Question: So I went through an extreme minimalist phase, and most of my clothes fit in a single drawer and then I have more traditional clothes that I love but don’t really fit the area I live so I feel a bit odd wearing out, or dressed up wearing in. What if there are only a few pieces you have, more for practicality than style? I only have a few pieces I find flattering and I like, like 5 at most. Should I just focus on those? Should I look at the clothes I have saved on Pinterest? Thank you so much!
Building Your Wardrobe: The Questions You Need to Ask Yourself
It’s a tricky question for me to answer without knowing you, your lifestyle, your location, your needs, and your personality. Instead of being able to provide you with a nice answer wrapped up in a box with a bow, instead, I’m going to give you some questions to ponder and think about. Ideally, think about these with a pen and paper.
How does minimalism feel to you – does it feel great or does it feel restrictive?
For some people minimalism is freeing and fantastic, for others it feels like you’ve boxed yourself into a too small corner and you are bored by your style and lack of options. I’ve written more about this here.
What kinds of clothes do you love wearing? What are your favourite outfits and how do you feel in them?
Looking at those favourite garments and outfits, what are they? How would you describe them? What kind of level of refinement do they have? What design elements do they have? What makes them clothes and outfits you love? Why do they work for you?
What is is that you love about a garment? I love the angel wings on this denim jacket (the jacket is super comfy and stretchy too which is a plus). I like the individuality and the unexpected detail of the wings. It’s relaxed and casual yet a jacket often feels a little more dressy than a cardigan, I also love the pockets that make it really practical as I can fit my phone into them.
What is your lifestyle and location – what works for these aspects of your style and in your current wardrobe?
Where do you live? What is the kind of clothes are commonly worn in your location? What’s the weather? Do you have very different seasons or is it more temperate? What kind of clothes do you need with regards to climate? Do you need to layer? How does that work for you?
What is missing from your wardrobe – where do you feel like you’ve not got what you need?
When you get dressed for all the different occasions and roles in your life, where do you struggle? When do you think “I wish I had a XXXX” and you realise that you have wardrobe gaps?
What parts of your life do you feel that you’re lacking the clothes and outfits and you struggle to get dressed in a way that expresses your style?
The 5 pieces you love that you think are flattering – what is it about them that you love? Fabric, fit, colour, pattern, details etc.
Get down to the details of those items that you really love and wear and note down everything about them – is there something that each of these pieces have in common, either in physical detail or in how they make you feel when you wear them?
How can you translate this information into looking for other clothes that fit your life and style?
Create yourself a Style Recipe from this information (lots of tips to help you do this in these posts).
Now that you have a better understanding of what you need and what you love you can think about what you need and to look at those pieces on Pinterest and see if what you’ve discovered matches up with the items you’ve been saving on your boards.
The pieces you’ve saved on Pinterest – how do the elements of design, the styles, colours, patterns fit with the list of information you’ve written down about what is currently working that you love? If they are different – what is it that you’re loving about them? What has made you pin them? Is there something aspirational that you’d like to include into your style? How do they fit with your style recipe?
Not Sure What Really Works For You?
If after looking at these aspects of your wardrobe you still feel stuck and are just not sure what works for you, then join my 7 Steps to Style program and get all your style fundamentals sorted out so you can start to build a wardrobe consciously and you’ll have much more success as you do.
How to Build Your Style from Ground Zero
4 Simple Tips to Help You Build a Stylish Wardrobe of Clothes
8 Tips to Help You Declutter Your Wardrobe
5 Steps to Avoid Junk Clothes
