My October Wednesday Wardrobing series is all about maximizing your closet. Last week, I covered Wardrobing 101 and how to buy smartly and provide yourself with multiple looks with wardrobe capsules. This week, I wanted to talk about maximizing your wardrobe through closet staples.

So what is a closet staple? These are the building blocks of your wardrobe. They are your Go To pieces, so to speak. Here is my definition of a closet staple:

1. Closet staples are always neutrals in the color palate. If your skin tone is a cool, these basics are probably going to be white, black, grey and navy. If your skin tone is warm, they will likely be brown, tan and cream. They are considered “neutral” because they mix and match with many other colors.
2. Closet staples are basics like leggings, tunics slacks, skirts, tanks, blouses and cardigans.
3. Closet staples are solid in color and not printed.
4. Closet staples can be mixed and matched together to create multiple outfits and are easily paired with accessories

So let’s consider the basics at the top of this blog post. I have chosen a black legging with a faux suede front, a black faux suede cardigan, and a black skirt. I have also chosen a grey pant, tunic , short sleeve top and cardigan.

With these seven pieces, you could create multiple looks, getting you through and entire week of outfits

1. Grey tunic with grey pants
2. Grey tunic with black leggings and vegan suede jacket
3. Grey top with black skirt
4. Grey top, grey cardigan and grey pants
5. Grey top, vegan suede jacket and black skirt
6. Grey tunic, black vegan suede jacket, grey pants
7. Grey top, grey cardigan and black skirt

You might also add into the mix a basic black and white tank and a basic white blouse. If you then amp up your wardrobe with multiple scarves in the key colors represented by this basics capsule, you could add another entire week of looks. This is the basic principle behind maximizing your closet with staples

If you are just starting out in your professional career, this is how I recommend that you begin to build your wardrobe because it is, by far, the easiest and most economical way to outfit yourself for work. Once you have a great base of closet staples built, then you can start branching out to adding more colors and prints.

If you would like to see this concept demonstrated, I will be showing you how to mix and match these pieces in my live video tonight at 6 p.m. MST on our Facebook Business Page. If you missed my video last week, you can find it on my YouTube Channel.