spruced by marlene

“Got some new boots to show you”. That was all the email from my friend Marie said and all I needed to hear to take my camera to her place. Although I wasn’t surprised to find lots of great things in her wardrobe to take pictures of, not just the boots.

When someone lets you take a peek inside their closet, it’s a bit like going on a treasure hunt. At first she said she really only had black clothes, nothing much with patterns or in any colours. And it’s true: there’s a lot of black in Marie’s wardrobe, none of which I find boring, as black supposedly is, but covetable, like her bomber jacket or the 60s minidress she inherited. But then she suddenly pulled out a bright red sweater. And bleached blue jeans. And a pair of acid green pumps. Turns out she’s a very good treasure hunter outside of her apartment as well. Those acid green pumps? They’re YSL and she found them at a flea market. A flea market! That was when I decided, I need to go shopping with her more often. Maybe I’ll pick up a trick or two about finding and styling clothes from other decades in a way that looks modern, like Marie does.

When she shut the doors to her closet she said, she didn’t have as many clothes as she thought she did. I think that’s a good thing. Especially when you’ve got things that work, like a good parka, an easy shirtdress and Chelsea boots. And like that Max Mara sweater she’s had for years and years and keeps wearing, because it’s got just the right fit and the right cuffs. Why buy a new style each season, if you’ve already found one that’s good for you? And if that sounds screamingly obvious, you haven’t seen my closet.

So, from her flea market finds to her heirlooms, her every day bag to her sunnies, her French minidress to her Italian hand cream, these are some of Marie’s favourite things: