A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 12 – A Little Glamour for the Closet
Day 12 is “Curate Your Wardrobe Like It Is Your Own Bijou Boutique,” in 30 Chic Days by Fiona Ferris. In this chapter, Fiona returns to the idea that beauty and ease in our everyday life is both good for our schedule and nurtures a positive sense of self. She describes a lovely Parisien clothing boutique and asks “Why not have this “look and feel” in our own closet?”
I skimmed this chapter last night and thought, “I already have a carefully edited capsule wardrobe (to go along with my (extremely) capsule closet) – AND I just moved into this closet only two months ago. How can I apply Fiona’s advice?” But, I have committed to trying each day’s idea while in Paris lockdown. So, this morning after walk and before breakfast, I stood in front of the closet and thought, “What’s not pretty here?” It turns out that several unnecessary items had made their way mysteriously into my closet and there were some poorly organized areas. Working quickly, I took 2 winter jackets that I’m not using right now and moved them to a small closet set aside for out-of-season hanging stuff. Then I noticed that I had three pair of winter trousers (that desparately need drycleaning whenever lockdown is over) still hanging in prime clothing real estate. Those trousers were folded, put in zippered protective bags and moved to a high self that holds 2 heavy cardigans. I put a reminder in my phone for June 1 to remind me to take them to the drycleaners (cross fingers that we are out of lockdown by then!) I hung my warm weather silk scarves on velvet hangers so I could see them & remember to use them. (I have 2 more scarves than I have velvet hangers so those two remain folded on the shelf beneath the hanging scarves.) Then I neatly refolded my three wool sweaters (I’m currently wearing the fourth), three cardigans and my three cotton sweaters. My cotton turtlenecks were tidy. Then I got really into the visual and made sure that all the hangers on my side of the closet all looked the same by switching out a few non-matching hangers with matching hangers from my husbands side. After that, I wiped down two pairs of boots and put them away above the stored jackets. So it turned out that I really could spruce things up in that closet! Here is a “after” photo.
What was especially nice about this exercise was that I had been feeling a bit peevish and pitiful before this tidy-up exercise (even though I wrote yesterday about how to protect one’s equanimity, my tricks to preserve my positive outlook were only working about halfway for me this morning.) After my “redesign,” I felt 100% better! So, a new trick to add to our “self-preservation” tool chest – when feeling less than the upbeat, glamour-gal that we know we are – let’s go put a little “boutique” into the clothing space!
Just to show that Fiona is completely on target when she writes about the beautiful Parisian boutique, here are some photos that I took this morning. Parisian shopkeepers care passionately about how their shops looks. During lockdown, only food stores and pharmacies are open. But take a look at the display case at the boulangerie/patisserie where I bought a croissant this morning:
Then, this is the cheese shop just a few doors up the street:
Who wouldn’t be inspired to taste-test a new cheese at this lovely shop?
Thinking about how one can easily make one’s surroundings both pleasing to the eye and easier to live with led me to look at my medicine area. I consolidated the OTC cold&flu medicines (both French and American) that I have into a basket. And I put some emergency self-care treats into another basket for easy access (note: right before lockdown took effect, I ran by a nearby Sephora store & Kiehl’s store for some skin-care trial size treats.):
With all this organization activity behind me today, I think that I will sit down with a nice cup of herbal tea and read the next chapter of Fiona’s book!
What tricks and tips do you have for putting some glamour and ease into your space?