House of Colour
New Season Wardrobe Workout New options are appearing in the shops for the new season ahead and you may be considering adding a few new options. Before you do have a good look at what you already have. You may have had time recently to declutter but it might be worth taking a closer look to see what we really need, where are the gaps and how your lifestyle might be changing. Before starting: Get out your colour wallet and style workbook, clothing personality notes and wardrobe words (if you have them) and make sure you are familiar with the colours, styles, shapes and patterns that work for you. Then go through each item and consider the following: When did you last wear it? - if it was more than 2 years ago or you really can’t remember, can you bring it back into your life perhaps by wearing it in a different way? Could an alteration make a real difference to how often you wear it? Could you add different buttons to ‘lift’ the item? Is this still relevant for your lifestyle now? Are you waiting to lose weight… (it’s probably not going to help if it just sits there reminding you. Time to move it on.) Mark it out of 10? 10s are new or nearly new items that tick all your boxes. If you get down to 5/6 marks then it might be time to start wearing it for gardening (something else we can do). Check for colour – If you’ve been analysed and have a wallet use it to ensure it’s right colours don’t need to match exactly, just blend and harmonise with your palette - use your seasonal words and cards to help. Most of us can’t wear black successfully (contrary to popular belief it’s not slimming as it’s the most dominant colour in the palette and will draw the eye). Check for style - having thoroughly perused your style notes, does this item hit the right note and tick all the boxes it needs to? If not, can you make it work with some accessories? Are you comfortable in it?
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Do you love it? – or as the de-cluttering expert, Marie Kondo might put it, does it spark joy? We should love what we wear. If you’re keeping something ‘just because…(you spent money on it or had to for an occasion, fill in the blank) but you actually don’t love it, let it go. Having less is more – While it may feel concerning to have much less in our wardrobe we don’t actually need that much. Items that are right (colour and style) can be mixed and matched with the others creating an efficient wardrobe with items that work hard for us. Less also means we actually see our clothes more easily and are more likely to wear what we have! Find a new home for anything that doesn’t shape up. Once you know what you are keeping. Put it all back in an order that works for you. Here’s a suggestion: Sort it by when and what you wear it for. Create separate sections for your work clothes, hanging out at home (keep these handy), going out and “going out out” (even if this means getting dressed up to go into the kitchen at the moment!) Sort each section by item. Keep the same type of item together on the rail, eg jackets, trousers, tops etc. It is easier to find what you want and you are more likely to mix and match your items creating different outfits. Sort each item by colour. Wardrobes look at lot less like jumble sales if you apply some structure to your colours. A way that works is to think “rainbow”. You won’t necessarily have all of these in your season but it’s a good place to start.
By Jennie Billings, Colour and Style Consultant, House of Colour www.houseofcolour.co.uk/jenniebillings e:jennie.billings@houseofcolour.co.uk
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