My Wardrobe Detox

Last night I decided to do my seasonal wardrobe swapover, but it quickly turned into a wardrobe detox, which some of you may have seen over on stories. My clothes were starting to make me shudder in the morning and I was starting to feel slightly overwhelmed by the amount of ‘stuff’ I had to choose from, not to mention the guilt. Sorting through all my clothes made me realise that I have been purchasing way too much ‘fast fashion’ that has been cluttering up my wardrobe. My new-found ‘mum fashion blogger’ status is partly to blame, but so is my constant desire to recreate looks that I see ‘cool’ fashion types wearing. But who am I kidding? I am nearly 40, I am NOT 5’10 and most nights I am at home curled up on my sofa with my children! So my wardrobe needs to work for my lifestyle and who I am. I would love to be the person that could pull off a fedora or wear a lacy slip dress over a t-shirt with converse during the day, but I’m not.

So who am I ?

I am a mum, who wants to be comfortable in my clothes, whilst remaining stylish. And my aim over the next few months is to try and resist the temptation of ‘fast fashion’ and focus on buying key, timeless pieces that will work harder in my wardrobe. Today I am wearing a pair of beautiful, fully- lined, wool trousers that I bought from Boden a while ago. They weren’t ridiculously expensive, but they were around £100 and at the time I winced at the price, but they are such a flattering cut, and they feel amazing on. I have paired them with a featherlight cashmere roll neck from Winser London, which also feels so lovely against my skin. Okay, I may not look like a trendy fashionista, but I feel happy in my clothes and they are both classic items that I will wear and wear again. Today’s outfit has reminded me that it’s ok to look stylish rather than trendy.

Today’s look

So if you are thinking about detoxing your wardrobe, here are a few tips fresh from mine:

• If you’re unsure about an item of clothing in your wardrobe, put it on. Style it up. If it doesn’t feel like ‘you’ or you feel it doesn’t flatter your shape, put it in the charity/ebay pile.
• A word of warning about eBay piles. I have had quite a few dotted around the house for some time now and I never get round to doing anything about them. So it’s charity shop all the way for me now. (and my insta account @chloelovestosell every now and then 🙂
• How many ‘going out’ tops do you need, if you don’t go out that often? You know the answer…
• Those dresses hanging in your wardrobe that would be ‘perfect for a wedding or a christening’… how many weddings are you actually going to go to? If like me, you’re of an age where you are pretty much done with weddings and christenings, don’t hang on to them. Occasion dresses take up precious space.
• Those heels you love but are never going to wear because you can’t face the pain. It’s not easy, but try to let them go…
• The jumpers that you love, but have seen better days… either get the cashmere comb out and get to work, or get rid of them. I assure you, when you are dressing in a hurry, you won’t have time to give them a makeover and it will mean you reach for something else while they sit on the shelf for another season.
• That top that looks good on the hanger but is just a bit annoying to wear. Bye-bye. You won’t wear it.
• Work out who you are. Think about your lifestyle. If you work in a smart office, do you really need 8 pairs of jeans that you’ll only get to wear 2 days of the week? If you are a stay at home mum, how often will you wear those heels or beautiful skirts?
• Think about the outfits that make you feel good. If it’s jeans, trainers and a jumper, invest in these items. Buy the best you can afford, because you’ll end up reaching for them most days.
• When you go to buy something new, think about how often you will wear it. Try the 30 wears rule. Actually, I think ’30 wears’ is a bit tricky to stick to, so let’s bring it down to 15. If you can’t see yourself wearing  that £29.99 top you spotted in Zara 15 times, perhaps that £29.99 would be better saved and put towards a cashmere jumper that costs £120.
• Think about who you follow on instagram. If like me, you follow lots of fashion types for inspiration, enjoy their accounts, enjoy their looks, but work out if those looks are ‘you’ before you rush out to buy what they are wearing. That sounds ridiculous coming from someone that puts their daily outfits on instagram, but too often I have found myself rushing to buy something that looks incredible on someone I follow, then wondering why it doesn’t look good on me. Oh yes, that’s right, they are 5 inches taller!
• What you can’t see you will forget about. Try and keep everything visible if you can. I don’t mean having everything on display, but if a shelf of your wardrobe is so full you have to have double piles, you’ll forget about the things at the back.
• Organise your clothes in blocks of colour. It makes it so much easier to find things in a hurry and makes you feel good!
• Stop saving things for best. If you do splurge on a Bella Freud jumper. Wear it, often.
• For space saving, non slip hangers – try these from Amazon.

So bear with me while I do my best to stick to the above. It’s always easy to give advice and not always that easy to follow it. Forgive me if I have weak moments and feel free to point them out when you spot them. We’re all in this together!

PS. It will of course, mean that my daily outfits won’t always feature items that you can go out and buy, but I will try to link similar items wherever possible. And here’s my little confession. Sometimes I buy things to style up, take a photo, upload to insta and then return. That’s how I get my kicks these days… But I will make sure to tell you when I do and it’s not because I don’t believe in the items I am showing you, it’s because I don’t work and I have a budget to stick to. The aim of my account is to give style ideas and it would be terribly boring if all you ever saw were things you couldn’t buy…

Before you go, here are a few wardrobe inspiration images to get you in the mood. Obviously this kind of organisation and space is impossible for most of us, but looking at pinterest images always gets me in the mood. Good Luck!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Love,
Chloe x