​"Fashion is the voice we use to declare ourselves to the world" - Dawnn Karen - Fashion Psychologist

Here we are at the beginning of another month and, more pertinently to this blog, the end of #freshlooksfeb where I and a few of my colleages wore something different every day for the month of February. - (Except jammies day at the weekend but that's a given).

Why?
I wanted to see if by re organising your wardrobe, (see January blog the-simple-way-to-organise-your-wardrobe-so-youll-start-wearing-all-your-clothes-all-the-time.html), you would view your clothes in a different way and therefore wear more of them,  more of the time.

How'd it go?
The first two weeks were pretty much business as usual for me as I'm lucky enough to have a lot of clothes because: 

• They are my passion, they make my life better, and I love variety and compartmentalising for the different areas of my life.
• I am a very savvy shopper and get a lot of bang for my buck by utilising sales, Trade Me,         Designer Wardrobe, and Fashion Lane, where you can type in anything you're looking for and it brings up the cheapest place to get it online.
• I love op shopping (not for everyone I know but if it is check out my November blog on doing it the savvy way) - https://stylesavvychic.weebly.com/stylesavvy-wellington/how-to-op-shop-for-clothes-the-savvy-way
• I look after all my clothes whether they're from the High Street, an Op Shop or something Ive invested in - they deserve the same care.
• I know what suits me so don't tend to waste money buying things I won't wear. (If you need help with this part, call me for a free 1/2 hour assessment).                                                                                          

Back to fresh looks feb,  as I said the first fortnight was a doddle and I wore pretty much what I would have worn anyway but after that it got a bit trickier and this is where the organised wardrobe came into play.

You would assume that as a stylist who specialises in creating new outfits for my clients from their existing wardrobe it would have been easy to take my own advice, but once the novelty wore off I found I'm as likely as the next person to go with the tried and true or grab the nearest thing, (especially on Monday mornings).

However - I couldn't let the team down and so made the effort and was surprised and delighted with
some of the things I found and some ideas I had about wearing things in a new way.

​​For example:

• A mint green top I bought about 10 years ago and dressed up with mint green platforms to wear to a fashion show at Government House, (no less), and had a lot of complements on I might add.
• A silver slip dress that I normally wear at weekends - add a blazer and heels and it's tidy enough for work, swap to a denim jacket for going out that night.
• A black and white paisley sundress I bought in Santorini years ago and had forgotten about.​

​​​
​Conclusion:
By reorganising my wardrobe, (January Blog), and committing to wear something different from it every day, I really did give it a new lease of life and enjoyed the fresh looks and combinations I was able to achieve without spending a cent. 
It was a great way to weed out anything that wasn't working, if I couldn't bring myself to wear it, (even after a lot of thought around what it would work with), it needed to go - usually it was either uncomfortable, didn't suit my personal style or just didn't make me feel good - which is In my opinion the whole purpose of clothes, (apart from the obvious).

As I mentioned previously,I am lucky enough to have a lot of clothes and the things that don't date among them I have kept for years because I believe all clothes should be treated equal and looked after with the utmost care so, my next blog will be: 

​"How to look after your clothes to make them last".

Meantime check out my archives or follow me on social media for fashion and style fun, tips, ideas  and (I hope) inspiration.

"Most women wear 20% of their clothes 80% of the time".

I think this comes down to not really seeing what we own due to overflowing, disorganised wardrobes that don't function to their best. I'm sharing a simple way to organise your wardrobe so you can see what you have and get the most value out your clothes and wear everything all the time.

Benefits to closet curation:

• Easily seeing and accessing your clothes means you're more likely to get inspired and create new outfits.
• You won't get bored with the same old combinations.   (Usually the first few things you can see/reach).
• You'll stop wasting money buying double ups of things you already own but forgot you had because they're buried or lost in the back of your wardrobe, (or Tardis).
• It's easier to identify the gaps so you can spend on the things that will give you more options.

(For tips on how to fill any gaps cheaply and sustainably, check out my op shopping blog from December). 

Preparing:

• Put away anything you won't be wearing this season. I have safely stowed away all my winter jumpers, coats, heavy weight trousers, skirts, thick tights etc in suitcases on top of my wardrobe (tucked in with some lavender soaps and sachets to keep them sweet).   
• Leave out a couple of warmer things in case, but a cold snap mid summer is usually just that, - a snap - so a few things left out will be enough - you don't need your whole winter wardrobe out. 

(Apart from freeing up space, when you get your off season clothes out again in autumn, it's like Christmas
as you uncover things you forgot you had,  especially the things you bought in the end of season sales and 
only wore once or twice.)




​

How:

• Group your clothes within your wardrobe for the different areas of your lifestyle eg: work, weekends, nights out or whatever works for you.
• Hang them by item type and colour (light to dark) within the groups and on separate hangers so you're not covering anything up.  

(You'll have heaps of free hangers now you have stowed away your off season clothes.)

• Do the same for knitwear, jeans, tees accessories and shoes and any other clothing you don't hang. You can use a shelf or drawers but arrange them so colours are visible.

​Result:

• You now have capsules, (or mini shops) within your wardrobe so you can quickly and easily select outfits by item and colour depending what you're doing that day. 
• By categorising them you won't waste time wading through to find things that work well together -  Work day ?- go to work section.  Night out? -hit the evening section and so on.

​Exceptions:

There will always be crossovers, for example:

• You may not have many clothes so those you do have need to cater to all areas
• You might lead a lifestyle where you can wear anything any time or prefer your clothes to be transitional or even trans seasonal.  

In these cases sorting them into colour and item, (like in a shop) is still a great idea as it enables you to clearly see what you own in a fresh way.

Tips and ideas:

• If possible, buy the black velvet hangers from K  Mart - they're strong, nothing slips off them, and they take up less room than most other hangers.  
• If this isn't possible use the hanging ribbons provided on most clothes to avoid everything ending up in a frustrating pile on the floor!
• Scarves work well looped onto a hanger or you can buy a scarf hanger cheaply to show off what you have.
• I keep my shoes in their original box with a polaroid photo on the outside (OTT I know but it works for me!)
• As you do this exercise you might want to check in with your "Style words" from my November blog and move on anything that no longer works.

For Fun:
Now you've got a curated closet, and are in outfit creation mode, jump on board with me for "Fresh Looks Feb", where you wear a different outfit every day in February. 

I'd love to see how you get on over on facebook and instagram where I'll be sharing what I come up with along with ideas and tips on how to style your outfits  and get the most possible value out of your wardrobe. I hope to see you there. #freshlooksfeb