JANUARY 2005

How to Make the Most of Your Current Wardrobe

It's the start of a new year and, let me guess... you have nothing to wear. True, you may have a closet overflowing with clothes, shoes and accessories, but how to make all of that actually work together as outfits that you'd love to wear has been completely escaping you. Wouldn't it be wonderful if, at the start of every new year, you could get a whole new closet? Well, that would be a dream come true, but unless you plan on winning the lottery it isn't very realistic. So while you can't just snap your fingers and replace everything in your closet, there are a few things that you can do to help make the best use of things you currently own.

 The first step to your new wearable wardrobe is a complete closet cleanout (this includes drawers too). The most efficient way to do this is to sort everything using three piles .

The first pile is for clothes, shoes and accessories that you want to keep in your closet. Obviously items that you already love and wear often will go into this pile. You can also add items that you forgot you had or that you would wear more often if you had the right outfits, but be careful doing this. If you find items with the tags still on or items that are nearly new but that you haven't worn in a few years, give seriously thought to whether you actually will wear them or if they would be better off in the second pile. The second pile is for clothes, shoes and accessories that are in brand new or almost new condition but that don't fit or you won't wear. These are items that could potentially bring you a profit, whether via an online auction site or a local consignment shop, with which to buy new wardrobe pieces that you will wear. The third pile is for clothes, shoes and accessories that are in wearable condition but that no longer fit or no longer work with the rest of your wardrobe. These items, especially anything for colder weather or for work, can and should be donated to your local thrift store or homeless shelter or to a national organization like Dress for Success. If you have items that don't belong in these three piles, consider whether you want to sacrifice space (or money if you would need to pay for storage) to store them. If your space is limited, under-bed storage containers can stow pieces that you want to save but don't want cluttering your closet. Choose wisely - while your mom's Pucci dress from the sixties is definitely worthy of storage space, your prom dress from 1992 isn't. If there are items that you are saving merely for sentimental value, take a photo of each item (with or without you in it) and save those instead. It will be a great exercise in letting go... and will take up much less space in your closet.

     Now that the clutter has been cleared and you are left with only the clothes, shoes and accessories in pile number-one from your sort, it's time to take stock of what you have to work with .

First, do your clothes fit your lifestyle? If you work in a corporate environment, do you have enough work-appropriate pieces? If your lifestyle is mostly casual, do you have plenty of items that work casually? Often times, your belief that you have nothing to wear might be spot-on, especially if the items that you have, while numerous, aren't meeting your clothing needs. You might have mostly casual items and thus have a hard time dressing appropriately and creatively for work. Or you might have the opposite problem - lots of great work pieces but nothing to wear on the weekends. Are there enough basic pieces in your pile? "Basics" can be defined as the clothes and accessories that would be the most versatile in your wardrobe. For most people, these basics include black pants, dressy dark denim jeans , a white blouse that can be dressed up or down, some tees in neutral colors . Determine what your personal basics are and make sure you have them. Would a pair of grey trousers go with everything you own? Did you just toss your one black tee into the give-away pile during the clothes sort? Make a list of the clothes categories or specific items that you think your wardrobe is lacking. Think about the times that you pulled out a top and thought "this would be perfect if only I had." - if you can recall a few items that kept coming up in your "perfect wardrobe" daydreams, those items should be on your list. While you are taking stock of what you have, also make note of anything that needs to be repaired or dry-cleaned. That great black pencil skirt isn't helping your wardrobe if it is hanging up in need of a zipper-replacement. If your favorite sweater is pilling, use a sweater shaver on it. Make sure that all of your clothes are ready to work for your wardrobe.

     The next step is to try to make outfits with the clothes that you have. Now that you've culled a lot of the space-fillers from your wardrobe, you should only have items that you love or that look great on you left in there.

Spend an afternoon or evening trying on different combinations of clothing and accessories. Put on the perfectly-fitting pants that you love and try on every top that you own with them. That top that makes your eyes look gorgeous, try it on with all of your bottoms. During this process you'll be surprised about color pairings, things that work, things that don't work. Experiment with layering - try a button-down under a turtleneck, try several layered tops in different colors, or a tee on top of another shirt. No one is going to see you in any of these outfits (unless they pass muster), so try things on even if you think they wouldn't or couldn't possibly go together. Keep a notebook handy while you do this. If you try on an outfit and think "this would look really perfect with a brown blazer , if only I had one", write that down as something you'd like to try and find during future shopping hunts. You could even enlist a friend (or roommate or boyfriend) to take some digital pictures of you in outfits that you discover you love during your little "paper doll" session.

    

With all of the above info in mind, and armed with the list of wardrobe boosters that you've been building during this process, go shopping for some new pieces . Give purchase priority to the "basics" that you've got on your list - the items that would work with almost everything at home in your closet. Then start to look for some of the other things on your list. Did you come up with five outfits in your mind that would work great with a certain style of skirt of with a certain color sweater? Get those items as your next purchases. As soon as you buy something new, give it a tour in your closet. What does it go with? If you bring home a new purchase and realize that you can't make a single outfit with it using items that are already in your closet, return it! It doesn't make sense to fill your closet with clothes that would look great if only you had more or different clothes to pair them with. Try to incorporate new things into your wardrobe as soon as you buy them. This will train you to think of possible outfits when you try items on in the store. And at the start of each new season, when the stores are filled with new and trendy items, you will be able to browse with a keen eye, picking out pieces that will complement the ones that you already have at home.

     Hopefully these tips will help you kick off the New Year with a new outlook on your closet. Make this the year that you finally open your closet and say "wow, look at all the things I have to wear!"

    

    

    

Ashley Wendus has been fashion-focused since her youth, when she spent hours creating funky looks with Fashion PlatesT and flipping through Seventeen and Sassy magazines. Today she prides herself on her ability to incorporate the latest runway looks that best suit her lifestyle and her budget into her closet, and she hopes to pass some of her tips for doing so on to you.