Photo for illustration. (Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash)
By Lizel van der Westhuizen
Is your wardrobe a storage place for all kinds of clothes you have collected over the years? Then it’s time to do something about it.
Your wardrobe should be an investment in yourself. Everyone knows that when you feel good about your clothes, you’ll also generally be more confident.
Therefore, you should treat your wardrobe with the same respect that you want to be treated with.
The first step on your journey to a better wardrobe is to sit down and plan your ideal wardrobe.
As with anything else, you can accomplish a lot with a little extra effort. So set aside a few hours for yourself, grab a pen and paper, and start planning.
Here are ten steps to help you put together the perfect wardrobe:
1. Analyze your lifestyle and environment
During this step, you determine what kind of clothes you will need throughout the year and what will suit your lifestyle.
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2. Determine your body shape
It is possible that your body fits into more than one of the body shape categories. The secret is knowing which body parts make you fit into which category and then working to flatter them accordingly.
You may have large hips like a pear, but at the same time you may have broad shoulders that are characteristic of a rectangle. Be flexible in your categorization.
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3. Choose your style
If you like many different style personalities, you are welcome to choose them all. However, to develop a theme for your wardrobe, I would not recommend that you dress romantically one day and sporty the next.
When it comes to planning outfits, try to incorporate elements of several style personalities into one outfit instead. For example, you can wear a dress with sneakers.
This way you make sure that there is a theme present in all your outfits and there is also some uniformity.
Here are the seven main style personalities. You can combine them for a unique style personality. (Photo: Provided)
4. Create a color palette
In planning which patterns and prints you will incorporate into your wardrobe, it is important to ensure that they will blend well with the rest of your wardrobe.
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5. Add Patterns:
In planning which patterns you will incorporate into your wardrobe, it is important to ensure that they will blend well with the rest of your wardrobe.
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6. Make sure you have the basic items in your closet:
To help you determine which basic items you should have in your closet, you can think about the following questions:
- What type of clothes can’t you live without, or what are the favorite items in your wardrobe?
Is it a pair of comfortable denims or maybe a black dress? If you could only choose twenty items from your wardrobe to keep, what would they be and why?
- What items do you wear the most?
Determine what you have in your closet right now and wear the most. This is the starting point of your basic list.
- What items do you often use to build or plan an outfit?
Understanding which items are the starting point for your outfits can help you determine what you consider essential. Do you create your outfits around a gray T-shirt? Then consider it your wardrobe staple.
- Are there everyday activities that you struggle to dress for?
If there are specific times when you struggle to find something in your wardrobe to wear, it could be because you are missing certain key items in your wardrobe. Do you struggle to put together an outfit when it’s cold outside? Maybe you need a matching overcoat or a suitable sweater. List the activities of the first step that you struggle with the most and consider which items of clothing will fix them.
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7. Sit extras by
A useful way to determine what those extras might be is to look again at your activity pie chart.
All activities that together make up less than 40% of your chart are special events. These are the activities you spend less time on.
For example, if you attend evening events once a month, you will need a few evening dresses, but they will certainly not form the backbone of your wardrobe.
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8. Choose your shoes
Even though they are at the bottom of an outfit, shoes are an important part of your overall look. So don’t neglect this step.
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9. Accessories
Just like clothes, accessories can be used strategically to balance out your silhouette – the most important item here is your handbag.
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10. Add seasonal items
Once you have the basic essentials for an entire year’s wardrobe, you can start adding items that can be changed each season.
