I have been busy taking inventory of my closet and I've decided its time to do a wardrobe do-over. As I'm nearing the end of my grad school career, I need to starting building a more grown-up wardrobe. I'm gaining some fashion confidence and discovering my own personal style so I'm breaking out of my plain-jane rut to include more stylish things in my closet. My sense of style is changing but my closet does not fully reflect that. But there is one small problem....I'm a graduate student! I don't have the money to buy a completely new wardrobe so this will be process. In the meantime, I'll continue to edit my closet, make lists of what I need and want to add, develop a clothing budget, and collect inspiration for more creative outfits using what I already have. Take for instance, this outfit inspired by January Jones (via Polyvore):
Nothing special about this outfit but I'm trying to do better about putting all of the items in my closet into a regular wear rotation. I have a similar paisley burnout shirt from TJMaxx that I purchased months ago that still has the price tag on it, never worn....SHAME! This is a bad habit of mine that I desperately need to break.
The 30 for 30 Remix Challenge by Kendi, of Kendi Everyday blog fame, is a great idea. I'm not currently participating in the challenge but it is inspiring me to put what I already have to better use. Her blog has been a great source of inspiration for me; I love her style!
The 30 for 30 Remix Challenge by Kendi, of Kendi Everyday blog fame, is a great idea. I'm not currently participating in the challenge but it is inspiring me to put what I already have to better use. Her blog has been a great source of inspiration for me; I love her style!
Kendi of Kendi Everday (kendieverydayblogspot.com)
Kendi also did a series (Creating a Working Closet) on her blog that addressed assessing your closet, taking out the junk, and remixing to make the most out of your wardrobe. This 5-step series (Purge, Assess, Organize, Shopping, and Remixing) has been very helpful to me. After going through my closet, I realized I had alot of junk to purge (things I had not worn in forever, things that I should have let go years ago but didn't because I'm a pack-rat, things that I no longer want or can't remember why in the world I spent money on in the first place!). To Goodwill they went! Clearing out the junk and having the closet (somewhat) organized has made putting outfits together easier. I started color coding my closet about a year ago but I still have a probelm with having clothes sitting and hanging in areas around my bedroom other than the closet. And my shoes and accessories are not organized all that well but I'm working on it!
After clearing the clutter, I started assessing the pros and cons of my wardrobe. What are my good goes-with-just-about-everything pieces?, what is my wardrobe lacking? Does my wardrobe reflect my current style and wardrobe needs? etc. As I mentioned earlier, I don't feel that my wardrobe fully reflects my current style. I also noticed that accessories and tops with brighter colors and patterns is what I am especially lacking in. I have done some shopping but I have been much more mindful of: how will the new item fit into my current wardrobe, is it one of the items that my wardrobe is lacking and that I need (not just something I want because its cute and on sale!), do I already have something similar in my closet, on what occasion will I wear it, how well does it fit (will alterations be needed & is it worth the cost of alterations), the quality, how much wear will I get for the price?
Next, I started thinking about what items in my wardrobe have I not used to its full potential? Can I put together 3 or more outfits/looks with each item in my closet? I'm currently looking to celebrities, fashion magazines, fashion blogs, and Polyvore to get inspiration for remixing and including more color & accessories in my outfits.
This has all been such a fun process and recommend everyone do this - even if you're not looking to do a wardrobe overhaul like me but just for the sake of making your wardrobe as stylish and efficient as you can!
After clearing the clutter, I started assessing the pros and cons of my wardrobe. What are my good goes-with-just-about-everything pieces?, what is my wardrobe lacking? Does my wardrobe reflect my current style and wardrobe needs? etc. As I mentioned earlier, I don't feel that my wardrobe fully reflects my current style. I also noticed that accessories and tops with brighter colors and patterns is what I am especially lacking in. I have done some shopping but I have been much more mindful of: how will the new item fit into my current wardrobe, is it one of the items that my wardrobe is lacking and that I need (not just something I want because its cute and on sale!), do I already have something similar in my closet, on what occasion will I wear it, how well does it fit (will alterations be needed & is it worth the cost of alterations), the quality, how much wear will I get for the price?
Next, I started thinking about what items in my wardrobe have I not used to its full potential? Can I put together 3 or more outfits/looks with each item in my closet? I'm currently looking to celebrities, fashion magazines, fashion blogs, and Polyvore to get inspiration for remixing and including more color & accessories in my outfits.
This has all been such a fun process and recommend everyone do this - even if you're not looking to do a wardrobe overhaul like me but just for the sake of making your wardrobe as stylish and efficient as you can!
