Oh no, you’re stranded on a deserted island! What ever will you do?

Fear not! You’ve been graciously afforded the opportunity to be sent a parcel containing your most sacred belongings: items that you can not and will not live without. Forget your airpods or your snuggie though, as this package only contains the essentials.

What could possibly be in the suitcase you may ask? Why clothes of course! If you disagree on what constitutes the bare necessities feel free to exit now … I don’t think we can be friends. 

Let’s get one thing straight. Fashion is culture and culture is civilization and without civilization you’re no more than a savage living on an island. I’m sure none of us want a repeat of Lord of the Flies. I’m sure if Jack had access to his walk-in closet back home, he wouldn’t go all bazooka on Piggy. He would just stomp his Oxford loafers, readjust grandaddy’s cuff links, and go on with his day. 

Fortunately, you have the chance to do something Jack never got to do, which is to pick out 12 things from your wardrobe to bring to said island. I say twelve because it’s just right for a capsule collection—without running the risk of ending up like Steve Jobs 2.0. Speaking of him, I would include a black mock neck and Levi’s 501s in mine. Hard pass on the New Balance sneakers though, dad shoes just aren’t for me. I’ll be sure to pass them on to Faith though! Anyways, I digress. Twelve, like I said, is enough to generate a capsule wardrobe that reflects your personal style without being wasteful, disjoint, or generic. With minimalism as the new in thing, lots of bloggers are jumping on the trend and scaling down. There’s some great inspo out there if you’re interested. 

Beyond the basics (white button up, denim shorts, tan tank, etc.) I think I’d dedicate a good 4 of my spots to frivolous articles: non versatile, seasonal, occasion-specific clothes that just make me feel good for no good reason. If I were stuck on an island feeling anything less than fabulous, I figure I’d at least want to look the part. Definitely my gingham picnic #$@&%*! dress (s/o best dressed for coining the term) and my flared sweatshirt dress and my mini cheetah wrap dress. So maybe I like a good dress, sue me. Oh! And I may have forgotten to mention this earlier but skip the shoes. Too many sneakerheads out there and I worry you all would pick out 12 pairs and nothing else. Not to say that exhibitionism is all that uncommon on deserted islands but that kind of defeats the whole point of this exercise. So I’m at what, 8 items? I’ll go pink knit sweater (embarrassingly middle school but probably the single most me thing I own), brown sweat shorts, denim jacket, and prom dress. T’was a steal but I still need to get good use out of it. All about that cost per wear baby. Plus I think it’d be pretty fun to run across the beach in a floor length gown (and when it gets cold at nightfall, throw on the denim jacket and it’ll grunge up the look). 

Now it’s your turn—what’ll it be? 

Afterthought: From ice breakers to 21 questions we’re always asked what three things we would bring to an island. Most of us have been conditioned to give practical, realistic answers, well trained by twelve years in the American education system. Or we’ll say something cutesy like our mom or sister or best friend (spoiler: they’re not “things,” they actually fall under the noun classification of “people”). But that says literally nothing about us and everything about how generic and run-of-the-mill everyone else is. You’re not though, are you? Maybe start answering in a way that reflects that. It’ll make the first day of school a hell of a lot more interesting.