Introducing: Wardrobe Workhorse Week!

Recently, reader Jill posed the question, "What are some essential wardrobe 'must haves' that won't make me look like a Plain-Jane?"  Meanwhile, Katie has purged her closet of the clothes she doesn't wear and is looking to rebuild her wardrobe in preparation for her teaching assignment.  We've all read published lists of "wardrobe basics," which proclaim the classic white button-down, the essential trouser, the quality cardigan, and more as "essential" to an adult wardrobe.  But we got to thinking about what is, for us, a more interesting question:

What items of apparel and accessories do people who are concerned with style most frequently wear?  

What do we keep reaching for when we want to feel great?  What are the items without which we'd consider our wardrobes incomplete?  In the past, you've noticed that we (and plenty of other style bloggers) call these types of items "wardrobe workhorses."  A wardrobe workhorse might be a shoe that goes with everything, a dress that can be worn a hundred ways, or a jacket that makes a great sartorial opening statement.

So we're deeming September 6-10 "Wardrobe Workhorse Week."  Between now and then, we'll think critically about our dressing habits and decide which 4-6 items we consider to be our most important wardrobe workhorses.  During that week, we'll publish posts in which we identify those items, talk about why we find ourselves reaching for them most frequently, and include photos that show you how we wear them.

We also want to enlist a little help from our friends!  If you're willing to participate in WWW, please leave a comment here with a link to your blog by 9/5, and feel free to spread the word on your blog ahead of time by linking back to this post.  We'll post a list of all participants with links on 9/6.  During that week, we'll look to your blogs to read your posts that identify and celebrate your wardrobe workhorses.  If you'd like to copy the banner above and include it in your post, please feel free!  And if you don't keep a blog but would still like to participate, please email us your wardrobe workhorse list with any accompanying descriptions and photos to submissions{at}scholarstyleguide{dot}com by 9/4.  We'd be happy to feature them in a series of reader submission posts during the week.

When all is said and done, we'll compile a wrap-up post that we hope will bring everyone's ideas about wardrobe workhorses together.  We're optimistic that this experiment will help give us all a better idea of which clothes and accessories are truly staples of our stylish wardrobes.  We also hope it will provide us with a great resource to consider whenever we're ready to add items to our closets.