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Welcome to From My Closet, a new series I am kicking off in this newsletter about what people actually wear based on what’s hanging in their closet, not what’s on the wishlist.

This started from wanting to see the outfits people actually reach for again and again, the pieces that just work. We all have a formula of some sort in our head for the various occasions in our life. The idea behind this series is to understand those potential outfit formulas, the fail-safe pieces and the trusted items that save us from having many a melt downs. Oh, and the goal is to of course feature one of my favorite writers every month and the go-to outfits they turn to for each of the scenarios below

So for all the questions you will read below, I actually wrote my answers first, then went scrolling through my phone to find an image that was worn for a similar occasion. If you want to be a part of it, please reach out!

Now let’s get into it!

Travel and errands

What do you wear for a long haul flight (5+ hours)? Usually, and weirdly, a onesie. I have two from Left on Friday that I love to wear for long flights with a tshirt and a sweatshirt on top. I like layers since you never know what the temperature is going to be like, and also if I’m flying long haul and I will start with the sweatshirt and change at the midway point to an oversized tshirt. While I have worn loose flowy pants to airports, I find them stressful when you are going up and down elevators and escalators and sprinting to your gate (looking at you, Heathrow). Onesie is a bit of playing Twister when you go to the bathroom, but I have perfected my move.

What do you wear for a road trip? I don’t do car rides for longer than 3 hours if I can help it. I hate them. I usually get motion sickness and will eat bags of citrus (went through a whole bag of cutie clementines on our way to Tahoe). The top is usually an oversized t-shirt or sweater and the bottom is shorts or loose elastic waisted pants. It’s also not something I am super precious about since there are likely to be spills.

What do you wear for errands (grocery run, pharmacy, that kind of thing)? Very simple - oversized sweater (again we live in Bay Area so it’s almost always coldish) and jeans are my go to if I don’t have anything else planned for the day. Shoes are usually flats or sandals.

Everyday life

What do you wear to take your kid to the park (if applicable)? Here is the thing - I am not a park mom. The only time I go to a park is if my kid has been invited to another kid’s birthday party, and it happens to be at a park. Usually, I'm in jeans and a nice sweater, but I'm also prepared to run after my kid if she's stuck on the monkey bars (true story), so sneakers are key.

What do you wear for a long lunch or a coffee? Oh man, if it is a girls long lunch, I am pulling out some NICE clothes. There is almost always some fun new pieces I am pining to wear so I will wait to pull it out for these occasions. My friends also make an effort to dress up for these lunches, so we're all doing our best to pull off an 'outfit.' Again for coffee, if it’s one of my fashionable girlfriends, I am putting effort. Usually it’s centered around a nice pair of shoes - heels that I can’t walk in, and because I know I won’t need to. Once I know the heels I want to wear, I will build the rest of the outfit around it. If it’s just coffee, I try to not go too overboard and have some elements to keep it the outfit grounded.

What do you wear on a day off with absolutely nothing planned? For my home lounge days (usually Sundays are veg out and clean days), I love being in shorts and t-shirts. I don’t know why, but wearing shorts makes me feel cool and young? It’s a weird correlation.

Work

What do you wear for a day at the office that ends with happy hour? For these rare occasions, I will go with something that’s tried and true - a nice top and pants or jeans. It can’t be over the top, since you know it has to be work appropriate. But I also don’t want to be in a t-shirt. A nice top that leans more blouse-ish or a button down that has elements of interest (like blue ribbons I added to the cuffs of my white tuxedo shirt) all work for work and for some HH after.

What do you wear for a day working from home? I actually pretty much dress for my work from home days like I would for my office days. I still want to feel productive and that comes with looking the part. And I am on enough video calls through out the day that I will do my hair and face, so might as well put on real clothes as well.

Social and celebrations

What do you wear for date night? I love a dress, to be honest. The back one fourth of my closet is a lot of dresses, and many of them don’t see the light of day given the dearth of occasions, but I love them for a date night (if we ever have one of those). Most people in the Bay Area don’t dress up much so it’s a bit hard to pull out all the stops. When we travel and I know there’s a nice dinner (like the image on the left), or I go to the ballet (middle image) or a fun concert (like the image on the right), these are really the only times I get to wear some of my nicest clothes.

What do you wear to a friend’s party where the dress code is fancy? OMG, I am waiting for more of these invites. I would absolutely wear a look that lets me pull out my heels (in the hopes that I am doing a lot of sitting at this party). I’ve realized that I am leaning into more edge with my clothes and away from my usual floral printed dresses of the past. An off-the-shoulder top or a really unique textured skirt feels interesting, and not too cutesy.

What do you wear to a day-time event? Depending on the occasion, probably something like a cashmere sweater on top (there is a clear theme here) and something nice on the bottom. Even if I went with jeans, I would probably do jeans with a twist like the one below - not my usual Citizens or Vintage 501s. I always want to have an element of interest in my outfits and that could be a twisted seam on a denim, printed pants or a tonal outfit that plays on texture.

The trust fall

When you don’t know what to wear, what’s the one outfit you know you can always trust to make you feel great? I have a crepe black jumpsuit I got in 2018. I remember the year, I remember going to the store in SF with my husband to get it, and I remember it was just under $200, but I don’t remember the name of the brand and the store doesn’t exist on that street anymore. I took out the tag because it was so itchy and would keep flipping over often, so I can’t even look there for it. Anytime I don’t know what to wear, I wear this and it just works. It is truly one of those dress up or dress down items. And because it’s plan black, I usually change the accessories when I wear it and no one has ever said to me, “Oh you’ve worn that before”. Not that it would matter.

What’s a piece in your closet you reach for way more than people would expect? My black crepe wide leg pants are probably my second most worn item after my Citizens jeans at this point. They look so simple, yet nice and work with pretty much any top - from casual to the most fancy. I pretty much always travel with them as well - they work for all weather and occasions. As seen below in Stockholm (denim shirt look) and Sydney (black sweater look).

Are you a clothing person or an accessories person? Can I be both? I love bags - there is always a bag I am lusting after. And of course I love clothes. I think of buying clothing like buying art. I think very little about trends and a lot about longevity for my lifestyle. I abhor the feeling of a wasted clothing item, both from a cost perspective and also from a waste of product, so I, more often than not, overthink every purchase. I need more shoes in closet (I think) but having practiced dance for decades, I find a lot of shoes are pretty hard for me to wear so that is still a slow process of finding styles I like and that works for me. I also love the occasional whimsy so a simple outfit with some kitschy cute bag/shoes is another way to bring our some fun with accessories.

How do you think about color, print, fit and texture? I love color - muted, earthy tones especially. Primary colors scare me for the most part. I hate traffic cone orange, but love terracotta. I hate primary yellow, but love an ochre. I hate Kermit green, but love olive and bottle green. You get the point. I also struggle with print these days, but love texture. I do have some dresses that are print, but find myself gravitating towards them less frequently and sending them to TRR more often than not.

As for fit, I think more interns of edge and interest rather than the fit. Thankfully, I have finally outgrown the obsession over the size tag and buy based on what I feel gives the look a POV. And somethings that could be cropped, or oversized or fitted. It’s more about how the pieces come together and less about a singular rule for fit that I follow. (Thought I should say, I don’t think skinny jeans are a fit I will ever be reaching for again.)

I really hope you enjoyed this new series! I am excited to feature more cool people every month. Please let me know what you think or if there are questions I should ask! Just doing this has made me realize there are plenty of items in my own closet to wear for a plethora of occasions and served as a good reminder to not constantly window shop online.

I can’t wait for the second installment next month! It’s going to be such a fun one!

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