Do you feel like you’re stuck in a rut of wearing the same thing all the time? Do you feel like you have nothing to wear? Here are secrets to building a wardrobe you love. You’ll need to spend a little time, but the rewards are worth the investment.
Imagine, a wardrobe of outfits:
Wouldn’t you like to never feel like you have nothing to wear again? The first step is to shop at home. Go through your closet to determine what you already have. Try on anything you haven’t worn in over a month. Your job is to assess:
Fit – Does it fit well? I’m not talking about just fitting into it. Does it flatter you? There should be no tight or binding pulls in the thread or material. Pockets should lie flat.
Appeal – Do you like how the article looks? More importantly, do you love how it looks on you? Does it flatter your figure and your color? A beautiful item is only really appreciated if it looks good. Otherwise it is a fitted design and fabric. Remember, the goal is to create a wardrobe with things that you like, that you look and feel great in, and that you can’t wait to wear.
Comfort – Can you move comfortably? Does it itch or caress the skin? I won’t wear anything that itches or peels off (peeling off is a big pain with contact lenses or any type of lipstick).
Repair/Alterations – You must decide whether to keep the parts that need repairs/alterations. If yes, make a stack and plan to do it. We all have a tendency to conveniently forget about the repair stack. “Rework It” article for alteration ideas coming soon.
Here are some additional guidelines for filtering out clothes that just take up valuable closet space:
Parts of “When I lose weight” – Forget it. Simply drop this item if it is more than one size smaller than your current size. Why is it okay to keep things that are one size smaller? We tend to fluctuate between 5 and 10 pounds, especially in the warmer months. Focus on replacing that piece with something great that you can wear now.
Holding Time – Now is the time to purge if you’ve been holding on to something forever. The rule is one year for casual/professional pieces and two years for special occasion items.
Next, describe what you have saved. You can just write it on paper or do it electronically (a table in Word or an Excel spreadsheet). Make a list of your basic clothes, grouped by colors in the first column. An example is a list of skirts, dresses, and pants grouped by browns, blacks, bold colors, and patterns.
The next column would list all the items you wear with each piece of basic clothing. Then the third column describes pieces that you think might work, but haven’t yet worn with basic clothing. You should also include things that you would like to create additional looks.
An example; I have a pair of chocolate brown cotton twill pants listed in the first column. Additional pieces are white, cream, turquoise and pink leopard print blouses. I also have sweaters/t-shirts in brown, cream, pink and sky blue, as well as blazers in leopard print, brown check, tan, turquoise and blue check. I’d like an apricot colored blouse and a buttery smooth brown leather blazer.
The ultimate goal of developing this clothing capsule is to create a list of looks from your existing clothing, as well as determine the pieces you’d like to buy to enhance what you have.