Point #8: In your wardrobe consider color carefully. If you use restraint you will find it makes both for elegance and economy. This does not mean you have to be drab and monotonous; if your clothes are interchangeable, shoes and accessories doing duty with several dresses and suits instead of only one, you will achieve greater variety at less cost. Don’t get a blue hat and a red bag and a brown coat and black shoes, each good in itself but as incompatible as whisky and wine. Plan your wardrobe as a whole. Don’t just buy it, compose it.
Definitely something I wish I was better at- I have a habit of buying vintage pieces that I like, with little regard to whether I have anything to wear with it or if the colors match anything. I look enviously at my friends who have all black wardrobes so are able to throw on just anything and look perfect. Since I’m not one to sit around trying on outfits, I just throw on things that I know work and other pieces languish in the back, forgotten.
Excerpt from: Chase, Edna Woolman and Ilka. Always in Vogue. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company Inc,1954. Photo of Givenchy's Paris store.
