The Five-Piece French Wardrobe

I’ve been thinking about taking on the five piece French wardrobe challenge.

The hardest part of starting this style challenge is my wardrobe purge.

Although it seems like I always “have nothing to wear,” when it’s time to throw things out, everything seems worthy…

“I can lose three pounds and fit into this again”

“I need to give this skirt a second try, that wasn’t the right blouse”

“I didn’t even know I had this!”

Excuses like these are what stops us from throwing old stuff away. But it is time!

I love the concept of the five piece french wardrobe. I mean, who does not agree French women are always ridiculously stylish but at the same time effortless?

This is how French women do it:

Overview of the 5-Piece French Wardrobe

To them, buying clothes is not really a free for all shopping spree. Instead, they actually put thought into their purchase.

Every season, they find five wardrobe essentials for both Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter. That comes out to a total of 10 pieces per year.

This strategy is focused on quality rather than quantity. Specifically, pieces that will give you the most wear and that you will be able to combine repeatedly.

The rules for the five piece French wardrobe are simple:

1. Quality over quantity
2. Basics and underwear don’t count and are always allowed
3. Accessories only count if they are pricier than usual
4. Shoes definitely do count.

You have to first make sure you have a well rounded set of French wardrobe basics to combine your staple pieces with. Some of the basics are:

• White, black, and grey t-shirts (Sleeved & sleeveless)
• Black or brown leather belt (Or both as long as they are reasonably priced)
• Jewelry & Accessories (These will make your outfit look completely different, dressy or casual, you set the tone)
• Black Leggings and/or Faux leather leggings
• Nude tights (I always like having a few pair of these to combine with, shorts, skirts, or dresses)

I’m going to share my five pieces for fall and winter in an upcoming post, so be sure to sign up for the mala email list so you don’t miss it!

5 Easy Ways to Prevent Smelly Feet

There are many things you can do to keep your feet from smelling bad. Advice on how to fix smelly shoes ranges from teabagging your shoes (really?) to the good ole baking soda solution.

Based on my personal experience and research, here are the five easiest ways to avoid smelly feet and make your shoes smell good:

1. Use a foot powder. I use Gold Bond Powder, but if you don’t like powder all over your shoes, you can use the Gold Bond Powder spray.

2. Another useful tip is to clean your shoes with Wet Ones wipes after every use.

3. No show socks are also a great way to keep your feet dry and avoid smelly feet!

4. Placing one or two dryer sheets in your shoes overnight can work wonders fixing smelly shoes.

5. Finally, one of my favorite products (for a lot of purposes) is Arm & Hammer baking soda. You can use this as a powder in your shoes and it will remove the bad odor.

If you have any other questions about how to make your shoes smell good or want to share your own tricks, be sure to leave a comment!

Where to Donate Clothes in NYC

As a newbie New Yorker, I came to the realization that I have way too many clothes for the space in my apartment that's available to store them. Since I ended up finding quite a few really great donation programs, I wanted to share six of the best places to donate clothing in NYC:

The Cure Thrift Store

 

At the top of my list is The Cure Thrift Store. They are a nonprofit thrift store that benefits juvenile diabetes research and advocacy. The founder Liz Wolff, was inspired to start Cure Thrift Store through her own personal struggle after being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 11. She runs the store along with help from Ali Gilbertson, who is the creative director. If you like vintage like I do, you’ll find that walking through this store is a dream!

PickUpPlease

Second on my list is PickUpPlease, which helps support Vietnam Veterans of America (a nonprofit organization). I really like the fact that they make your donation as easy as 1-2-3.

Salvation Army

Third on my list is the Salvation Army. Their main goal as an organization is to provide men and women in need with a healthy living environment to help them rebuild their lives and their relationship with God.

Bottomless Closet

Next we have the Bottomless Closet. This organization helps women transition from public welfare into the workforce. They help prepare women for their interviews and assist them with appropriate clothes. If you want to directly impact women's empowerment by donating your clothes, this is the way to do it.

Goodwill

Another option is Goodwill. You can find different locations all over the five boroughs (and nationwide). It's important to note that if you want to donate via their donation bins, you need to make sure they’re actually Goodwill bins. The reason is there are a lot of for-profit thrift store bins around the city that look similar.

H&M Conscious

Last but not least, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that H&M has an initiative to rewear, reuse, and recycle clothes. They make it fairly easy with deposit bins at all of their stores. They don’t have a limit for donations, and they give you a discount voucher for your next purchase!

If you have a favorite place to donate clothes in NYC, let me know by leaving a comment!