If getting dressed every morning is starting to feel like a chore for you, it most likely means it’s time to simplify (aka curate) your wardrobe. Expressing yourself through your personal style is supposed to be fun, but as you grow and evolve as a person, your style tends to change as well. Where you live, what you do for your career, even your hobbies can have an affect on your sartorial needs, so instead of having a closet full of clothes “with nothing to wear”, why not take a moment to really hone in on where you are currently style-wise and rebuild your wardrobe to reflect that? This doesn’t mean that you need to buy an entire new wardrobe, but it DOES mean you should simplify what you have so that you know what you need. Below are a few quick tips to help you do that.
First thing’s first: what do you want your style to say?
Trends come and go, but there are certain pieces that will always be classic as well. For most of us, we fall somewhere in the middle: we like to dip our toes in a trend here and there, but we hardly ever want to fully dive in. This doesn’t mean that you have to have a closet full of boring basics; it just means you need to define your style ID. Do you like timeless classic pieces, or boho cali girl vibes? Are your accessories simple and to the point, or are you a magpie who lives for a new trend? Either way, you need to decide what your main style ID is-this will help you get a clearer vision on how you want to look everyday, but also which brands and boutiques cater to that aesthetic so that shopping will be a LOT easier in the future. Take a few hours one day to look up some of your personal style icons and save those looks that resonate with you the most. You’ll discover a theme when you collectively look at what you’ve saved.
Go back to the basics.
Now that you know what your style ID is, now is the time to shop your closet. This isn’t the same as purging (you do that later), but this IS a form of building a capsule wardrobe. Now that you’re clear on what your aesthetic is/what you want it to be, create a core color palette with pieces that you want to build looks around. Speaking personally, I noticed that I tend to gravitate towards the same 5-8 colors when I shop, even when something has a pattern. Sure, I have a few outliers, but for the most part, I can easily color coordinate my closet whenever I’m in the mood to organize it, and then I can mix and match when I need to. Creating a core color palette means that whatever you own will typically work well together regardless of what the pieces are. Yes, texture, silhouettes, even the event you need to wear it for will also affect how well these pieces work together, BUT, it’s so much easier to decide on a look when you know that the colors are in harmony. Once you decide on your color palette, start going through your closet and picking out the pieces that fit it (keeping each color together).
Take inventory and build looks (but pay attention to the details).
Now that you’re clear on your style aesthetic and foundational colors, now’s the time to build looks, mixing and matching items along the way. Use the style icon looks that you’ve saved as a reference guide; this will not only give you an easy set of go-to looks BUT it will also help you figure out what accessories and other key items are missing from your wardrobe to help you achieve them. KEY is the operative word here. For example: If you’ve saved 5 looks that you love and all include the person wearing leopard print mules (that you don’t own), instead of going out to get a pair of leopard ballet flats, just hold out until you can find the mules. Reason being, you won’t ever be happy with your look and might not even wear the shoes because they weren’t what you were missing and they gave your outfit a completely different vibe. It seems insignificant now, but the cut of a jean, the length of a blouse, even the brim of a hat can completely change up the look that you were going for based on your style, so you want to make sure that the items that you are keeping (and shopping for) are exactly what you want. It means less shopping, but it keeps your wardrobe true to your aesthetic. These little details are why some of the outfits that your faves wear are simple but still elevated.
Purge baby purge.
It’s been said that we only wear 20% of what we have in our closet, so why are you holding on to those things that only kinda sorta fit or match the aesthetic that you have in mind? Let them go! It can seem scary at first letting all of those pieces go (especially if you’re someone that preserves their clothes really well), but once you purge all of those things that you DON’T need, you can actually see what you do have and getting dressed will be so much easier. You will also know exactly which staples are missing from your closet as well, and once you’re ready for it, you can begin the hunt for those coveted pieces. This doesn’t mean go crazy (seriously, how many white blouses or striped tops can one have?); it means filling in the blanks that are missing from your closet so that getting dressed will become effortless (and you’ll love what you wearing too!).