Do you need a wardrobe that is versatile, good quality and doesn’t cost the earth?
With the cost of living hitting many of us harder than previously, our wardrobes need to work hard for us to ensure they represent us well while also giving us more bang for our buck so to speak. If you’re already conscious of the fact that the $5 fast fashion t-shirt is not the answer to your dreams, there are other things you can do to build a great but cost effective wardrobe.
Firstly, when culling or acquiring any piece of clothing, be mindful of the body you’re inhabiting and the life you’re living now. It’s all too easy to postpone clothing decisions because you aim to become fitter / increase muscle mass / increase or lose weight in the future. And while you may be working admirably towards these goals, they take more time as we hit midlife (believe me!) and in the meantime you still need your wardrobe to work for you.
Regarding lifestyle, it’s easy to acquire or hold onto pieces for a life you hope to have or a life you used to live. For example, after I left corporate it took me a while to release some of my more formal pieces, whether they be tailored and conservative or fancier things for attending corporate networking events. (I still attend networking events but they are not the conservative style I used to be invited to.) So again, when culling or acquiring clothing, be realistic about your current needs. This will reduce unnecessary expenditure and / or free up wardrobe space.
Another strategy you can implement is to work on the capsule principle; ensuring your individual pieces can co-ordinate with each other easily. This involves a few considerations such as:
analysing the silhouettes that you’re comfortable wearing and knowing how to identify pieces that will achieve that
deciding on a level of refinement that works for you (ie casual, formal or somewhere in between)
factoring in your personal style (whether you wish to be seen as feminine, androgynous, edgy, theatrical, strong, approachable etc)
choosing pieces that layer well together, and
sticking to a COLOUR palette, of course!
While sticking to a colour palette might sound limited, it doesn’t have to be. Designing your wardrobe’s colour palette can be as tight or as open as you like; the key is to understand the common elements underpinning the colours that light you up. For example, are they soft and cool or bright and warm, soft and warm or bright and cool etc? Having even a limited understanding of colour and knowing the ones that make you look radiant will guide you on your culling and future purchasing.
Buying quality pieces can be expensive but it doesn’t have to be. Knowing how to detect well-made pieces means you can select items that may not be expensive but will last beyond the ubiquitous and ‘disposable’ fast fashion. Fabric, fastenings and cut play an important part here. Beyond that, understanding how a garment is supposed to fit and whether or not it sits on you well is vital. This is invaluable knowledge that unfortunately seems to have skipped a generation or two as fast fashion manufacturers fooled us into thinking we could constantly buy cheap things and dispose of them if they didn’t work for us with little consequence. We now know better but we are playing catch up on lost knowledge.
Ad hoc purchasing that is not strategic will not build a sustainable or quality wardrobe. Building a wardrobe that is versatile, good quality and doesn’t cost the earth requires some strategy and a little investment that will pay massive dividends.
Drawing on my knowledge from advising clients on personal style since 2008, I have developed a few ways to guide you on this journey:
Wardrobe Freshen + Colour: if you’d like to start with culling and enhancing what you have, this is for you. It includes a Colour Analysis
Personal Shopping: if you’d like help selecting new, quality pieces that will work well on you into the future, choose this
Style Direction + Colour: two separate consultations to empower your wardrobe decisions for many years to come
Style Adventure: this is one with the lot, as all the above is included here
Colour Analysis: an excellent foundation from which to kickstart your wardrobe journey
