Starting Your Style from Scratch: Cull Your Closet

Hello again my lovely fashion mavens! As the weather starts to warm and a new fashion season is upon us many of you are probably considering a major style overhaul. Nervous about taking creating your new look? Have no clue where to begin? Have no fear, the reluctant fashionista is here to help with four easy steps to a new you!

1) Cull Your Closet
Out with the old, in with the new style! But not so fast...you may have some worthy pieces of clothing hiding in your closet. Set aside an afternoon, and start making four piles of clothes (and accessories): give away/donate, trash, keep, keep but needs repair/tailoring.

Find the Clothes that Flatter
Take all of the clothes that are ill-fitting, sloppy, just don't flatter your body type, or you plain just don't feel good in. Do any of these items require minimal tailoring to obtain the perfect fit? By all means, take them to a tailor, but: don't bother altering clothes that are well-worn and have seen better days, and check with the tailor first to see what the cost will be before they begin. No use in tailoring a pair of pants when you can get an identical item off the rack that fits great and costs the same or less than the tailoring. OK, so maybe this is not as easy as it sounds...it can be hard to let go of your standard wardrobe go-tos, or that shirt that cost you a fortune. But are you willing to give up valuable closet-real-estate to items that make you look any less fabulous than you are? Enlist a close friend or relative for help in exorcising your closet-demons if need be :-)

Colours Come in More than Black
Next, think about the colours that flatter your skin tone. Two general rules here: 1) Jewel tones look good on any (yes any!) skin tone, and are particularly flattering for mature complexions 2) Colours that are too close to your skin tone will wash you out (example: dusty rose on pale skin) - if you insist on wearing these colours try to wear them along with a more saturated (darker, more pigmented) colour to make your complexion look radiant. A special note on black: the colour black should not be used as a safety net, go-to-colour. For your own good (I'm begging you now) add some colours to your wardrobe, and try mixing up the neutral-scene with colours like grey, chocolate brown, olive green, and navy (yes, navy is back in full force, although I'm not sure why or when it was ever out). Black has a tendency to wash out pale complexions, and too much black in your wardrobe is just plain boring and funeral-ish. There. I've vented. I feel a lot better now. Still having trouble with what colours flatter you? Try visiting a makeup counter at a local pharmacy or department store. They ofter offer free make-overs, and can tell you what 'your colours' are. Next, check out my blog entries on colour theory for tips on matching and coordinating colours!

Survival of the Fittest
Finally, get rid of the clothes that you will never wear again: uber-trendy clothes, now out of style, tapered pants (don't even get me started on this one - please just get rid of them), clothes that no longer fit with your lifestyle or age. To really dig out those old dinosaurs I recommend drastic measures. If you have a spare closet (or a spare plastic bin or box), move all of your remaining clothes there. After you pull out an item of clothing and wear it, return it to it's home back in your bedroom closet. If you are lacking space to do this, dividing your closet into half clothes to keep, half maybe clothes will work too. Just move clothes to the 'keeper' side of the closet as you wear them. Give yourself about a year with this system (6 months if you are impatient like me) and at the end of that time donate or give away all of the clothes that don't make the cut.

My strategy for culling your closet may seem strict and a little time-consuming, but this all-important first step in gaining a revitalized style is definitely worth the time and effort you put in.

Next up: Closet Organization!