Nothing to Wear? Here’s How to Build a Better Wardrobe
My closet, probably like yours, is not harmonious to my life.
It’s a constant work in progress and no matter what I stock up on I’ll inevitably reach in, gaze upon racks of clothing and declare that I have absolutely nothing to wear.
Can we ever stop this from happening?
We’ll always want more. But you can build a better wardrobe so the feeling of having nothing to wear happens a lot less often.
Here’s your four-step guide on how to build a better wardrobe so you can end that clothing frustration once and for all!
How to Build a Better Wardrobe
First, Survey Your Lifestyle
It’s likely that the items you have in your closet aren’t at all proportionate to the lifestyle you live.
My closet, for example, used to be full of date-night outfits when in reality, I work from home. My wardrobe wasn’t in sync with the life I was actually living!
Survey your lifestyle and determine what types of activities you spend doing most; your clothing should be equally proportionate.
If you spend 60% of your life at work, for example, about 60% of it should be clothing you can adapt to the office.
As much as I love stocking up on coats, dresses and stillettos, I am not a socialite. So my closet shouldn’t look like it is.
You’ll be much happier in the morning when you realize your closet is realistically in line with your needs of how you actually spend your time.
FINALLY READY FOR A WARDROBE YOU LOVE? Download this FREE workbook and never say you have nothing to wear–again!
Buy for Your Climate
Just like your ratio of clothing should be proportionate to your life activities, it should be proportionate to your surroundings too. Specifically, seasons.
My personal weakness is coats. I love them. I totally stock up. But I live in Arizona and this kind of hoarding I do is admittedly, totally unreasonable.
Instead, my closet should be stocked with a summer capsule wardrobe, not resemble a winter wonderland.
ACTION STEP: Make sure your closet is in harmony with the seasons where you live.
Survey Your Remnants
If you haven’t worn it in 6 months to a year, you probably won’t!
It’s time to declutter your closet. Sort your clothes into three piles: Donate, Keep and Toss.
For those designer duds, check out local resale shops where you might even earn a few bucks.
You don’t even have to leave your home, you can try apps like:
- Poshmark
- The Real Real
- eBay
- ThredUp
and more…
RELATED: How to Declutter Your Closet for Good
Stick to Classics
Wardrobe classics exist for a reason–they are full of pieces that make up the building blocks of your wardrobe and rarely go out of style!
When you’re working on building a better wardrobe, you should make sure you have enough basics to create multiple outfits.
Don’t go the cheap route on this, invest in pieces that will stand the test of time.
RELATED: Fashion Investments Every Woman in Her 30s Should Make
Rinse and Repeat
Building a better wardrobe is a constant work-in-progress. Especially for us women!
We go through so many life changes, between new jobs, getting married, having babies, etc., that you’ll want to survey your closet every few months.
Purge, rinse, make a list of new items to stock up on and repeat! You’ll be on your way to building a better wardrobe in no time.
Need Extra Help? Download this FREE workbook and never say you have nothing to wear–again!
Fantastic post! I have the same issue as you where my wardrobe is filled with party dresses and club wear while I dont really party that much.
So true – this is a great article! I just wish work wasn’t 75% of my life – I’m in denial! 😉
I’m Going To Try This Soon, I Need To Clean Out My Closet Hahaha
Thanks! 😀
It took me a while to understand but you are so right about the last point. I periodically check my wardrobe inventory. From this starting point I’ll decide what to keep, to buy and give away. It has made me a more conscious shopper. Thank you for sharing.
Great post. It’s definitely time to get honest with ourselves!! I did something ridiculous a while back… I took pictures of EVERY SINGLE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING in my closet! my iPhone almost conked out, and I was a bit embarrassed for myself. Why the hell did I have that much crap?! Well it was a great wakeup call. I uploaded them to my computer, saw which tops went with which bottoms, which I wanted to style with, and which I needed to GET RID OF!
It was a great exercise, and if you have the time, I suggest lots of people do it 😉
xxMelissa
houseofhippie.com
Wow, every single item? I’m pretty sure my phone would conk out too! There’s an iphone app that helps your organize your closet actually by uploading pictures. It’s called Stylebook and sounds pretty cool but idk that i’d have the patience to upload everything!
Here’s the app: http://mashable.com/2010/09/14/best-fashion-apps-iphone/
wow, great! Thanks for showing me the app, I’ll have to look into it! Yes, it was time consuming, but I was in the middle of moving, so it was kind of a perfect time to do it 🙂
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Great post! I haven’t thought about trying to match my wardrobe to my life style all that much… I guess it sort of happens naturally ~ all though not so much with the shoes!! I just wear them anyway and get told I always dress up/overdress but I have decided that I don’t care if I am ‘overdressed’ ~ I love my heels and I am stickin’ with them!!
xox,
bonita of Depict This!
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I never thought about that. It’s difficult to make my wardrobe coordinate with the seasons just because I move so many places, but I definitely felt out of place wearing a dark, navy blue dress in the middle of spring in Central Texas today haha 🙂
Janet
transformationintexas.blogspot.com
Thank you for these wonderful tips! Im deffinintley going to sort out my closet now….
What a great post, soooooooo useful, especially for hoarders like me! I’m going to use this template to go through my wardrobe tomorrow!
Great post and blog!
Love C x
Thanks for the comment!