How to Make Your Closet Work For You : Part 1

One question I’ve been asked several times is, “How do I put together cohesive and cute outfits based on what I already have in my closet?” I’m by no means an expert in styling and fashion and, honestly, the majority of my knowledge comes from Pinterest and reading other blogs, but I’m going to take the next few posts to share my ideas for how you can make your closet work for you. 

You don’t have to shop constantly to keep your outfits interesting; you really can work with what you’ve got (unless all you have are yoga pants and graphic tees  – if that’s the case, hit the store, sister!). My goal is to keep you from surfacing from your closet saying, “But I have nothing to wear!”

Let’s get started!

1. Take inventory

The first thing you need to do is get to know your closet. Pull everything out, lay it on your bed, and see what’s hanging out in there. Lots of jeans? Sweaters? Shorts? Plaid shirts? Just check it out. If you notice some gaping holes (like you have no dress pants and you work at a business office) then you might end up shopping for a few essentials, but we’ll discuss that in a later post. After you’ve laid it all out, then…

2. Put the pieces together

This is my favorite part of the whole process. Now that you have all your pieces laid out, see how you can put them together to make outfits that work for you. This is what I do all the time and it has really vamped up my outfit selections. For instance, I lay out a pair of colored pants and then grab two or three shirts to see how they might look with the pants. Then I might grab a completer piece like a statement necklace and ta-da! Outfit complete! I just keep doing that with my other pieces until I have 5 or 6 solid outfits that I really like. If you feel like you have no clue what pieces to put together, look for ideas on fashion blogs or Pinterest before starting the process.

*Side note: This isn’t a one time process. I do this about every other month. I don’t want to get stuck in a rut with my outfits, so doing this “exercise” helps me put different pieces together and wear outfits that I may not have originally put together. Also if you don’t have the pieces for a “complete” outfit, don’t stress. We’ll talk about that later.*

3. Smile for the camera

After you have put a few outfits together, try them on and if you like the way they look, snap a photo! It’s important to take a picture so that you don’t forget the pieces that you pulled together. I take my pictures on my iPhone and then upload them to my Mac into an album titled “Outfit Ideas”. When I want to figure out what to wear, I just go to that album and pick out an outfit from there. It takes time to put the outfits together in the beginning, but it will save you time later on.

If this was helpful to you or if you have a question, please leave a comment!

Be sure to check back next week for Part II!