The Key Things in the Closet

I was thinking the other day about these lists that each mag puts out. The "must haves" for each new season. The list of the new trends (most of which are recycled from 2 decades prior) by which we must now abide. And then In Style tells us at least once a year what "key pieces" need to be in our closets to eliminate the chance of us going down the wrong style path (and somehow it always comes out looking boring, even on the fancy slick pages).

Then I got an email from a friend in Boston about a book party for Closet Smarts, the new title on the style-self-help shelf. Emily Neill helps Bostonians jump start their style lives by going through their closets with them, and she's put that know-how into a "how to." (I haven't read it yet, but when I do, and if I fly north for the party, I promise a full report.)

Then (yes, there's more) I slipped out to lunch with a friend today, and closets came up. Since Tandoori Nights sits right above The Container Store, it was inevitable. Deputy M and her hubby just redid their poorly designed new condo closet with the Elfa system. According to Consumer Reports, it's the best. She raved. (Is it just me, or does raving about a closet system - which I would totally do, too - make us old?)

And I've been toying with putting a closet purge on my to-do list. It hasn't actually made it on the list, but I know I have to get there at some point (I'm going to have to give up my shrunken favorite red suit someday).

So closets are on the brain. And my connection-obsessed brain went to a couple of questions:

What are the absolute "keepers" in my closet?

What's the absolute minimum I could happily live with?

What do I really need?

I know I wear the same 5 things day-in-day out to work, at least recently. It's making me wonder whether I could happily get by with just those things. It would certainly give me more room in my closet for the other things I have. I'm going to have to consider this more. And sometime in the next little while, figure it out.

In the meantime, what are the 5 things that you really, truly need for day-to-day style? I'm not talking the "to die for" items, but the items that you find yourself returning to (or know you should return to, but are stuck wearing other things 'cause they're somehow easier). Could you live with only those things?