OMG! What am I doing?!! I should be telling you to just buy more clothes from Discoveries. But nope, that’s not what this post is about. This post is about making the most of what you already own.)
I like to think of this as a way to maximize your use of what you already have in your closet, while expanding your style variety. We all get tired of having closets that are full of clothes, yet at the same time we feel like we have nothing to wear. That’s often because we wear the same old tops with the same old bottoms, and we don’t change it up. Yawn…..boredom city.
How do we solve the boredom issue?
Being a fashion lover, and wanting to up your own fashion game, you will need to make some kind of note when you see someone wearing an outfit that you like. (This is a bit different from noticing a single garment, which we all seem to do automatically.)
You need to notice ALL the items in the outfit, from head to toe. Notice what they are wearing on their feet, and their bottom half, including socks and belts. Notice their top half. Do they have on layers? What are the layers? What jewelry or accessories do they have on? What kind of hair accessory or hat? It all works together to make the outfit memorable, and you are going to analyze the elements. I wouldn’t suggest taking a photo, unless it is a good friend and they give you permission. But you can write down the elements in a text message to yourself for later reference. Your note to self might read something like: “plaid fedora, long hair, long trench coat, white T, jeans, converse”. That might be enough to trigger a visual memory to aid you in your next step.
When you get home, : go straight to your closet and try to re-create the look you admired, using similar elements that you already own. Dig around among items you rarely wear. New combinations or possibilities will likely occur to you while you are doing this. Write down or take a photo of your new outfit idea. Or several photos if you come up with different versions. Keeping photos in your phone of outfits that you might want to wear is just a variation on the old-school Polaroid photos that famous stylists make their clients post in their closets. Using your own garments and accessories guarantees that your outfit will not be an exact copy of the one you admired; it will have your own personality incorporated.
If you don’t have the time to try on outfits, take a second to jot down more details of the look (e.g., topstitching on trench coat matches plaid in hat, or white T has v-neck) to help you recall the outfit when you try to recreate it later. Even weeks or months later, these ideas will help spark your creativity.
Another idea is to tear out magazine pages and put them in a file folder that you can browse through later. Or collect online photos and ‘paste’ them into a collage. Use these images to help you decide how to put your own clothes together into new combinations.
By recording the looks or outfits, you are creating a catalogue of ideas. Instead of going for the old reliable outfits that have been boring you, you now have a source of new ideas that won’t cost you. Although if you wish, you could start a shopping list of items that would add versatility and become the foundation for many new outfits. I found a black long sleeved t-shirt from Gap that became the anchor for so many ‘new’ outfits.
For me, the most significant benefit is that I don’t have to rely on my memory to come up with stylish new ideas first thing in the morning. (I may yawn, but at least it won’t be because my outfit is boring.)
So there ya go. Try it. See if it works for you.