Travel Knits Mix and Match Fashion: Reinvent Your Wardrobe

Ready to enjoy being a smart but frugal shopper while developing your own free spirited style? It's as simple as 4 + 4~~knowing the steps to choosing 8 core garments that will harmonize and offer a multitude of mix and match combinations. Look like a million while spending pennies!

One can build an all-weather, low maintenance collection that transitions seamlessly from desk to dinner to destinations unknown. Carefully consider your lifestyle as well as the purpose of each garment chosen as a core item, and the result will be a versatile assortment of apparel that can be fashionable, elegant, sophisticated, or classic~~whatever style is desired. Each garment will work with the others so there are no fashion mistakes. For the woman on the go, a no-fuss wardrobe is a fashion must. You can be out the door and on the go in minutes.

Element #1: Choose a low maintenance, high comfort, great feeling/fitting fabric. A textile that rates high on the quality/comfort scale is what is commonly known as "slinky knit" or "travel knit" fabric. This is a unique blend of acetate with a very small percentage of spandex. The end result provides a truly miraculous knitted fabric. It offers: a good hand, minimal or no cling, minimizes figure imperfections, resists wrinkling, and launders well.

This fabric offers convenience married with spandex--not your mama's knit! Spandex helps the garment maintain shape and resist wrinkles. Garments manufactured from this "magic" material offer slip on, lived in comfort--like your favorite pajamas! These clothes can be rolled up, stowed in your favorite travel luggage, and shaken out when you arrive at your destination. No ironing needed!

Element #2: Quality of the knit fabric. Knits, as with everything else in life, come in a variety of colors, and weights. Yes, you can find inexpensive knits, but are they worth the investment? Buy quality--you really do get what you pay for. It is better to invest in a quality garment that will give you many years of good service than to squander budget dollars on a lesser quality piece of apparel that might need to be discarded at the end of a season.

Think quality, not quantity. Your goal is to narrow your choices down to 13 superb garments that can be mixed, matched, and multiplied into numerous fashion combinations. In fact, if the core pieces are chosen well, one should be able to make from 96 to over 100 different outfits with just 13 pieces of clothing. This will yield the greatest ROI (return on investment), while lowering the cost per wear of each item.

Some brand names and labels to consider are: Weekenders USA, Destinations, City Knits, Chico's Travelers, NTouch, Notations. All of these offer high end quality garments, manufactured with the highest of standards of quality and consistency. Dye lots are usually colored blocked and match from season to season. The brand names and labels mentioned here are suggested as a starting point in your search for the right core garments for YOU and YOUR lifestyle requirements.

Element #3: Color scheme and style of core pieces. Here are some recommendations, but remember, this is your wardrobe. You have to be comfortable wearing it, so you must decide what colors and what pieces to include.

Black is the color recommendation of choice. Why? Black is: professional looking, fashionable, easiest to accessorize, offers more mix and match options, seasonless, timeless, classic, slimming, SEXY!

Black allows you to focus on the garment itself when you are trying on clothes. You can study the style, the fit, the drape, etc. of the item and not be distracted by color. Black and white are the most classic of all color combos. The essential core garments are: short skirt, long skirt, jacket, shell, short sleeve top, long sleeve top, pants, capri. These eight items can be mixed and matched to form endless combinations. For instance, the long skirt can be worn as a dress with the jacket, add a fashionable belt and you are ready to roll! For desk to dinner days, use the short skirt, shell, and jacket for office wear, then shed the jacket, add a fabulous shawl in burnout black velvet and you are ready to dance the night away! The combinations are only limited by your imagination and your lifestyle. Add a few red pieces to your basic black and white and you will never be without a fashionable option.

So, in summary, choose your fabric, invest in quality, choose timeless color combinations, and mix and match to your heart's delight! You'll be enjoying compliments and freedom from the "what will I wear syndrome".