Holistically Speaking

    M'kay, so I've had this notion bouncing about in my feverish little noggin a while, so I thought I'd share it out and see what you all thought about it.
    For the vast majority of us, dressing ourselves is to a major degree a slapdash affair. We acquire random articles and find ways to put them together, and then have to get other random articles to make things we bought previously work in the way we wish them to, creating a never ending cycle of search and acquisition.  I mean, who of us doesn't have something in the closet that really doesn't quite go with anything, because we had to have it, and either didn't consider that it wouldn't fit with anything we had, or just plain didn't care?  What if there was a different way to approach this whole thing?   Its a variant of the idea of wardrobe planning, but it goes farther.
    Its an idea that requires more thought, and certainly more consideration; but it could be a way to get to a clearer, simpler method of using the language of Attire; and one that would allow us to use the words we have to greater effect.
   What I'm thinking is this.  You sit yourself down and do a review of how your life works, day to day. What tasks you need to do, and what recreations you enjoy, what colors, patterns and textures you find appealing, what your dreams and goals are for yourself; these things should all be part of this review.
    As you have things surfacing, write them down, and soon a coherent picture will begin to form of how you should frame your own Attire conversations.  Once you have your review completed, then create a list, category by category that fills those needs.  For example, when I made the move recently to re-introduce pants to my sartorial vocabulary, I had to get pants, since I only had one pair of emergency jeans. I had to think of where and how I was going to be wearing said pants, it created a structure from which I could make more reasoned choices.  And that allowed me to avoid over buying, or getting the wrong things.  So now I have a selection of 12 pairs of pants in a broad range of color, (cause I'm a color whore) that will take me everywhere I need to go.  And since I got all of them at a great second hand store, it didn't cost a fortune.

    The next part of the process is a toughie.  Its the editing part.  Go back through your wardrobe and be ruthless.  Anything that doesn't fit the review you created gets the boot.  All those things you got, hoping to find the right thing for later, should get gone.  Keep only the stuff that makes you smile, works for you often, and suits your spirit.  Take the rest of it to someplace where you can sell it or trade it, or just plain give it away to someone who can use it.
    Now for the fun part.  You get to go shopping.  But this time, you'll have a set of real goals in mind, beyond a vague "I need a new coat" concept.  You'll know what kind of coat, and even possibly the color and design elements it should have.  But more than that, it won't be just the fulfillment of a random desire, it becomes a secure goal that brings you to a fuller level of usefulness for the clothes that you have.
    The final bit is a fun one too. Pick an accessory that you love, shoes, bags, hats, whatever.  Let that be the one place where you let yourself go, so you don't feel constrained by your choices.
    The end result of all this palaver and search is that you have a wardrobe that you can be utterly confident of, that will serve you in every situation of your life, and present the image of yourself you want to get across, with clarity.  The secondary result is that you end up spending less over time, and your wardrobe doesn't require a separate building to house.