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We’ve all had that moment where we look inside our closet (or the drawers of our dresser) and think that we have nothing to wear. To a lot of us, it happens pretty often.
Why You Have Clothes but Nothing to Wear
While it’s nice to know that you aren’t alone in this universal frustration, that doesn’t actually solve the nothing to wear problem. In this post I’ll break down the real reason you got to this point and what you can actually do to fix it.
The Real Reasons This Happens
Let’s talk about how you got here. There are a few different reasons that can contribute (though for some of us, it’s all three).
Lifestyle Mismatch
Do you have a wardrobe full of “going out” clothing, but you prefer a night in on the couch. Or you keep buying blazers even though you spend your day on the floor with a toddler? That’s what we call a lifestyle mismatch. You’re buying clothing for a lifestyle that you don’t actually have. Which means you don’t have anywhere to wear those clothes and they just gather dust in your closet. You might have the lifestyle to match those clothes down the road, but that doesn’t help you right now. You need to focus on the now.
No Cohesion
Simply put, you buy things without thinking about if you have the pieces to go with it. You see it, you like it, and then you buy it. That’s fun, but if you can’t wear it with anything else in your closet, you’re never going to wear it.
Too Many “Almost Right” Items
These items truly drive me crazy. They’re those items that kind of fit, or the color is kind of off. Instead of looking for the right item, you buy the “good enough” item. The problem with this is that we don’t actually want to wear the items that are almost right because, well, they aren’t right and we don’t actually like them.
Why Shopping More Never Fixes the Problem
Now that you’ve realized how you got here, how do you fix it? Go shopping? WRONG. Most people think this is the solution, but you’re actually just making your life worse. Here’s why:
Trend Chasing
If you just go out and start buying, you’re most likely going to buy what’s trendy right now. Which is fine until it’s not trendy. Or until you realize that the on trend item doesn’t actually work with anything in your wardrobe or personal style.
Lack of Systems
Trend chasing feeds right into the other problem: buying more clothes doesn’t actually work if you don’t know what you need. It just leads to even more wardrobe overwhelm. You need to put a system in place that actually helps you figure out what you need so you know when an item is right (this is where a personal stylist can come in).
How to Fix the Problem Without Starting Over
The good news is that you don’t have to get rid of all of your clothes to fix the problem. It’s actually easier to fix than you think.
Edit Your Closet with Intention
Do not just throw out everything. I repeat, DO NOT THROW OUT EVERYTHING. I know it can be tempting, but I almost always find that people have a lot more good pieces than they think they do.
Instead, you want to go through your closet and first get rid of (donate/sell/recycle) anything that doesn’t fit. After that, pull out the pieces you love but never wear. These pieces typically fall into two categories (that we talked about above): lifestyle mismatch or no idea how to style them. For the lifestyle mismatch, it’s time to let those pieces go. They don’t fit your life and you’re never going to wear them (especially if you’ve never worn it in the first place). For the pieces that you don’t know how to style, that’s when you call me (a personal stylist).
Outfit Formulas
People can get confused by the concept of an outfit formula (or an uniform), but what many people don’t realize is that they already do this. Is your go-to a sweater, jeans, and sneakers? Or a blouse with a skirt and heels? That’s your formula! It doesn’t have to be intricate or detailed, it just has to be what you already like wearing.
Identifying Gaps
You’ll see a lot of articles with titles like “the must haves every wardrobe needs.” Those articles are fun, but also really misleading. They ignore the fact that everyone has different wardrobes, preferences, and lifestyles.
Instead, look at your outfit formulas and individual pieces and think: “Do I never wear item X because I need item Y to wear it?” Item Y is a gap in your wardrobe. It could be tights, a white tee, or sneakers that actually go with your outfits. You might also have a few Y’s in your wardrobe.
The Power of a Wardrobe System
I briefly mentioned having a system in your wardrobe, but let’s talk about why it actually makes your life easier.
Planning
Once you’ve implemented a system, it makes planning on a lot easier. You’ll be able to figure out what you need right now, and what you’ll need down the road. You’ll also be able to figure out when you need to buy that item and how you’re going to wear it. Doesn’t that sound magical?
Repeatable Outfits
Say it with me “It’s good to repeat outfits. No one actually remembers what I wore or how I wore it.” I know we all want people to remember what we wore or how good we looked, but odds are, they’re just going to remember that you looked good, not what you actually wore.
Repeatable outfits are also great because it makes it easy to quickly get dressed for an event. Going to a work happy hour? You can pull out the outfit that you wore last week because you know you looked great. With time, you’ll also learn how to switch out items in your outfits so they still look good, but give a different vibe. If you don’t believe me about any of this, go check out Marina. She’s the queen of a workhouse wardrobe and how to rewear outfits but have them still feel fresh.
How a Stylist Solves This in One Session
If you’ve read through this and still feel completely overwhelmed, let’s talk about how a stylist can solve this problem for you.
I once worked with a client that had an amazing closet, but felt like she had gotten into a rut. She wanted to feel like a more confident version of herself, but didn’t want to start from scratch. So what we first did was go through her closet and take out anything that wasn’t working for her. This included things that didn’t fit, the colors weren’t the best match for her, and clothing was just worn out. Once we removed those items, we were able to see the amazing pieces in her closet and what gaps needed to be filled. For instance, she loved wearing a striped shirt, but she had too many in her closet. Also, all of the ones she had weren’t perfect. So we got removed all of those striped shirts and replaced it with one amazing striped shirt that she loved. Cleaning out her closet also allowed us to see that she had some great ankle length work pants, but no full length work pants. We were able to add that to our shopping list as well.
Once we filled the gaps, we started putting together outfits. I showed her how she can mix and match the pieces in already in her wardrobe with the new pieces. Once we did this, it allowed her to see that she had a lot more outfit options than she even realized! She’s now able to get dressed for work knowing that she already has great outfits (that she loves) ready to go.
FAQ’s
- Do I need to declutter everything?
No, you don’t need to declutter everything (and especially not all at once). In fact, if you’re doing this by yourself, I would suggest starting with your most problematic areas. This is typically what you have the most pieces of. Do you have 50 shirts but only three pairs of pants? Focus on going through your shirts first. Are you wearing all three pairs of your pants? Great, you don’t need to go through those then.
You can also divide up the work over time. If it’s winter, only look at your winter clothing. You can turn your attention to spring once the warmer weather is closer. - Is this normal?
Yes! This is a problem that most people deal with at some point in their lives. It’s also not entirely your fault. We’re constantly getting fed information about the newest trends, best sales, and items that you “can’t live without.” It’s really hard to ignore all of the noise and focus on what works best for you.
Book a consultation
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of cleaning your closet or you just need help putting outfits together, let’s chat! I offer free consultation calls where we can talk through the problems you’re facing and how we can work together to solve it. You can book that free 15 minute consultation call with me here or feel free to email me with any questions you have.
