Reboot: how to update your wardrobe and not buy too much

When to change your wardrobe

A change of wardrobe is periodically necessary for almost every woman, but it is not easy to understand. We offer to analyze things and find out whether the problem is relevant in the closet:

• There is nothing to wear – you open the closet, you see clogged shelves, but there is still nothing to wear? This is one of the "bells" that the wardrobe needs a reboot;
• Things do not go together - out of 10-20-30 things, only a few wearable bows are made;
• You do not like clothes - opening the closet, you choose your favorite, already worn jeans and a T-shirt - the rest of the eye does not fall.

Apart from these three issues that scream the need for change, there is another reason for changing your wardrobe – the desire to change your life:

• Radically change the style - not to wear sweatpants, but to become a businesswoman, for example, or finally settle in the wardrobe beloved minimalism;
• Adjust things to the lifestyle - perhaps you were a businesswoman, and now you have become a mother on maternity leave and now official costumes simply do not fit the new social role;
• To become stylish, modern and attractive – to buy beautiful things that give confidence.

If you find that any of the problems are taking place - it's time to conduct an audit, but before moving on to a merciless farewell to T-shirts, skirts and trousers, we will find out why the wardrobe is cluttered. This will help not to repeat mistakes in the future and avoid re-blocking things that you do not wear.

4 reasons for cluttering your wardrobe

The chaos that is happening in the wardrobe is a consequence of making almost typical mistakes. The task is not just to understand why there is a lot of things in the closet, but there is nothing to wear, but to draw conclusions and not to make these mistakes again.

1. Spontaneous, rash purchases. You walked around the shopping center and saw just an incredibly beautiful blouse, and even at a discount - a sin not to buy. What to wear the thing with, of course, you did not think. As a result, there is a beautiful blouse, but it does not go well with trousers, jeans, or a skirt;
2. Shopaholism is an uncontrolled passion for shopping. You buy a lot, recklessly, often in vain – things just lie;
3. Poorly organized storage. All the things in a good wardrobe are visible. Every time you open the closet you see the color palette of the wardrobe, things that are perfectly combined into stylish outfits and stop buying neon tops in a pastel wardrobe. If the storage is organized incorrectly - you are more likely to buy an unnecessary thing;
4. The most important and common cause of clutter is the inability to combine things and lack of understanding of one's own style. You just buy things, but you can't use them later – it's not clear how and with what to wear or are afraid to look stupid.

@miumiu

5 steps to a new wardrobe

If you decide to update your wardrobe, the first thing to do is to make a plan, step-by-step instructions. It will help to systematically move towards the goal.

Wardrobe update consists of 5 main stages:

1. Preparation and attitude;
2. Revision in the closet;
3. Drawing up the formula of the wardrobe;
4. Drawing up a route;
5. Shopping.

Each of the stages of updating the wardrobe has subtleties and difficulties, so we will consider them in detail and give valuable advice.

Step 1. Preparation and attitude

It may seem that changing your wardrobe is easy – just picking it up and throwing it away that you don't need to. In fact, most girls at this moment turn on the "Plyushkin syndrome", when every thing seems incredibly necessary:

• I'll wear it in the country;
• Suitable for home;
• I'll lose weight or get better and it will be just right.

In fact, all this is a psychological game – the brain does not allow you to change, get rid of old things and make room for new ones.

@gucci Will the next step, the audit, was successful:

• Tune in to a merciless farewell to the wrong things, without pity, regret and counting the money spent;
• Disassemble the wardrobe in a good mood. A bad mood is generally not the best time for change, and even more so when it comes to beauty and confidence;
• Give up your advisors. Mom, girlfriend, husband or boyfriend, of course, want the best and can tell you how the thing sits, but here the concept of "taste" intervenes - everyone has his own view of fashion, style and personal understanding of "beautiful and ugly". Be alone with yourself and rely on the sensations in the process of sorting out clothes.

At the same stage, it is important to schematically think over the concept of the wardrobe, determine the styles and goals:

• Make a list of things or events that make up most of life – going to work, walking with your child, hiking in the mountains every weekend. In general, determine for what purposes clothes are needed;
• For each selected action, allocate a percentage - what part in % this or that activity occupies in life.

This will help to understand what things and subsequently outfits should be in the wardrobe more, so that you do not have to go to the office in the same clothes or wear one dress to a restaurant every week. Note that the chart at the top is just an example. Each girl will have a unique list of events and a different distribution of percentages.

Step 2. Revision in the closet

Parting with things is a difficult stage on the way to the desired wardrobe.

