The Forest for the Trees

Y'all know how much I love Enc and her blog. She's got such a great way of drawing you into her world. Between her polls and her photos, tales of the lead-up to her recent wedding and her poignant vignettes about her family - well, you just have to check her out to see what I mean.

Since January, she's been following a worthy, temporary lifestyle initiative she calls S.I.N.C.B.M (self-imposed-no-clothes-buying-moratorium) which is truly impressive. I can just see readers shaking their heads saying, "what, is she the anti-k.line - the one with the halo?". Enc is living proof that you can write a great fashion blog without buying a damn thing (except the occasional wedding dress).

Though an obviously and even self-acknowledged organized blogrrrl, today she posted about closet angst, a topic that's near and dear to my heart. First, let me say, I got some chills and thrills thinking about potentially, someday, having a chance to store my, ahem, collection in a 6 x 6 room. A woman with that kind of space is living the high-life, to be sure, but romance is inclined to come along eventually, whereupon a girl's wise to give up area to make room for the Converse and the denim.

In a sentence that says it all, Enc speaks about how love (aside from lifting her up and liberating her) has managed to remove two inches of air around each of her hangers. Is there no justice?

At any rate, I do love to offer unsolicited advice to incredibly with-it women in a public forum, so pls. forgive me Enc for suggesting the following minimal adjustments to an already excellent set up:

• Blond wooden hangers. (I, myself, have tried to move from plastic to wooden hangers for a couple of reasons - a) I find that they hold the clothes more effectively and b) they're nice to look at, read: homogenous and warm).



• Colour coding from neutrals to neons. It's obvious, from the pics in your post, that you've got a smart structure wherein skirts live cleanly on one side and tops on the other. It may be more appealing to you, and easier when searching for things, to sort the lights from the darks, the brights from the neutrals in a kind of ascending pattern.



• Shoe Wheel. Now we know you've got shoes! Might it actually have been you who profiled that amazing gizmo that holds zillions of pairs of shoes in a handy, storable wheel? I'd get it in a second but it's too deep for my closet floor. You, on the other hand, could slot one - or even two - into a spot underneath the shirts for instant, compact storage. The most fun thing about it is that the shoes are visible through the translucent plastic. Voila, then all the space holding those shoe boxes above the rods would be free to store other things - like extra cashmere sweaters or your insanely gorgeous bag collection.

Now, if only you would offer me some S.I.N.C.B.M. advice...