When I was younger I would only buy clothes for the fun activities in my life, and completely ignore that I also needed clothes for going to school or just everyday life, which was a mistake of course. A kick-ass wardrobe not only needs to reflect your style, it also needs to reflect your lifestyle.
If you recently did a wardrobe detox, your closet might look depressingly empty. “I don’t want to wear the same thing every day!”, “I only have four outfits left” were some comments I got from you. A detox is only the first step, the real benefits happen when you put good stuff back in! Of course, most of us can’t just go out and buy everything we need to restock our wardrobe right away, therefore it’s important to buy the things we really need first. But how do you figure out what you really need?
Even a small budget can be spent well or not so well. If you only buy lots of pretty bikinis and some evening dresses you still won’t have much more to wear. But by adding a few well thought out key items and basics you can broaden your outfit options by a considerable amount. Start by focusing on those areas in your life that are underrepresented in your closet.
Try this:
Write down all activities you do in an average three weeks and estimate how often you do them. Group the activities into categories that require the same kinds of clothes, e.g. I often go to university and shopping, but for both I wear casual everyday outfits. Try to express your time spent in form of a diagram like the above.
Don’t consider real-time, but rather how many days per chosen time period you do something from each category. You might spend 8 hours at work and only two at a fancy restaurant, but you need one outfit for each. Some possible categories are: casual/daytime, nightlife, work, working out, lounging, sleeping, special occasions, etc
Ideally, the amount of clothes in your closet should correspond roughly to the distribution of your categories, i.e. your lifestyle. To get a better idea of the quantities, you can also estimate how many times you need an outfit from each category within the time frame. I chose three weeks because I think I would like to not repeat the exact same outfit in three weeks (1 month seemed too long and two weeks too short :). Feel free to adjust the time frame if you want to. Here is an example:
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work - 15
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daytime/casual - 12
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fun stuff/ going out - 12
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nightlife - 5
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lounging - 10
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working out - 3
If you examine your wardrobe with the diagram and the frequencies in mind, you should have a better idea of exactly what areas need some TLC and what to spend your money on first.
Does your wardrobe reflect your lifestyle?
*image via Facehunter
This post is Step 4 of the 10 Step Wardrobe Revamp
This was so helpful. I am constantly going through my closet and getting rid of things I’ve lost interest in, but the process seemed never-ending because I had no guide. Today’s detox (which filled up two garbage bags of giveaways) plus this lifestyle question leaves me with a plan to rebuild and maintain my wardrobe based on what I love and need.
Thank you for taking them time to put this together.
Exactly what I’ve needed to reach wardrobe/style/closet bliss!! I am so exited to put this into practice
I love your blog! I just recently found it, and I can’t get over how educational and inspirational it is to me. I’m going to try doing my own pie charts and see where I have discrepancies. I’d love to have less things cluttering up my life. Thanks so much!
Great idea! I try to keep this in mind and invest in everyday clothes (even if pretty dresses and bikinis seem more fun). I’ve found that my dressing stress levels have declined since doing this, and I have less “I have nothing to wear” days.
Reblogged this on aspirebyroisinhealy and commented:
I spent an hour with my sister yesterday rummaging through her laundry basket and wardrobe trying to find just one outfit she could possibly where out. Disaster! She definitely needs to sort out her wardrobe and this post on Into Mind is an excellent way to make sure you have something to wear for every occassion.
Perfect advice!!! Thx))
excellent post, exactly what I needed after getting rid of two bin bags worth of clothes last weekend!
excellent post, exactly what
This is completely brilliant! My closet is filled with dresses and blazers, which I never wear because I’m always at home in my pj’s studying. And my pj’s? All have holes, all very unattractive. : P And then when I want to get dressed in the morning for school or work? No clothes.
Gosh. This was a wake-up call! haha
Awesome blog by the way!
Reblogged this on for Ever Esther and commented:
MUST DO!
I am about to do my closet detox, but this post is a great way to help do that as well as building my new wardrobe back up. It’ll be easier for me to give things up now that I realize they don’t fit into my current lifestyle as they may have at one point.
Ich liebe Deinen Blog :-) Ich habe selten einen Blog gelesen der so intelligent geschrieben ist und so tolle, interessante Posts zu bieten hat! Mach weiter so!
Great post! Now you’ve got me thinking!! I need more clothes for my active/exercise time and more nite-life pieces and a few business suits.
I never thought of doing it this way. I’m forever getting rid of clothing, but half the time it’s just something I’ve worn recently and I’m tired of it. Even today I regret things I got rid of ten years ago.
