Style rut - please help!

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I seriously need a style makeover.

All my clothes are old and tatty and just look cheap and grotty. I throw them on and then feel embarrassed when I'm out and see everyone else looking nice and like they take a pride in their appearance.

Do I throw all my tatty stuff away so I'm not tempted to wear it? Or wait until I've got nice replacements lined up.

Essentially I need to stop buying cheap stuff that look crap after a few washes but I feel guilty splashing out on expensive stuff!

Please help if you've felt the same and rectified it!

Honestly yes you do because you’re just going to keep wearing it. I would make a list of new wardrobe essentials and then buy the best you can afford.

Look on Pinterest for some ideas of people who are a similar age and colouring. Try to avoid man made fabrics. Stick to a neutral scheme: black, tan, navy. I'm cautious with white, it doesn't suit everyone.

Yes, white can be tricky, not only does it suit everyone, but it needs washing every time you wear it. It stains easily, and if it's not cotton can go grey and dingy quite quickly.
I wouldn't necessarily agree that you need to buy more expensive things, just be more careful about what you do buy. I've got cheap cotton tshirts from Primark and New Look that are well over 5 years old and still look nice, just look at the fabric carefully first. I've paid top end of my budget for jumpers from Mint Velvet and have been really disappointed in how quickly they've gone bobbly - to the extent that I've had to throw out a 90 quid cardigan after only a year of wear.
With jeans, fit is everything, and it's not necessarily the case that expensive ones will fit you better. I notice M&S are doing some very nice ones in a soft slightly stretchy denim, that looks great, for about £45.
I do find that supermarket clothes don't last for long, the polyester jersey stuff does go bobbly quickly.
Do chuck out anything that's already tatty, stained or torn. Also anything that doesn't fit properly, or isn't flattering. Think about what colours suit you, and get rid of (or dye) anything that doesn't do you justice.
I think it's really important to think about your lifestyle - there's no point in spending lots of money on party clothes if you need to upgrade your everyday look. No point in buying in office clothes if you are going to be working from home for the forseeable future.

Delphinium I agree. I bought some leggings from Mint Velvet and they were rubbish and faded really fast! I would say as a role of thumb, natural fabrics are safer. But higher end clothes can be made of polyester, it's all about the cut I guess. I don't think there are grades of polyester?!

I create a dream list of the things you’d really like and then I would spend a bit of time and money buying the “best” one of those. And then of those staples I would just buy repeats of those as they wear out. And add in afew bits of “fast Fashion” as and when.

So for example I would want
Straight leg blue jeans
White trainers
Black cashmere jumper
V neck t shirt
Black wide leg trousers/culottes.
Chunky cardigan
High waisted wid leg chino/cotton type trousers.

Id throw it out because it will spur you on.

Thank you!

Sunday is clear out day.

Tricky not being able to try stuff on in shops at the moment so might be a case of a lot of trial and error with online shopping!

I've thrown out a lot of stuff that was grotty - it had become my 'easy to throw on and don't care' option.

Have bought a few bits to wear whilst we are locked down/WFH. Even a couple of pairs of nicer shorts, some better quality t-shirts and some new sandals looks and feels a lot better

Throw it out!

Agree that spending more doesn't always help but in general as you get older I'd say you have to buy better quality clothes to look nice.

Get a haircut too, that always makes me feel better.