Reliable Style: The Go-To Piece in Your Closet

As I snapped my sometimes-daily-Instagram #wearing shot in the parking lot this morning, I noticed that, once again, my plaid scarf was in the picture. And my pink tweed cropped trousers. And my crocheted sweater.

Clearly, I have some go-to pieces. We all do. It's part of what makes our style our style. It's how we interpret either the classic or the trendy, and make it our own.

Or, as in my case, it's how I manage to dress myself daily, despite an odd, in-between-sizes-and-seasons wardrobe that I still haven't completely updated since I hit my goal weight in September 2012. We won't discuss the fact that the fashion blogger can't get to updating her own closet. We will, however, discuss the fact that, in this insanely busy time, when I'm really trying to focus on some critical #DayJob changes and spend some much-needed time with H and The Beans, having even 1 repeat-I-mean-Go-To item in my closet lets me stay presentable. It even lets me feel like I'm still dressing like me.

Clockwise, from top left: Gleeful snow catching at the end of 2012; colors and textures galore at the beginning of 2013; a casual Friday gym locker room shot (with the same sweater as today, mind you); today's Everything-in-this-Outfit-is-on-Repeat ensemble. Pieces from L.L. Bean, Target, Gap, J. Crew, lillybee, and random street markets. Drop me an email or a tweet if you're curious about any of them.

While I'm not entirely happy with my closet right now, I have a few pieces, like the $5 plaid cotton scarf I picked up at a street market Down Tha Shore, I turn to, even if I feel they're on repeat at the same pace as that really annoying pop song on the radio. Its weight works to keep me warm outside and not overheat me inside. Its colors make me happy, and oh, by the way, go with just about everything. Its length covers up a multitude of fashion sins, like the mildly ratty vneck t I'm wearing under my crocheted sweater today.

If you snapped a photo of yourself every day without consideration of what you've thrown on (i.e. you're not considering your outfit as if for one of those outfit posts spread across the interwebs), what would you see on repeat? Try it. You might surprise yourself.