FASHION STYLING ADVICE

How to love your wardrobe

Is your wardrobe full of clothes you don’t like or never wear? Is a small wardrobe enough?

Statistically, women only wear 20 to 30 per cent of the clothes they own. In my experience, most clients I have worked with will be lucky to wear 40 per cent of the clothes they have in their wardrobe, outside of workwear or uniforms. Let’s improve those statistics, here are some tips for paring your overflowing wardrobe down to what you love, and will actually wear and feel good in.

The capsule collection

A ‘capsule wardrobe’ is a small selection of interchangeable clothing pieces that complement each other. These are typically classic pieces of predominately neutral colours enabling a variety of different outfits with a modest collection of clothing.

Decluttering can be liberating!

Sometimes we hold on to clothing, for example, an outfit for a job interview, or a wedding, however when these occasions arise you will usually find yourself purchasing something new. So be strong in your resolve to declutter. This will give your wardrobe a fresh feel and you will wear and love everything you have.

To start with, take everything out of your wardrobe and get rid of what doesn’t fit well, or requires repairs or alterations. Maybe you feel the colour doesn’t look good on you, perhaps the pattern isn’t your flavour, or you’ve never worn it as you just don’t feel good in it. Also do this with bags, shoes and accessories.

These pieces can be given away or, if you want to hold on to them for a little longer, pack them into storage, so they can be retrieved if there’s something that you need. Ultimately this process is about creating space in the wardrobe, removing the visual clutter so you can see what you have and get to or find what you want to wear.

Creating your compilation

The next step is building your capsule wardrobe. Look at what you have left. Figure out what pieces work together. How many outfits can you build with what you have?

Find the gaps in your outfits and work out what you really need. I recommend having at least two pieces in each clothing category. One will be for good, and one for casual or ‘off-duty’. For example, two pairs of pants (one being dress pants and the other being jeans), two shirts or blouses, two dresses, two jackets (one blazer and one casual style). From here you can create a number of different outfits.

Building your capsule wardrobe will make your life easier, save you time and money, and will help you get to know your personal style.

Most of all have fun and enjoy the process.