I’m the kind of person who can stand in front of an open closet for a good while and still walk out in the same beige cardigan. So when I found a recent interview where chef Claudette Zepeda — award-winning, on the new series Bobby Flay’s The Line, and the author of the beautiful cookbook Cooking the Borderlands — walked through her week of outfits, I stopped scrolling.
“While working, I’m in an apron and Blundstones, clothes that I can get dirty,” she says. “But I love dopamine dressing, and if the day allows it, I want to look girly, fun, and whimsical.”
That line is the whole article in one sentence. Work clothes are armor. Everything else is a mood. As someone who spent six years buying for a department store, I can tell you that’s exactly how you should plan a rotation — and I’m going to show you where. Claudette shared several looks she actually wore in a week, and I’ll walk through the five lessons I’d steal from them.
The occasion is optional
Her first look was a black blazer with a bodysuit, a skirt, and boots — the kind of set most of us save for weddings and job interviews. (Blazer and boots: Zara and Sam Edelman, the boots available secondhand.) And here’s the line I underlined twice:
“Someone once asked me, ‘How do you choose what to wear for special occasions?’ and I said, ‘Well, I’m the occasion.’ We’re told that certain clothes belong in certain environments, but I don’t believe that. I choose to wear my special-occasion clothes on a Monday.”
That’s a capsule wardrobe superpower. The blazer that only comes out at holidays has a cost-per-wear that never improves. Wear it on a Monday, and suddenly it’s a workhorse.
Black is a whole look — add one loud thing
Her goth era: black blazer, black pants, and a pop of color from candy heels. (Black heels: Steve Madden, available secondhand.) “I also have a goth heart, for sure — there’s a little Wednesday Addams in me,” she says. “Mexicans embrace death. It’s a conversation we start having as children. So, I think black is beautiful, although I do like to throw in a pop of color.”
That’s the cheapest styling trick in the book. Black anchors the outfit, one bright piece makes it yours. No need to buy anything new — check the back of your closet for the one red or pink thing you keep forgetting exists.
An accessory moment is not an accessory budget
“Mexican culture has some of the most beautiful, outspoken women in history,” she says. “I grew up adoring Alejandra Guzmán — basically the Madonna of Mexico — and the women in telenovelas, where everything is dramatic. The dresses are flowing, and the accessories, good Lord! We have an entire mall in Guadalajara for cocktail jewelry. We LOVE an accessory moment.”
Claire’s-era reminder: the accessory moment is about presence, not price. Statement earrings from a mall jewelry floor can do more for an outfit than a bag you saved up all quarter for. The point is presence, not price — in the US or the UK, the High Street version of a cocktail-jewelry moment costs almost nothing.
The dress you love plus the boots you remember
One look is a dress from her friend’s fashion line, Ada & Edith, with silver thigh-high boots. “When I put on these boots, I feel so sexy, like I can take on the world,” she says — and the memory behind that line is watching Pretty Woman as a teenager and deciding Julia Roberts’s thigh-highs were the most powerful thing she’d ever seen.
That’s how you should buy boots. Not “nice pair of boots.” The pair that unlocks a feeling. If it unlocks a feeling, the cost-per-wear takes care of itself, because you will reach for it every single fall.
Buy the cheap thing you’ll destroy
“I’ve worn prescription glasses since I was 17 and can’t see beyond a foot from my face. I beat up my glasses pretty badly, so I look for pairs that aren’t super expensive, around $30. Recently, I’ve found some fun styles at Zeelool.”
Maya’s take: this is the entire point of the “buy once, cry once” debate. You don’t have to buy once for everything. For the things your life actually abuses — glasses, work boots, the tote that lives in the car — buy the cheap version on purpose, and spend your splurge budget on the things you’ll keep for years.
And one more lesson, free of charge. She keeps a shirt with “Mr. Snuffleupagus vibes” — Snuffleupagus is the big furry friend from The Muppets who never fits in, in the best way — and she says it reminds her not to take herself too seriously: “If I walk into a meeting where everyone else is wearing suits, I’m immediately out of place — in the best way possible.” Wear one thing that makes you laugh at yourself.
Style Math
$30 glasses ÷ 30 wears = $1 per wear. A pair you expect to replace yearly is not a splurge — it’s a consumable. Budget it like coffee, not like a coat.
FAQ
Where did Claudette get these outfits?
Mostly accessible stores: Zara (blazers, tops, shorts, a bandana), Amazon (bodiesuits, boots, socks), Ada & Edith (the dress), and secondhand for the Sam Edelman and Steve Madden heels. Her cocktail-jewelry energy comes from the jewelry mall in Guadalajara — look for the equivalent of a mall jewelry floor in your own city.
Is this expensive to copy?
Not by default. The only hard number she gives is glasses around $30, and the heels she wore are explicitly available secondhand. The rest of the week is blazer-plus-black basics with one loud accent — the exact formula you can build from a closet you already own.
What’s the one thing I should actually try this week?
Wear your “special occasion” blazer on a Monday. That’s the whole trick in one move: it reclassifies the piece from event costume to workhorse, and your cost-per-wear drops immediately.
Maya’s closing note: I used to buy the trend first and ask questions later. Claudette’s week of outfits reminded me of a simpler order: buy the thing you’ll live in, and let the fun stuff be the fun stuff. She closes her cookbook’s most personal chapter — “From My Mother’s Hips” — with recipes from the women who taught her how to take up space. I think that’s also what a good closet does.
Related: The 10-Piece Edit: the only pieces I keep in rotation and Why secondhand heels are the smartest splurge I ever made.
Thanks to Claudette for sharing her week, and to Cup of Jo for the interview and photos.