Nope, not being facetious. I really do have the same dress, 3 ways. There's a black, a white with black stripes and a black with white stripes. For a while I struggled with striking the right balance between the ever present conundrum of "must have more clothes"- "I have nothing to wear" and having a style uniquely my own, whilst staying on trend. All that changed with my 30s: I don't give a fuck about trends, opinions and what anyone has to say. So liberating. Everyone must try it. The 30s, I mean.

After spending quite a bit of time thinking about personal style vs fashion, watching my Mom being fastidious about her style and reading about fast fashion, I now have a guiding philosophy: own few clothes, of good quality (nothing synthetic, only natural fabrics; solid colors as much as possible) and only pieces I truly truly love. Life's too short to hold on to anything I don't love anyway. That's also why I own 6 pairs of shoes and 3 bags. My #OOTDs are same-same but slightly different 🤓

I must admit, all of this boxing + bucketing + Konmari-ing had started way before KonMari was a thing in 2012.  My mild-mannered Grandma was once suitably mortified by the monochrome wear to ask what workplace in this modern era mandated that I wear a uniform to work. "You studied so much to wear a uniform to work?"  Middle-class India, sigh, so cute. 

Anyway, you know what they say about turning into your mother? It's all true.
Just like my mum, all my clothes fit into 4 categories. If they don't, I don't own 'em. 

WORKWEAR
Dominated by trousers + shirts and dresses linen, cotton; solids, stripes. I wear bright, sparkly colors - think yellow on a Monday morning, silver shoes on a Tuesday and cherry red loafers on a Wednesday. It's my own version of a one-person party whilst ensuring I'm not flashing cleavage/butt cracks at unassuming people. 

I'm partial to Marks & Spencer's Linen section for their shirts and trousers, Fabindia's Silks, Uniqlo's Cottons, Banana Republic's Cigarette Pants . 

NOT-WORKWEAR
What I wear when I'm not at work. Sometimes I forget how much I hate denim, wear it and then spend the rest of the day sulking. The themes overlap but I'm bolder and more experimental when it's a night about town. 

Brasstacks, Bhane, Plantation House, The Summer House, Aureole, Mogra, Khara Kapas, Runaway Bicycle are a few of my favorites. 

ATHLEISURE AND SLEEPWEAR
If I could live in joggers, leggings and sweatshirts/tanks, I would. But I know myself, from there it's a straight up slippery slope to eating my feelings. So!

I stick to Tanks, Leggings from Marks & Spencer and Cotton shorts from H&M because I like my legs - at the gym, in bed, when gardening. It doesn't matter. The mantra is, If I can - slay, lady, slay. Always.