enjoyable!
I think you may also relate to the main character “Cayce Pollard”.
BTW, I have never written a comment on a blog before today. I rarely even look at blogs.
I discovered your blog via a Google link for “Minimalist Travel” Being a minimalist I am always looking for new ways to travel light.
Thank you for taking the time to do this blog.
It is now bookmarked and I will be stopping by often!
Your minimalist friend, touroxin
Hi touroxin! No, I’ve never read Pattern Recognition — but I just checked out the Amazon reviews and it sounds great. Thanks so much for the recommendation; I’ve been looking for some reading for an upcoming (long) train ride.
I’m glad you found my blog, and am happy to have you here!
I’m a new reader, and this wardrobe advice – actually the whole blog – was so helpful. I took about a week in which I came home and minimalized a room (or a part of a room) at a time. The wardrobe streamlining has been great – I only have 3 colors of pants/skirts (black, grey, white – all black/grey is depressing in spring and summer)), and 4 colors of tops (blue, green, yellow, and red). That makes picking shoes sooo super easy! (I still need variety though because different pumps hit your feet differently) Same with jewelry (I make jewelry, so I have TONS in my personal collection) – I ended up giving away all the extra colors, and my friends and neighbors were very happy
Thanks so much for the great advice, I appreciate it!
hi Leah hows that going for you? your system is pretty much exactly what im hoping to do, exact same colours and everything. i wear hijab so that allows me to add an extra pop of colour along with jewellery, too
hi – i really like your website and am excited to get your book. here are my two big non-minimalist areas: books and clothes. for now, my question is about clothes – can you offer me (a man) suggestions about clothes? left to my own devices, i’d wear a t-shirt with holes, a pair of cargo shorts and crocs every day. unfortunately, i work as a college professor and psychotherapist so i need more professional-ish stuff in my closet. i’d really appreciate any input you could give me. thanks in advance and i’m looking forward to reading more.
I did this idea recently and, man, do I wish I had done it when I first discovered your blog! I removed an entire tote full from my closet, yet I do not feel as if I have any fewer clothes. Its wonderful. I am not very style savvy, and, honestly, am not that interested in spending a lot of time on clothes. I’m also pretty lazy, and this is a wonderful way to make getting dressed easier! I love that my shoes, purse, coat etc. automatically match my clothes. Thank you so much for your blog and your ideas!
I want you to come to my apt and work your magic! Sometimes I try to think of myself as the Count of Monte Cristo, with his understated yet simple, rich look (the female version, anyway)…I need to get this wardrobe overall going.
Overhaul..not overall
I have the same color palette: black bottoms daily, tops in black, white, shades of red, blue, purple or gray. In winter I wear a button up henley shirt and a wool sweater (accommodates cold winters and hot flashes. In summer I wear black linen pants or shorts with a linen shirt that needn’t be tucked in.
[...] Black, brown, gray and khaki are common choices. You can read more about the base color on the Miss Minimalist website here. The reason to choose a base color is that it makes it much easier to choose a wardrobe where [...]
What a great idea! I just took your suggestion (using brown) and pared my wardrobe down to 22 items and 6 pairs of shoes.i know there’s more I can get rid of but baby steps right? I already feel freer!
I am so inspired to declutter my closet. Thanks to all!