5 Hints to Start Building a Wardrobe

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How to rethink one’s wardrobe according to personal taste? Questioning the heavy consumption and fast fashion is one thing, but it might be hard to know where to start when it comes to a concrete action.

Inspired by readings and my personal experience, I have put together a short list of ideas, hints that guided me through my wardrobe transformation, and still help me a lot in my day to day wardrobe planning process.

In a nutshell:

• First of all, think about your personal style 
• Aim for harmony and simplicity 
• Get rid of the useless 
• Carefully organize your closet 
• Take care of your clothes 

 In the book l’Art de la Simplicité (the Art of Simplicity), Dominique Loreau mentions style and wardrobe management as a part of a simple and fully satisfying way of life. I think that it is also important to feel good in one's outfit in order to feel more self confident.

 First of all, think about your personal style 

It is quite impossible to start building a timeless wardrobe if you are still style searching, as you wouldn't really know how to pick your basics aimed to follow you through the years. Before rethinking your current wardrobe, ask yourself "Have I defined my own style yet, in which I feel myself?"

Aim for harmony and simplicity 

I am not suggesting to have a plain and boring wardrobe, but it is hardly convenient to dress in the morning, be pleased with your outfit and wear your clothes often if none of them match together.

Of course, this step is very personal and there is no general rule. For a start, I suggest to choose a palette of 4 or 5 colors matching both your taste and skin carnation, and compose your wardrobe from this. Aim for a few basics, which I call "key pieces", that can be worn with practically any other piece of your wardrobe, and build the rest around them, with more cheerful and personal pieces to play with.

To round it up, any piece of the wardrobe should be one you can wear often in all kinds of occasions, and match with at least 5 other pieces.

Get rid of the useless 

It is also hard to dress in the morning if half of your clothes are shapeless, damaged or in a wrong size. “I could use that one day”  just doesn't work either . When that day comes, we usually want to buy something new anyway.

Imagine a wardrobe in which all the clothes are ones you love and actually want to wear on a regular basis. This is what you should aim for when rebuilding your wardrobe.

I think that getting rid of clothes is the most difficult part of the wardrobe building. Some worn favorites, or on the contrary recent expensive purchase mistakes might be hard to part from. I might write about this step in more details soon...

Carefully organize your closet

A well-thought wardrobe is pleasant to wear, but also pleasant to look at and choose from. In order to easily find any piece of clothing or accessory, the closet should be well organized. Carefully fold your clothes, use moth repellent and perfume, use nice wooden hangers...

Not only does it make it more convenient to find what you are looking for, but it becomes a pleasure to choose the day's outfit as well...

 Take care of your clothes 

This sounds obvious, but haven't we all had to part from a piece because we washed it at the wrong temperature or let it be eaten by moths? The first step of a long lasting wardrobe is to take a good care of the clothes so they can last for years.

Read the labels in order to clean and iron them properly, check for wear and tear signs, use some protection spray on leather pieces and polish them when necessary… Don’t hesitate to ask professionals for advice (shop salesperson, dry cleaner…)