Previous: Take a look at what you’ve got
Are you a stay-at-home mother? A career woman? A student? These are all important things to consider because the wardrobes required are not the same for all.
FB: Look at the difference between Then and Now!
As a student I wanted to be in jeans most of the time, whereas other students lived in sweatpants and tracksuits. It all depends on your lifestyle. What does your typical day look like?
Don’t know? Monitor it
If you don’t know, monitor it. Take two weeks to a month, and write down what you wore that day, what you changed into, and/or what activities you did.
You need 2 weeks to a month because you cannot rely on only a day or a week’s worth of data to really make an informed decision about your life. One week may be hectic, the other slow. A month is best because it really demonstrates what you go through on a daily basis.
(Told you this would take a while :P)
It may look something like this:
– Wore my white sweat suit with a burgundy top
– Did the laundry and tidied up the apartment
– Changed into jeans and a casual bubble top with wrap sweater
– Saw a friend for coffee
– Went grocery shopping afterwards
– Changed back into sweat suit
– Unpacked groceries and prepared meals for the week, read emails and blogged all day
– Changed into a wrap dress with heels
– Met friends for dinner and drinks
– Came home, slept in regular shorts and a t-shirt
The major things that stand out are that you either change your clothes every time you do a new activity and revert back to your old clothes when you’re lounging at home, or if you’re like many women you wear ONE outfit for the day (sweat suit and/or jeans and a top) and go through your day.
The key is to really assess your lifestyle and make sure what you have in your wardrobe supports that.
Tie it back to what you have in your wardrobe
Now take a look at what you assessed in your wardrobe in the first step and see if it makes sense to you. If you are a student and in jeans/sweatpants most of the time, yet half your wardrobe is formal party wear or suits, does that make sense to you?
I understand that when you reach the workforce you’re going to need/want formal party wear and suits to wear to events, but why are you buying ahead of time?
Fashion and times may change, and what you have purchased now (like a puffy fuschia dress with a fabulous flower on the shoulder), may not be flexible enough to wear for more than one event in the future since it’s so outrageously unique.
Or your body shape may change, you may lose weight, gain weight, grow taller, or realize that the dress isn’t THAT flattering on your shape, so you’ll end up going out and end up spending more money on buying ANOTHER dress that’s more simple, plain and elegant (not only in black I hope!), while your student debt keeps piling up.
Be critical about what your lifestyle is really like. Don’t romanticize it, and count one night in a year of going to the ballet or opera as being definitive of your lifestyle. If you spend most of your time in sweats, then that’s what it is.
You may want to change that and become more stylish and polished, but that’s another topic altogether. What we’re really concerned about now, is what your lifestyle is at the moment.
Next: Assess your personal style
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year.
Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about 
