Excavation

We are going to do a little archaeology dig in your closet, analyze the “skeletons” we find, and try to identify the targeted holes in your wardrobe. We are also going to identify areas where you might be wasting money on the wrong purchases.

Now I am well aware that everyone has different wardrobe needs, but I thought by telling you a few client stories, this might help identify some of your own issues.

THE HOLES

One great example is Renee, who had purchased various black bottoms - skirts and pants, with different lengths and details. Although all black, they were uniquely different and served different purposes. So one might think: "black goes with everything so she will be able to get great use out of these pieces.”

Well, first of all, I do not think that black is best with everything. If you want to know more about that, you can read  DOES BLACK GO WITH EVERYTHING?

But matching was not the issue. The problem was that these were career pieces and when we looked in her closet, she had bulky sweaters, casual tees etc. and very few career tops. So this was her hole.

Similarly I worked with another woman who had numerous printed tops, which looked great with jeans, but she could not wear jeans to work. Her hole was that she was missing bottoms in various solids to wear with these tops.

MY PERSONAL HOLE IN THE WARDROBE

I hate to wear flats. I know many of you cannot relate, but bear with me to get the concept of the story. So when I put on casual wear such as stylized tee shirts and sweatshirts, I pulled out my pointy-toe kitten heels (my version of “flats”) but the outfits just weren't working.

For others, I might recommend the slip on sneakers that are ubiquitous, but when I put them on, they just don’t look good, they are not my style and I don’t feel empowered. This was the hole in my wardrobe. I finally found a unicorn; it was a high platform, pointy toe, slip on sneaker with ombre sequins. They are perfect and I love them. However, they are bold and black and they don’t go with everything. So I still have a hole in my wardrobe and am on the hunt for the sister unicorn in a neutral like olive or pinkish tan.

What are your holes? What are the missing pieces you need to take your outfits from Fine 2 Fab?

On the flip side, are you wasting money on some of your purchases?

WASTED $ ON PURCHASES

I just had a conversation with a woman who loves black boots. Don’t we all? She was telling me that each black boot she owns has a different design detail. For instance a biker style on one and studs all over the other. In this case the design details are not enough to differentiate the boots if they serve the same purpose. So if the boots have different heel heights, some are ankle and some are high, some cling like a sock and others are for tucking your pants in, one is for bad weather, then yes, by all means, they are worthwhile. But if the biker boot and the studded boot can be worn with the same things, then you are wasting money on redundancy.

Speaking of redundancy, have you seen the short video on my closet rejuvenation page? I didn’t know what I would find in Margaret’s closet when she agreed to be videoed. What I found was that she liked brightly colored sweaters, which may be okay, but they were all similar styles and weights. So if she had owned a variety of different sweaters such as turtlenecks, cables, cardigans, interesting sleeves etc. and they were all bright, they would be different enough to own many and the different styles would serve different purposes, But instead she owned too much of the same type which just ends up being a waste of money.

So in summation, I will say that your wardrobe needs to be a balance of 4 categories.

1) Work wear - Since you will probably be wearing this five times a week this should be a large piece of your wardrobe pie.

2) Casual / off-duty wear - If you are only wearing this on your “weekends” then it is a smaller part of your wardrobe. If your work wear is more casual, there may be cross-over or if you work from home or work in an extremely casual environment then this may be combined with category 1.

3) Dressy clothes - this includes cocktail to black-tie and should be a small percentage of your wardrobe.

4) Going out clothes - this is probably slightly larger than your dress clothes, but not too large. Bonus if you can cross-over say a dressy top from your dressy wear and wear it with jeans to go out.

Hopefully, these examples of my clients and personal situation will give you an idea of the holes you may have in your wardrobe, especially dressy vs. casual pieces.

If you have figured it out, this will give you targeted pieces to look for when you go shopping.

If you need to go deeper with your excavation, contact me - I would love to help you out.

A dressy dress does not look good with everyday shoes and bag.