Ways to Get More Enjoyment from your Wardrobe
Do you look at your wardrobe, shrug, and want to walk away?
Are you uninspired?
Do you wear the same basic uniform every day?
Have you thought about calling it quits with your style?
Everyone gets into slumps about what they’re wearing. It often takes months and sometimes even years to realize we’re in a slump. That’s the bad news. The good news is that you can get out of a slump and have fun with clothes again real soon.
There’s getting dressed with intention.
There’s getting dressed and leaving a pleasurable impression.
It’s your choice and there’s help available if you need it. (More about that later.)
We’ve all been left with pleasurable impressions by how someone looks. It could be a stranger in the grocery store, someone at work, a sales associate at a store, or someone in your book club. When you see them, your eyes want to linger and take in their look.
Perhaps her look is creative and clever, and it makes you smile. Maybe it’s a friend who consistently wears color in her outfits in ways you haven’t and it pleases you.
If you’re ready to leave the slump and dress in a way that puts smiles on faces of strangers, one strategy is to find something that’s already pleasing to you and then go for it with a little more gusto than you have so far.
Here are some ideas for you:
Leave a pleasurable impression with your use of color. This could be as simple as introducing some pleasing colors into your wardrobe. Spring is an excellent time to do this. Go to a retail store and see what colors attract your attention. Walk over to a full-length mirror and hold them up to your face. Does the color harmonize with your personal coloring, or does it make you cringe? Which colors make you happy?
This season I’m loving all the greens so I plan to add that color in a blouse, sweater, scarf and maybe I can even find a pair of shoes. Bringing color into your life will inspire you and make you feel refreshed. This sweater is from J. Jill.
Leave a pleasurable impression by adding one more accessory. Coco Chanel is famous for telling people to add accessories to their outfit, look in the mirror, take one thing off, and then step out into life. As people, in general, are looking more and more casual in their dress, I don’t think this is a rule that applies at this time.
If you like rings, add one more. If you like bangles, create a cluster of them for your wrist. If you like finer, more delicate jewelry wear two or three necklaces at once. Make accessory additions to your outfit, not subtractions. These bangles are from Anthropologie.
Leave a pleasurable impression by wearing one “star” piece. Even if your lifestyle is casual or your workplace is more relaxed, you can always walk out the door wearing one standout piece. This stunner is from Johnny Was.
One way to picture this is to think about how you’d dress a table for dinner guests. You may use your everyday dishes and cutlery, but you have fresh flowers at the center of the table in your favorite vase. The centerpiece brings the eye in and then leads you to the other accents you’ve used. So think of the “star” piece as being on par with the centerpiece of that dinner table.