Posted on Wed, Jun. 25, 2008

Dealing as I do with clothes and more clothes, it was, well, a kick to interview Kicka Witte (see accompanying Deconstruction).

I'd seen Witte around town -- at the farmers' market in Coconut Grove, at Whole Foods in Miami Beach -- and thought her style was strikingly earthy.

When I brought her in for a photo at The Miami Herald, her hat had a large hole in the top. She mentioned that her new one, made of recycled material, hadn't arrived yet. But the hole didn't bother her. She decided to keep it on for the shoot.

Witte, I learned, hates excess.

She wears dresses most of the time because they're easy and because she says they work at the beach and at a dinner party. She has seven, she said, one for every day.

To Witte, having a few well-worn clothes is better than a closet full of pretty but extraneous stuff.

''If you have very few things that you love, why would you need a lot of other items?'' she asked. That got me thinking.

I have blouses I haven't worn in years. I have cold-weather shoes in boxes that never see the light of day. There are purses I may need, once, someday; scarves I may want, sometime, somewhere.

Witte believes that appearance is overemphasized, that cheaper is not better and that pampering has nothing to do with quantity. She thinks we should buy used goods.

As a fashion photographer, she refuses to shoot anorexic models because young consumers of fashion are impressionable.

She considers her identity more important than her dress size.

''I think this is a such a dualistic planet,'' she said. ``We're dabbling in between extremes to find who we are and where we belong.''

Of course, it's a lot easier to shrug off your appearance when you're 32, 5-foot-11, Swedish and beautiful enough to have a gig with Wilhelmina modeling agency than when gray hairs and under-eye bags are your constant companions.

Still, Witte's point is well-taken. Especially in a town where the mantra is who-says-I-don't-need-more!

I'm cleaning out my closet this weekend.