Empty wardrobe?

So I was sitting here staring at a blank page for a few more minutes than normal, when an idea finally rattled it's way out of my brain.  What would happen if you did have nothing in your wardrobe?  Many new clients express the 'fear' that I will tell them that nothing works and they will have empty wardrobes after I leave.  This has never been the case, everybody has clothes they love or staples they need, no matter how limited they are in their knowledge of how to wear them, my service is not about destroying what you have but adding to it and making it more useful.  More often it's also about changing peoples attitudes to clothes, and their preconceived notions of what will or won't suit them.

However hypothetically if you had to start again from scratch what are the key pieces needed to build a capsule wardrobe that can take you through your week?  What a totally impossible question to give a blanket answer to.  There are so many factors to consider, from who you are to what you do, and all sorts of tiny nuances that surround those.  I could spend the next year answering this question, using different clients as case studies but that still wouldn't answer the question for you.  The reality is that you can be inspired by the items and outfits that work for other people but your style has to reflect you, in order to become a comfortable and natural fit.

What I can do though is point you in the right direction of how to make selections, so that you get the most from shopping (even without me).

1.  Spend the most on tailoring
2.  Never buy the same piece in different colours
3.  Any new item should add at least 5 different real possibilities to your wardrobe in order to be of value to you.
4.  If you don't love it in the shop, forget it.
5.  Don't forget to add a few accessories to your wardrobe arsenal.
6.  Be prepared to stop and think.

No. 6 seems a bit odd, I know and you may never have experienced this but it is so easy to get carried away.  To move into the I want mind set and forget about your real needs and occasionally your budget.  The ideal situation is to achieve a capsule wardrobe that has no guilt attached to it.  People have enough sticks to beat themselves with, their wardrobe should not be one of them.

I possibly should have let this rattle a little longer....