Give away, throw away or put away things that:

• With traces of time. Reels, stretch marks, non-washable stains - all this kills the style, even if we are talking about intentionally untidy grunge;
• Not the right size. Small or large things are better to at least remove, if you are sorry to throw it away. Do not wait until you lose weight or recover - you need to be stylish and confident right now;
• Outdated. It's not about fashion, but about the appropriateness of things in the wardrobe. Many, even the most beautiful things are appropriate at a certain age. A successful businesswoman looks strange in a jacket with Mickey Mouse and a miniskirt. Of course, only you choose what to wear, but we are talking about a comfortable, functional wardrobe and we recommend throwing away or giving away such things;

• Add age. It is unlikely that you want some cardigan or an unsuccessful dress to throw 10-15 years;
• I don't like them. Don't keep things if you don't feel like a queen in them. Do not think that the thing is completely new, or that it cost half the salary – confidence and a sense of your own beauty is more expensive;
• Nothing to wear. Let's say there is a blouse – I like it, but there is no "bottom". To put it "into work" you need to buy pants. Trousers except for this blouse will not be combined with anything else - as a result, the wardrobe is again cluttered.

Discard the idea of leaving things for the house and cottage - and among the beds you can and should be beautiful and stretched sweatpants will not be useful here.

After the audit, the following should remain in the wardrobe:

• Things that you like - fit well, according to the figure and fit into the style;

@gucci

• Things that you like, but require manipulation - you need to sew the pant, repair the zipper.

It is also temporarily permissible to leave things in a normal state with subsequent gradual replacement. This is true when you can not allocate a large amount right now for a complete reboot of the wardrobe. In these things you can walk, but in order replace with current models and throw out unnecessary ones.

Step 3. Making a wardrobe formula

When there is no excess left, correlate the remaining things with the basic list of things. The basic list is the minimum set of items of clothing needed by any wardrobe, just for each style the appearance of things will be different.

Put a tick near each item of clothing left in the closet after the audit - you do not need to buy these things. Items that remain without a mark must be purchased.

Before you go shopping, decide on the palette of the wardrobe. It will turn out to be functional only if things are combined in color.

How to define a palette:

• On the color wheel. To do this, choose what color scheme will be in the wardrobe - contrasting, monochrome, similar - this was written in detail in the article about the color block style;
• By perception. See photos of bows on Pinterest, Instagram, save the ones you like. In addition to clothes, take interiors, accessories, and even cars - everything that is visually pleasant. When enough photos accumulate - 20-30 pieces, highlight the main colors from the photo, correct, mute, lighten, remove something.

After completing these steps, you will get a list of things to buy, and the overall color scheme of the wardrobe.

Step 4. Itinerary

Do not rush to run to the usual stores - with a probability of 90% you will again buy things in the spirit of those that you threw away. Choose unusual for yourself stores of the same price category.

• Look at the sites of online stores of different brands. If there are 1-2 things on the site, in the desired style and color - add the store to the list;
• Look at the bows of the stars – they often tell you where they bought things;
• Be sure to pay attention to brands that produce clothes in the right style or styles. You can see our materials by style - in each we give several of the most popular brands in different price categories.

Ideally, make a list of specific places that you will visit and strictly follow the route. This will help to avoid impulse purchases.

Step 5. Shopping

It's time to visit the stores - it can be both offline and online platforms - do as convenient as it is. In the process of shopping, be guided by the list of things and the chosen color scheme.

And take note of the 3 rules of successful shopping - they will help make the wardrobe stylish and functional without unnecessary acquisitions:

1. Don't buy something off the list. No matter how much you like the thing, try not to go beyond the list. The task now is to collect the main backbone of things, and only then add something third-party;
2. Take your time. Set aside more time for shopping and give yourself the opportunity to see the same thing in different stores. Choose only the best, what you like 100 percent;
3. Don't skimp on quality. A functional wardrobe that is not tied to fast fashion . - fast fashion, lasts a long time, so all investments in high-quality clothes will be justified.

The main mistakes when rebooting the wardrobe

• Focus on trends. Dressing fashionably is great, but expensive. If you can't allocate a budget for a reboot every season, choose basic things or long-term trends. For example, leather jackets have been in fashion for several seasons and will remain relevant for a long time - this is a profitable investment, and a dress with lantern sleeves is the current trend, next summer it will come to naught, and it will simply lie on the shelf;

• Purchase without a list. When there is no clear plan for what you need to buy, the probability of grabbing something extra increases significantly;

If the wardrobe is small, take a picture of all the things on your phone - this will help in choosing things for subsequent combinations of stylish bows.

• Buying things out of size. Do not take things for those times when you lose weight or recover - after the audit in the wardrobe there is nothing to wear and investing in the future is not the best solution;
• Buying individual things. If you buy a blouse that does not fit into the wardrobe, you will have to buy pants for it later, and a jacket for the trousers. This will lead to the beginning of the journey – a closet filled with incongruous things;
• The same type and duplicate things. 5 roughly identical shirts, 3 sweatshirts, 2 jeans - a lot of things, but there is no variety in outfits. Do not buy duplicates - try to diversify the choice of things in the wardrobe to look stylish and diverse daily;

@gucci

• Sale-addiction. No matter how attractive the discount on the dress is – do not buy it when it does not fit into the wardrobe. It's a clutter that will one day lead to the first step again.

It's time to change your wardrobe – start doing it now. And if you have any questions - ask them in the comments!

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