Wardrobe Makeover - Part One!

"Buy less, choose well, and mix it all up" - Vivien Westwood

Many of us go to our wardrobes when we are looking for that perfect outfit to wear out, and sometimes even for just every day outfits, and say those famous words " I have nothing to wear!"  Well good news, its not true!  Your closet is bursting with treasures that used to make you happy and excited to get dressed in the morning, now all you have to do is rediscover your wardrobe.  Whenever I do a wardrobe makeover with someone it consists of three steps; rediscovering what you have in your closet already, what basics is your wardrobe lacking and what pieces do you want to spice is up.

-What do I have

-What do I need

-What do I want

The reason you want to rediscover your current wardrobe instead of buying a completely new one is that you probably have some really great pieces you have simply forgotten about or that you don't have the right accessories for.  You don't need a huge wardrobe, just a versatile one as the quote by Vivien Westwood states above.  

So we are going to start with "What do I have".  First of all when cleaning out your wardrobe you need to be in the right state of mind, you need to have fun and make it an event, or a girls night in.  Think Carrie and her friends in Sex and the City  editing Carries closet in the first Sex and the City movie!  Turn on some great music, have a glass of wine and get into it!  

The first thing you have to do is purge purge purge!  Make three piles; garments to donate, garments to keep and garments that need a little love.  Be ruthless, the goal here is to better streamline your wardrobe so that it better suits you!  Don't keep anything ruined beyond repair, and don't keep anything that was extremely trendy in another decade...it wont be coming back, only classic looks come back!  Keep all your good quality basics, we will get to what the basics are later, even if they are a little dated if they are made well find yourself a good tailor and have them altered.  Some garments may have a small hole, may have a little stain, read the post prior to this one to read about how to deal with those garments because you can make them feel almost new again! 

For anything you don't want that is still in great shape try donating it to a good cause instead of simply throwing it away, knowing the clothes is going to be loved and be helping people will make it easier to give it up.  One that I am fond of is Dream Dealer http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=338103497797  the reason I like this is the the operator (Micheal) takes the donated clothing from you and re-sells it to people who really want it, then uses the money towards charities or trips such as his recent trip to Hati.  Organizations like this are also a great place to go looking for some of the pieces you may want to add to your own closet as the items are often more gently used then a second hand store and the money is going to a good cost while you are getting a great deal!  

Take the time before you start cleaning your closet to re-think your look, what kind of look do you want to achieve, then remove anything from your wardrobe that does not fit into this new look.  Always remember:

"There is a fine line between modernizing a vintage garment and simply looking like you haven't gone shopping in 10-20 years." - Nina Garcia 

Once you have sorted through all of your clothing and accessories (such as handbags and shoes) make a list (yes with a pen and some paper) of all your basics.  You will be building your new wardrobe around these pieces.  Then make a second list of all of your maybe garments and what they need to be keepers.  Do they need alterations? Embellishments? Or is it simply something you love yet have nothing in your current wardrobe that you can wear it with.  

And then that's it, you now know "What You Have"!

xo. Diva