Please help me replace my wardrobe!

[WhoahThereCrazyHorse]

So, if you had to buy a new wardrobe of clothes from scratch, what would your shopping list look like? I am about to go back to work after maternity leave and have decided to put some cash into updating and sorting out my look, after at least 10 years of being wearing clothes until they fall to pieces and being a complete scruff. Not just my work wardrobe either, I need weekend stuff, going out stuff, accessories, etc etc.

So, forget budget (obviously I have a budget but that's not relevant to deciding what I need) and imagine you only own the outfit you're standing up in. What would you buy?

Stylish folk, I am in your hands, please help!

Ooh I did this this year!!

I bought basics first and tried to work out what was "me". Might not make sense, but I've ended up with a coherent wardrobe where I actually wear everything in it! I used to have loads of clothes but "nothing to wear". Now I have fewer but wear them all. I do read fashion magazines etc and go browsing online and in shops but I'm now more resistant to things that I just know won't suit me - and have spotted some real gems in TK Maxx because I know what works for me rather than just picking stuff up because "it's a bargain" which is what I used to do .

Think carefully about a colour palette. Then do you like prints/plain, textures? What length(s) suit you? Are you classic? Casual? Bohemian? Arty? What kind of "look" are you most comfortable in?

Then I'd go for smart trousers, perfect jeans, long skirt, short skirt, formal jacket/blazer, smart classic shirt(s), perfect t-shirts... and then build around them and HAVE FUN!!! (If you make it all too co-ordinated and "matchy matchy" it won't have any soul!)

Sorry to ramble on but shopping and clothes are my PASSION lol . I will try to remember the couple of v useful books I read when starting out rebuilding my wardrobe... more around thinking about what to buy FOR YOU than being prescriptive. (I get fed up of books that make pronouncements like "camel is a universally flattering colour" - it isn't. It doesn't make me look sophisticated and "classic". It makes me look hungover! )

Mint Velvet has some nice grown-up things and has suggestions of how to match them up. It's all a bit grey scale sometimes, but shopping elsewhere for brighter bits is always an idea.

I think the toughest part for me in updating my wardrobe is to remember not only am I not the size I once was, more to the point, I'm no longer that age and can't necessarily get the same things I did when I was 10 years younger.

Oh, I kind of meant the grey scale meant it was pretty easy to match up as well.