What do you need in your wardrobe? There are many lists of “essential items every woman should own” around, yet for most of us, these are not helpful as they don’t take into consideration:
- Your lifestyle – how you spend your time, what you do, what your dressing requirements are
- Your body shape/proportions/colouring (not everyone needs a crisp white shirt or a little black dress)
- Your personality – how you like to express yourself through your clothes
- Your preferences – do you like to wear pants or dresses? Do you prefer heros or basics?
All these influence what you need in your wardrobe, and they are important to consider (particularly if you are considering throwing it all out for a minimalist wardrobe – please read this post first!). You need to know what’s right for you to make your wardrobe building efforts bear fruit.
Jill Chivers of 16 Style Types and I discuss in this video things you want to consider when building your wardrobe including wardrobe basics, shape and structure and the influence of lifestyle.
Here is a link to the 16 Wardrobe Essentials post that we discuss in the video and Jill’s post on 10 Principles for Building a Working Wardrobe.
So if you are saying no to opportunity because you haven’t got the right thing to wear, then you need to reassess your wardrobe. This is so key to maximising your life and the opportunities that come your way.
Answer me this: What do youneed and what do you enjoy wearing?
Further Reading onWardrobe Building
16 Wardrobe Storage Tips to Make Finding Things in Your Wardrobe Easy
Hi, I think it is really important to consider our lifestyle before we invest too much on our wardrobe. My job requires practical and rather comfortable outfits as I work with children, but I wonder about the possibility of adding some feminine and more mature items to the tops and jeans without falling into the category of mutton dressed as a lamb.
Absolutely – lifestyle is key to what you need in your wardrobe.
Love the video, and great lists! I think many with very casual lifestyles skim over the dress pants or day dress suggestion because they don’t see when they would need these, or how they fit in their day to day life. My answer would be that you always need something that you could go to a funeral, attorney, or court (traffic ticket, maybe?) in and feel confident. These are not occasions that you want to have to go shopping for!
You are right – we always need something to be able to dress up smartly for some occassions, even if it’s not every day.
I love you and Jill in your videos. There is something wonderful in your interactions with each other. Some great advice and, funnily, when I went to view the link to Jill’s post, I discovered a comment I made to it when she posted it.
Just wanna exclaim – WOW! You 2 really look super in this video! I love your layers and sizes of pearls on the royal blue Imogen and Jill’s YELLOW! Fantastic!
I have to admit that i have clothes for someone who lives another life !
One who constantly attends cocktails …
Maybe you need to find more cocktail parties to attend!
I agree about lifestyle being the major factor.
I undertook a major career change a few years ago and still have a hard time adjusting. I have a whole wardrobe full of clothes that suit my style, shape and personality, but are totally impractical for my day-to-day life. And I still have trouble knowing what to buy instead, 5 years down the line.
The clothes I find to suit my new routine are not my style or taste, but I’ve had to buy them anyway, as I need something to go to work in each day. I’m very slowly starting to get a better idea of what I like among the stuff I’ve bought, but it’s really very difficult adopting a totally different style virtually overnight!
Any radical change, whether it’s physical,mental or lifestyle takes time and deep consideration to work through.