The Curated Wardrobe

Curating Your Wardrobe

When I think of anything that has been well curated, my mind is immediately filled with pictures of refinement, craftsmanship, and art. When I think about the state of my current wardrobe, my mind is filled with images of rush, settling, and cheaply made items that will not stand the test of time. Granted, my entire closet is not made up of trash. It is not, however, a well curated, crafted wardrobe, yet.

For many years I have admired the curated closets of certain social media influencers. It brings me comfort to know that none of them started with a perfect wardrobe full of finely crafted items. Instead, I’ve watched over the years as they figured it all out, adding items piece by piece with intention, until one day, they had achieved their goal.

I love the beauty of intention and the time master craftsman take to carefully design, thinking through every needful and desirable thing, before they put the proverbial hammer to the nail.

In the middle of some research I was doing for my business a few years back, I found Aston Martin’s brand story. Talk about a company that thinks through every little detail before and during their custom process. I long to get behind the wheel of their luxurious machines and feel the decadent motion of such a work of art beneath me on the road.

Recently, I purchased a 20 year old barrel-aged balsamic vinegar. I’ll never be able to go back to the acidic red wine/balsamic blends again. The flavor of that barrel-aged, finely crafted vinegar is like the scene in Ratatouie when the food critic is transported back in time to his childhood home, comforted by the food his mother carefully made for him.

Well curated foods, clothing, cars, homes, and so forth, transport each of us into a state of mind different from what is normally thought of as acceptable. There is something royal, divine even, in our pursuit of beauty and ownership of finely crafted, masterful things.

As I was pondering on my intention for 2022, the thought occurred to me that if I had been raised in a royal family, I would have naturally developed a taste for the finer things and I would have been educated in how to find, procure, and utilize such things.

A member of the royal family is treated, from birth, as an important member of society. Their education is of the highest priority, and they are taught much more than your typical public school student.

They must see themselves as important, because they are. They must learn and understand politics, religion, etiquette, refinement, grace, decorum, proper dress, and a myriad of other equally important social lessons.

If you and I were raised as royals, curation would come much more naturally. However, you don’t need to be royal to act royally, and to care about your personal education and refinement.

The Curated Path

The curated path is one that, I believe, we all, to a certain degree, instinctively choose. Humans, in all of our natural and base human-ess, still seek after the finer things. Certainly, we do not all have the same ideas about what we consider fine, yet we all desire to reach for and improve our chances of enjoying a good life.

A curated wardrobe is not really about spending a lot of money or showing off your wealth, or desire for it. Instead, it is an opportunity to dive a little deeper into your own refinement and to consider physical things that can represent for you a higher and better version of yourself. In essence, a well crafted wardrobe is about representing you at your best, not just to others, but to yourself.

Throughout this month, The Anthro Edit will be taking a meaningful look at curating identity through a more customized and personal wardrobe. We’ll also get into the nitty gritty of crafting a closet full of items that not only represent you, but that support you in challenging and changing old beliefs and patterns that no longer serve you.

Your wardrobe this month will become a petrie dish of sorts helping you to grow a new and more authentic presence in the world.

My hope for you, and for me, is that the vision of who we feel innately we can become will blossom through our use of an every day aspect of life by elevating it to something more divine.