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What Is The Minimalist Aesthetic?

The minimalist aesthetic focuses on pairing simple, timeless pieces that have a traditionally professional twist. Think blouses, hoop earrings, simple sweater vests. This aesthetic usually doesn't incorporate a lot of different colors, textures, or prints in the base pieces, but if you don't want to stick to neutral colors, just make sure you stick to the same color palette. That way, a lot of the pieces can be worn together.

Step 1: Figure Out What Basics You Like

One of our favorite things to do when figuring out how to pair an item is to search for it on Pinterest (ie: "White tee outfits"). The platform is full of so many creatives who all have different ideas, so you're bound to find an outfit idea that you never thought of before!

Minimalist Aesthetic Basics

• Jeans (midwash is our favorite)
• Button-down blouses
• Plain tees
• Solid-color shoes
• Neutral bags
• Simple jewelry that goes with everything

Stores To Shop For The Minimalist Aesthetic

• Nordstrom
• Target
• Reformation
• Sezane
• Mejuri
• Uniqlo
• Everlane

Step 2: Get Rid Of Any Pieces You Don't Love

The most important thing about your closet should be that you love each and every piece. If you only kind of like what you own, you'll never be happy about what you're wearing. Here are some ideas for times you're unsure about a piece:

• If you haven't worn an item for six months, or if you go an entire season without picking something up (like when you reach the end of summer and didn't wear that one tank top at all), it might be time to say goodbye.
• Try the hanger trick; flip all your hangers so that they're hooked onto the bar in your closet backwards. Every time you wear something, fix the hanger, then see what hasn't been worn after a set period of time.
• If you're not sure whether you want to get rid of something, put it under your bed or in a box for a few weeks. If you forget about the item or don't miss it, then you can definitely part with it.

Step 3: The Extras

Once you've figured out the basics, then comes the fun part: accessories! This is where your individual personality can really shine through; your accessory and beauty choices will make a plain tee and jeans look different than everyone else's.

Figure out what hairstyles you like (popular ones within the minimalist aesthetic are a slick bun, ponytail, and loose waves). Stick to simple base makeup — fresh-faced foundation and a bit of blush — but feel free to try out different eyeliner shapes and lipstick colors. Stick to neutral nail polishes like whatever matches your skin tone, or go with a neon.

Ready to get started building your minimalist wardrobe? Here are some of our favorite outfit formulas for inspiration:

Minimalist Wardrobe Inspiration

Statement silhouettes — like a square neck jumpsuit with wide legs, rounded sunnies, and a gorgeous tote — means you don't have to rely on crazy colors to turn heads.

Something simple like a white button down pairs well with a variety of colors and styles. Wear it with slacks and a nice bag or cutoffs and sandals.

Strategically picking pieces that look good layered together and on their own (like a white tee, light cardigan, and trench) means you'll have a wardrobe you love all year long.

Sticking to a minimalist color palette doesn't mean you have to stick to the same silhouettes over and over again. This arched tank hem looks amazing with wide leg trousers.

When you're sticking to a minimalist color palette, small details add elegance and texture. Pleats in your pants and crisp tees add structure to your look, ensuring it's never boring.

Elevate your look with classic details like a boat-neck neckline, and *never* skimp on accessories like belts and jewelry — when your wardrobe is this minimal, these tiny details are what makes it look put-together, rather than bland.

As a Power of Women honoree, Mariska was recognized in regards to her work as an advocate for sexual assault survivors. She took the stage and used her platform to discuss rape and assault conviction reversals, shining a light on the recent overturned ruling in Harvey Weinstein's landmark NYC case. Here's what she said:

Today I want to talk about reversing convictions, and more specifically I want to talk to you about how impossible it is to reverse mine. It’s impossible to reverse my conviction that survivors matter. It is impossible to reverse my conviction that what happens to us matters, and that our society must respond to survivors with a more a compassionate, holistically, deeper, and more nuanced understanding of what healing means.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that after a trauma, survivors can reclaim lives of hope, of possibility, of audacious risk, beautiful intimacy, and glorious, glorious abundant joy. And I stand before you as evidence of that statement.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that we must listen to survivors as experts on what justice means. It is extraordinary how little their voices are consulted, let alone incorporated, in the process of deciding how to repair harm. Justice is not a one-size-fits-all journey.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that patriarchal impunity has to end. Patriarchal impunity is when a male-dominated system exempts perpetrators from punishment. Studies show that only 20% of all rape cases in the U.S. are reported to the police, and that between 5 and 0% of all rapes result in a guilty plea or a conviction. So why do 80% of victims not report? Because they're met with a system that grants impunity to perpetrators; a system that blames victims; a system that accepts only those victims who are experienced as "real" rape; a system that completely misunderstands the neurobiology of trauma, which causes behavior in women that doesn't fit the picture of how a "real victim" would act.

Is that change needed that victims should just pull themselves together? Just buck up and report anyway? No. No, it's the system that receives them that needs to change

It is impossible to reverse my conviction — and the conviction of my extraordinary team, The Joyful Heart — that the backlog of untested rape kits can be brought to zero; that the testing of all new kits must be mandated; that we need a statewide kit tracking system; and that survivors have the right to access the status of their kits.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that grammar — yes, grammar — that we use when we speak about rape must change. In the sentence, "A woman is raped," there's a crime and there's a victim, but there's no perpetrator. Where's the perpetrator? Where is he? Statistically, as we know, most likely he's walking free. He's so free that he doesn't even appear in the language about the crime that he committed. Is that not extraordinary? It's extraordinary that in the very grammar, the perpetrator goes free. Reintroducing perpetrators in the language of rape will make some very unwieldy grammar, but that's the nature of change. It's unwieldy, it's messy, it's uncomfortable, but it's necessary.

Hargitay continued on in her prolific speech to describe that rape shouldn't be considered a "crime of passion" because it's "not simply the next step in the trajectory of his passion" when a man takes a consensual hookup too far and assaults a woman against her will. She stated that it's "an exercise of power," doubling down that the language we use is important.

The speech went on to address that rape is both about power and control, as a "construct" that was "built, and assembled, and reinforced over time." She noted that there are people with these positions of power — and she specifically called out those in the entertainment industry — that could make a difference and aligned themselves to victims and survivors.

After this and some other remarks, Hargitay specifically called out the Weinstein conviction reversal. She said:

I do want to say something about the Harvey Weinstein conviction, specifically about the reason that it was overturned: too many women's voices. Too many women's voices were allowed to speak. Hallelujah! Amen! I can't imagine anything more beautiful than that. The Daily podcast episode talked about how it was so risky for the prosecution to have that many women testify. Risky to let women speak? You're damn right it is!

Too many women speaking brings change. Too many women speaking shakes the establishment. Too many women means we get listened to more, and people might actually hear what we have to say. Look what happened when women started saying just two words, right? Me too — just as an example — a tidal wave of change. Me too.

And then of course, there was the response: the Me Too Movement. The backlash. The examination of whether the changes that have come are lasting, or are even positive. Of course there's a backlash! What did they expect? For women to speak repeatedly, loudly, together, with a purpose — for there to be no backlash? The backlash is evidence of how powerful those voices were, how powerful those voices ARE.

Watch Mariska Hargitay's Full Speech Here

Turns out that your TV heroes really can be your IRL heroes after all. Long live Olivia Benson! Long live Mariska Hargitay!