Stuck in a style rut? Overwhelmed by your closet? Follow these three simple steps to create your dream wardrobe!
Having a uniform often makes getting dressed in the morning a simple task, but sometimes I find myself in a bit of a style rut. I don’t want to spend money on a whole new wardrobe, but I grow tired of always looking “the same” and feeling like I have nothing to wear. How can I create my dream wardrobe and style the pieces I already have in a fun and fresh way? Here are three simple steps to reinvigorating your style and falling in love with your wardrobe all over again!
Follow these steps to create your dream wardrobe:
Step One: Be your own fashion editor.
The first step is to take stock of what you already own. It may take some time to go through every piece of clothing, but you will be glad you did when you can put together stylish outfits easily and not waste money repurchasing duplicates of an item! Go through your pieces and separate them into categories. The more organized you can be the better. Make categories called KEEP, FIX, TOSS, and DONATE. (Add a SELL category if you plan to sell any pieces for extra cash!) Then just put each item in a category! Now it’s time to take action. Fix what can be fixed and toss what is beyond repair. Donate/sell items that don’t bring you joy anymore or that you haven’t reached for in a year or more. These items can now bring joy and new life to someone else’s wardrobe! (Yay, sustainable slow fashion!).
If you must keep an item that you don’t wear, put it away in a less accessible location. Keep your prime wardrobe real estate for the items you use and wear the most. Try to be as ruthless as possible in the editing process because the more honest you are with yourself about your pieces, the easier it will be to put together outfits that you love! Don’t keep items out of buyer’s remorse or in the hope that someday they will fit again. Only fill your wardrobe with the items that you love, feel fabulous in now, and reflect how you want to look. Sometimes less options are better than feeling overwhelmed with too many choices. Less options also force you to be more creative and resourceful when getting dressed!
Step Two: Be your own stylist.
Now you’re ready to style! How do you style your items and put them together into beautiful outfits? The easiest way to start is with an inspiration board. I find that Pinterest is a fabulous tool for finding outfits that I love. Try searching for outfits by item, season, or vibe. If you have a style icon or decade that you love you can search for them by name or time period. Create as many boards as you need to organize all of your pins. Refer to these images whenever you need a refresh!
Choose your favorite look (a look that best represents your overall style vibe) to interpret and analyze. Take note of the colors, the fabrics, the prints and patterns, the silhouettes, the themes, and the accessories. When creating your look, see if you have any pieces that reflect these key classifications. Try to focus on only one or two; you don’t need to have the exact pieces from your image or from every classification. You are not copying the outfit, you are just referencing it. Do this with a few of your top looks. Once you have gone through some looks, decide what basic or statement pieces are missing from your wardrobe that would pull together more than one look. This would be the item to invest in. Basics are more boring to buy, but are key to building any outfit. One or two key statement pieces for the season will help take your basics to the next level and stay on trend.
Step Three: Document your outfits.
You edited your wardrobe down to the items that you love and feel fabulous in, styled them into outfits that best demonstrate your personal style and filled in the gaps of your wardrobe, and now it’s time to document your favorite looks! You can either write these down in a notebook or simply take a photograph of the complete outfit. Make sure you include not only the clothing items, but the jewelry and accessories as well! Keep these images in a folder on your phone labeled OUTFITS (or AUTUMN/WINTER OUTFITS and SPRING/SUMMER OUTFITS) so that you can quickly refer to them in the mornings or the moments when you feel stuck in that style rut. They also make packing a suitcase effortless! If you have room, you can also keep some of your current favorite outfits on a separate clothing rack for easy access and quick inspiration!
If you follow these three steps to edit, style, and document your wardrobe you will always have a system in place to shop your own closet, build outfits that inspire you and make you feel confident, and create your dream wardrobe!
