A Creative and Pragmatic closet in 3 simple steps.

Sounds so simple, I assure you it is not. It involves heavy thinking. But get it right — you’ll find your style - and then there’s no looking back.

Three steps are all you need to build out the perfect closet. One of my favorite quotes - and I’ve googled for it like crazy and can not find it so sometimes I wonder if I made it up - was from Abraham Lincoln “my apologies for the long letter, I didn’t have time for a short one.” I’ve done a lot of work here to make this simple. But like the best meal, the simple are often the most deeply complex - like what went in to making that slice of tomato just so perfect.

Think of it as cognitive comprehension in the closet. In other words, teach a man to fish…..But stay with with me here, because once you fundamentally understand the principles, all your future actions start to have intent. Intention is good, it makes me feel stable and in control. That’s different than controlling - in fact, when it’s based on a foundation of knowledge it’s the actual opposite.

So stay with me here before we get to the 2 that I’ll cover here (#3 will be in a later Substack - let digest these 2 first).

My memory is for shit. Sometimes it makes me really anxious, I think about my grandmother, my great aunt, my great grandmother - they all succumbed to Alzheimer’s. It weighs heavy on me. But just when the anxiety creeps in, I think back to all the times in my younger years when memory failed me, or when I just spaced out. Was it the time right after I’d started Tibi and flew to NYC from Hong Kong- then jumped on the train to visit a new store in Boston, only to hear the conductor announce we were pulling in to Washington DC in 3 minutes. 3 hours in and it didn’t hit I was going in the wrong direction? I was 29. Was it when I diligently text reported to my husband re: our son’s hockey game - got all the way to the end of the 2nd period - when he texted me that he got a call from another parent that I was in the wrong rink? I could have sworn that 4ft kid in the #18 jersey was mine. I was 40. I’d tell you stories from when I was much younger, but I’ve forgotten them.

I’ve said all this to establish that I’ve never done well with operating from memory. It’s why rules with no context have never stuck. I didn’t mean to be a difficult kid growing up, but if the rules made no sense, I had a hard time remembering them let alone following them. Many of you are like me. BUT ALSO many of you with great memories still appreciate knowing there is logic behind the rules. And then for the rest of you with great memories and a passion for senseless rules, now’s about the time you may want to move on to something else. Really, I mean this - because you’ll write asking me to clarify how many long pants are allowed and I’m not going to be able to help, and I feel we may both end up frustrated. No hard feelings.

Just prior to our recent style class on building a CP closet, I listened to outtakes from a senate hearing with neuroscientist Dr. Jared Horvath - his discussion around the pivot from reading comprehension to skimming/memorization in the U.S. educational system was alarming but not surprising. And it got me thinking how important it is to be able to understand and make sense of information. How critical it is that as humans you can connect new experiences with the past, learned or lived, to help you make decisions, complete your thoughts, open your mind.

Stay in my rabbit hole here….

It also got me thinking about the ease you feel when you’re able to operate from “the gut.” I firmly believe that a gut is NOT something we’re born with - it gets strengthened by actively questioning what is around you and thirstily seeking to know more. Sharpening your comprehension skills sharpens your gut. It keeps you sharp, in the flow. Work on it hard enough and you get to the point where your gut seems like nothing more than just common sense. Don’t ever take that for granted if you’re in this stage - it’s precious and has to be continually attended to.

And while this may have seemed like a long winded way to get to the closet, I hope you can appreciate that I needed to establish that the goal is to make the closet a place where the components have come together on a foundation of common sense, pragmatism, and creative individuality. When you connect why you’ve made your choices, why some outfits inspire you on Tuesday but the following week leave you dulled, why somethings are too precious to be tossed just because you’ve passed a rule makers premise that if it hasn’t been worn in 9 months it’s tossed, then you’ll feel in control. Stable and able to think clearly in a closet that for many can feel chaotic - a total mindfuck or a wallet drain - or often both.

If you have The Creative Pragmatist you know I’ve laid out meaty context around how to not just find your personal style but how to execute on it visually. To be able to communicate oneself visually is the holy grail. I don’t mean this superficially, because it hits deep when you get there. This isn’t about killing it in a red dress at a party. Please.

STEP 1. Understand the pyramid.

Each category makes sense, right? If I were a performer in Vegas, sure the top two buckets would comprise a greater share. But as someone who knows my style, loves fashion, and gets energy from knowing how to manipulate my clothing to match my mood, or the mood I want, this is the right distribution. The items that are the core of my persona represent the biggest chunks, the ones that may be more experimental or of the moment the second largest, and the true outrageous whims are there but do not overtake.

Now this begs the question: how do we get those WithOut fails nailed in the closet? Because without them recipes (outfits) don’t work - there’s no glue. It’s like mixing beets, sardines, and pop tarts. Nothing is really melding together.

STEP 2. Know what you have and what it’s doing for you.

Before you can dive in to understanding what you need, it’s best to get a snapshot of what you have. Plot out the categories that dominate your closet. For someone like me, that would be a black pant. I’ll use this as an example, even if you hate black pants, you won’t miss the point.

Here’s my assortment of black pants - I am the happy face. The person with the sad face’s closet has the same number of pants, but far fewer options than smiley closet. It’s because the pant fabrics are predominately in one row (flat), pieces are mostly tailored, and slim. The variations to the pants are more in the trimmings, a slit or flare. Even with high marks in versatility - play, dinner or work, you are still feeling exactly the same at all three moments. Even with a full closet of black pants, the options are limited. When we feel we’ve nothing to wear, it’s the dearth of vibe range that leaves us feeling empty in a sometimes overflowing closet.

I would tackle white shirts and denim next. I’m not suggesting you do this for your whole closet, but if you do it for a few key groups, think about where those green checks go, it will start to build your style muscle. Each check mark is making you connect a memory of how you felt in something, peel back more about what the item was supposed to do for you, when it failed and when it excelled. Fill out the grid a few times and your gut strengthens.

Here’s an example of a range of black pants - sure they’re all black but they serve different MOODS. When I want to feel more put together, more relaxed, more refined, less serious, casually chic, formal but not so much, and on and on. From left to right it’s lightweight sweatsuiting, crispy nylon, tropical wool, structured sweatshirting, silk nylon, plisse, tropical wool, twill, nylon with zipper, black lightweight denim, wool blend suiting. Many are intended for when I don’t want to have to think. Many are pants that inspire me to think. On two of the styles below I’ve just played it further so you can see this visually how it’s not just each pant that changes a vibe but within one pant it’s critical that it can create many vibes.

I promise, this is to rid you of a life of over analysis each time you consider a new purchase. You’ll get to the point where when you see something you don’t like or need, you’ll have a visceral negative reaction. BUT EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY, you’ll get to the point that when you see something you LOVE you’ll quickly be able to ascertain if you can just leave it and admire it from afar because you truly don’t need it. And that’s the test of a true gut, knowing when it’s giving you a good indicator or when it’s just gas.

Check out this week’s style class, it will help aid comprehension.