You don’t have to love fashion and style to benefit from dressing stylishly. It doesn’t take a lot of money or necessarily a large wardrobe. It’s all about well-chosen items that fit your lifestyle, needs, taste and budget. It’s something that everyone can do and benefit from — all ages, body types, genders, lifestyles.
The challenge can be in finding and buying the items you need. BWe use an approach here at Condiment for building, shopping and styling wardrobes. Here’s a look below:
- ID your lifestyle. Center the bulk of your wardrobe shopping and styling to what you have to dress for the most often. You can build out to the lesser activities once you have a good base wardrobe for what you do the most. Considering your lifestyle is also really important when it comes to what you buy. For example, if you’re at an office for work most days of the week, you’ll likely need work-appropriate clothing that is professional, easy to wear and durable. Think about your life and lifestyle before buying or styling in your closet.
- ID what you like to wear. Everyone has things they like to wear, items they’re naturally drawn to. Be cognizant of what you like because that’s what you will reach for in your closet even if it’s packed with clothes! Pay attention to the design, look and style of clothes, shoes and accessories you find yourself interested in. You might gravitate toward rugged boots or simple sneakers. Locking down a sense of what you like to wear or are drawn to is the important next step.
- ID your look. Outfits are a collaboration of a bunch of items pulled together, so knowing what kind of outfits and looks you like is important. Start by looking for inspiration of what you like. Save looks to a Pinterest board, or to your desktop. Or tear out pages of looks and outfits from fashion magazines. This will help you get an idea of how you want to look — and make shopping and styling much easier.
- ID what you need. Everyone has some type of wardrobe. It might not be the ideal one at the moment. But at least some of what you already own may be workable for your new look/style. Take a quick look in your current closet — set aside anything that fits into #1-3 above as you can potentially get use from it long range. Make a list of things that you might need. You may find you don’t need anything, and it’s just a matter of reworking what you already own into new ideas and looks.
- Work it. Always, always aim to make outfits and looks! While shopping or styling in your closet, always think of complete outfits — don’t just wear jeans and a tee. Add a necklace, or scarf, jewelry, and so on. A great tactic is to spend a few hours creating looks and outfit ideas. Then, when you have to go somewhere, you have a bunch of outfit ideas you know work and off you go.
A great wardrobe and great style doesn’t mean you need a lot of clothes! It doesn’t need to be designer or expensive, either. Be sure you are buying what is ideal and right for you and your unique needs and taste. From there, always aim to buy the best quality you can afford. Some items, materials, etc. are just not worth splurging on. See how your purchases work for you and learn from past buys.
We talk about all of this and more in Condiment’s book Wardrobe Science, or you can hire our Virtual Styling Concierge. Details here and here.