What Happens When a Maximalist Tries Out Classic Style?

**Samsoe Samsoe** striped sweater, **Céline** dress, **Prada** sandals via **YOOXSamsoe Samsoe** striped sweater, **Céline** dress, **Prada** sandals via **YOOX**

That thirst for sartorial discomfort is precisely what led me to volunteer to style myself for the first of a three-part series with YOOX, wherein Man Repeller will attempt to reimagine popular style profiles through an individual lens. Up first was “classic” — and who better to redefine that than an antsy maximalist like myself? I decided to treat the endeavor like any other sartorial challenge and find a way to make it mine. However, to rein in my penchant for serial over-accessorizing, pattern-clashing and color-obsessing, I established the following “classic dressing” guidelines:

1) No jewelry except a simple pair of gold hoops

2) Only one pattern per outfit

3) Only neutral colors (navy, white, gray, black, etc.)

8 blazer, 8 turtleneck, **Sonora** boots, **Tommy Hilfiger** earrings via **YOOX**8 blazer, 8 turtleneck, **Sonora** boots, **Tommy Hilfiger** earrings via **YOOX**

The final outfits weren’t necessarily the epitome of my personal style, but because of that, they felt like an iteration I was previously afraid to tap into, an iteration in which my clothes weren’t a distraction or a shield, but a mirror instead — a mirror held up to reflect me, just as I am.

Is there anything more classic?

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Photos by Edith Young.