I really must move on. :)
Interesting idea, I might as well try it too, because my wardrobe could use some help :).
What a great idea! My wardrobe is all work/business clothes and very little play clothes – it’s time for balance! :)
Nice idea, seems we can be more organized using your tips.
I like to think of my wardrobe as more aspiration, the life I want to lead! As such, it is full of sparkly things, high heels and fancy lingerie. In reality, I spend the majority of my time at university and work where I can wear none of the above. But I refuse to compromise!
I SOOO needed to read something like this! I’ve been going through a bit of a fashion crisis lately. Also I have ZERO comfy casual clothes because I invest all my money in nice professional work clothes. I dread that decision every time I want to be cozy and not look like I’m wearing my pj’s
And we always thought that it was “The clothes that make the man”. Now it is the man’s lifestyle. Mad Men unite :)
I’ve completely fallen in love with your blog. Really. Thanks for posting such interesting and relevant stuff.
This is great! Thanks so much for the helpful tips!
It looks like your wardrobe represents what you WANT to do. Who knows, maybe that might inform how you spend your time instead of how you shape your wardrobe.
A couple of years ago, I switched from working full time to working more irregularly and rather quickly, all my regular suits started to fall out of rotation. It just didn’t feel right putting on full business clothes for a few hours or so of work. I found I needed to gradually get some more casual suits and odd jackets/trousers. While I didn’t chart out my activities in the way suggested in the post, I certainly had to respond to a changing lifestyle through changing the proportions of different kinds of clothes in my wardrobe.
So yes, matching clothes to lifestyle is a great way of ensuring that not only you project the right image, but also have an efficient wardrobe and don’t overspend on items you never really wear.
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I am happy you wrote this article it really helps with the happiness project I am working on.
Reblogged this on My Kingdom For A Dress.
Really interesting post! This is exactly my problem, as I always end up buying nice fancy clothes, though I don’t go out that often (university takes my life..). I will actually try to follow your advice and do something good about my wardrobe, also cause I may have lots of party dresses, but I kind of end up having to wear the same outfit way too often in a month..
Nice work anyway :)!!
Reblogged this on calmyourbeans.
interesting approach to repopulating the wardrobe!
makes it easier to keep an overview! well done :)
Isn’t it so easy just to fall into the trap of buying stunning outfits for a special occasion and resenting having to buy something for work.
I know that I need to change the focus of my wardrobe from going out to smart work clothes…I just need to bite the bullet and do a proper detox. :)
I enjoyed this post, thanks. For me it’s more interesting from a psychological rather than a practical viewpoint – I’ve always been interested in what’s behind people’s wardrobe choices. I agree with your article when you say that your style needs to reflect your lifestyle. I think that these days it seems like we can go to the nearest topshop, tattoo shop or hairdresser, and contrive any kind of style we like. But I think it’s slightly sad when a person’s lifestyle isn’t as exciting as their chosen look. I’ve attempted several times to reject style altogether (shaving my head, clearing out wardrobe etc) but it never works. There must be some subliminal need to reflect our state of mind in the way we look.
Reblogged this on YummiStyle.
omg. That first one is my life particularlyes. I have more party shoes than I need that I’m lucky if I wear once a year. Meanwhile, I can never find a basic set of flats in my closet when I need them!
Ooh! This is such a great idea! First the wardrobe detox and now this?? i am LOVING your blog!!!
Great post. I am definitely rethinking my wardrobe now.
This is great for guys, too. While we may never wear bikinis (You’re welcome.) I truly believe that if we could, we’d wear nothing but shorts or blue jeans and T-shirts.
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what a great article!!!
Great post! Planning on purging the closet in the next few days and I will have this in mind as I do so.
Another great post! Definitely has you start thinking about your wardrobe.. I only missed something at the end of the post.. maybe an example or some great items per category.. Just a suggestion!
I think this is my favourite post of yours :)
I love this post! I am forever promising myself to create more order in my closet—not that it isn’t pristine, I just have way too much and must purge. As a former television news reporter and anchor, I rarely wore the same thing twice. If I did I would surely hear about it from some viewer. Needless to say, that created quite an overflow in my closet, even with regular gifting to others. These days I work from home and my wardrobe needs have changed, yet I still find myself buying a lot of the same things—things I no longer need. Your tips are great! They will definitely come in handy as I prepare to do my own version of a wardrobe detox ☺
Interesting post. I liked it.
Very educative post.Love it.