Do you have a wardrobe full of clothes yet have no idea what to wear? You aren’t alone. Ideally, this happens not because you have nothing to wear but because you don’t act on wardrobe planning in the first place.
Signs That Show You Need Wardrobe Planning
If you think the following points apply to you, it’s time to plan your wardrobe:
• It’s not easy for you to pick an outfit from your wardrobe when you’re in a rush
• You don’t wear half of the clothes you own
• You don’t feel your best in any outfits
• Your wardrobe is not well-organised
• You never maintain a shopping list for new clothes and don’t follow a clothing budget
• You have no clue on how to create different outfits with what you already have because of how disorganised your wardrobe looks
Do these points apply to you? If yes, let’s start getting you familiar with wardrobe planning and its benefits.
What is Wardrobe Planning? What Are Its Benefits?
Wardrobe planning starts with curating a well-planned wardrobe. It helps you determine what clothing you need, assesses what you want from what you already have, and identifies what’s missing from your wardrobe.
There are several benefits of planning a wardrobe. Here are a few of them:
• It helps you select clothes, accessories, and shoes that would fit any occasion, lifestyle, needs and preference.
• Planning a wardrobe helps you identify your style and leave you with more choices.
• You don’t have to spend more time searching, purchasing, and returning.
• You ditch the hassle of retrieving an outfit from your wardrobe and can get dressed for any occasion instantly!
• You save money because you’re aware of what you want to buy. You don’t buy duplicate items that won’t go with your existing wardrobe style.
• You need fewer items, which allows you to invest in quality. Best quality clothes will last longer and save your money.
• You take the road to slow fashion and support sustainability as you buy and return less and keep your clothes longer!
Steps to Basic Wardrobe Planning
Putting together a well-planned wardrobe isn’t a job you can do in a week. You require heavy planning and effort. And lastly, everything is paid off well once your wardrobe makes you feel your best and saves you time and money.
Plan your ideal wardrobe by following the below steps:
1. Identify Your Wardrobe Needs
Having the basics like a white t-shirt, black pants, and a little black dress is generic. However, here we are talking about specific wardrobe needs.
What your wardrobe should consist of depends on various factors like:
• Lifestyle: Reflect on what you do daily. Do you go out for work or work from home? Do you have a job that requires heavy on-field work? Or do you have to sit for 8-hours in an office? Are you a stay-at-home mom? Are you retired?
• Weather: What’s the ideal weather where you stay? Is it humid? Is it cloudy most of the time? Do you feel colder or warmer?
• Appearance: What’s your body shape? What’s your complexion? What colours and shapes work best with your body type?
• Preference: How do you express yourself through clothing? What are your likes and dislikes? What values do you follow? How many clothes do you really need?
2. Build Your Core Wardrobe
After identifying your wardrobe needs, you need to start curating pieces. A well-curated wardrobe should hold at least 70-80% of core pieces. These core pieces are the ones you need every day.
Now what to include in these essentials depends on your wardrobe needs. If you work from home, you should fill your wardrobe with comfortable loungewear that you need daily.
Two things that your core wardrobe doesn’t include are low-use items and seasonal pieces. Low-use items are fancy dresses that you’ll wear once a year. Seasonal pieces are clothes you wear during one season and store away for the rest of the year. These include heavy winter coats.
Determining your core wardrobe is simple if you ask yourself the following questions:
• What’re your favourite clothing items from your wardrobe?
• What’re your go-to clothing items?
• Which items do you usually start your outfit from?
• Is there an everyday activity you find yourself hard to dress for?
Based on the above questions, note what you need and prepare a master plan on its basis.
3. Review Your Wardrobe
Once you understand what needs to go into your core wardrobe, it’s time to review what already exists.
Look at what you have in your wardrobe. Are the pieces suitable for the time you’re planning? If yes, try clothes and accessories and create wearable outfits as per your planning needs.
You need to pre-plan an entire outfit because there are chances you might sabotage a perfect outfit with the wrong accessory. Try on jewellery, bags, shoes, and every other outer element. As you try on outfits, take notes of the ones you like. Preferably, click pictures. This helps you track what looks great and what you love the most on yourself.
One major benefit of reviewing your wardrobe is that you’ll get a look at the ones you don’t use anymore. You can get rid of them and make a shopping list.
4. Optimise and Filter Out
Based on the previous step, optimise your wardrobe as per your liking. Review what pieces look the best on you. Invest your time in maintaining and upgrading your outfits.
Replace essential items only when you need to. For example, you might wear some pieces in your wardrobe more than others. Replace those items if they entirely wear out. Keep your outfits and shoes in good condition to wear them as long as possible.
Lastly, a well-curated wardrobe is only useful when you keep it well-organised. Arranging everything by colour, texture, and function also sparks creativity.
Conclusion
Wardrobe planning is extremely important. With a properly planned wardrobe, you save time and effort that go into outfit search. Moreover, you’re contributing to encouraging sustainability by re-using clothing items as much as possible.
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