How do you pick your style?

[UmbrageWells]

I'm trying to cut down/ refine my wardrobe, which isn't a huge task, as I don't have absolutely tonnes of stuff, but I'm wanting to get to a point of having a nice, small range of good quality clothes that I can mix and match easily.

The problem is, I don't have one style, so if I were to choose some of my favourite things to keep, they just wouldn't go with each other! It's like I have 4 different styles in one wardrobe, but none of them are a "complete set" of everything I'd need in that style, and the styles don't overlap enough.

So how do you decide what your style is going to be?

I have no constraints in terms of work requirements, I'm a sahm, so could back any style, but how do I choose which one is "me"?!

I currently like and wear:

Leggings, oversized sweatshirts, sports bra, slouchy t-shirts (which is very comfy and practical for life with toddlers).

Linen wide leg dungarees rolled up, plain vests underneath, denim jacket, oversized sunglasses...

Straight leg or skinny jeans with loose but elegant blouses, delicate jewellery, and a small leather crossbody big.

And finally not-too-tightly-fitted dresses, either t-shirt or shirt dress, with boots or leather sandals and usually an oversized scarf (either warm or thin, depending on season).

And I love all these looks, and wouldn't say that one in particular feels more me, but I do want to hone and streamline my wardrobe, but I can't make my individual pieces work well together! They need to stay with their group!

So how do you decide what your style is going to be, in order to cut down and make any future purchases easier to "fit" with most of what you already have?

How many pieces do you have and how many do you want to have?

What is your motication for reducing what you have? (I personally went very minimalist for environmental reasons, but once you have already bought something there is not much to gain by getting rid of it so I did not throw out anything I really liked, just reduced what I bought going forwards and let wear and tear reduce the rest).

I guess you can select the best example(s) of each style and see where you get to in terms of overall volume.

motication = motivation

There loads of stuff online about project 333 basically streamlining your wardrobe to 33 items. Then I'd put away the rest and get it out in autumn.
When you buy things can you restrict the colours?

… Must admit I’m puzzled!

Those are just normal clothes, OP - I’m not seeing the difficulty. They don’t sound like hugely incompatible looks or styles and, frankly, I’d imagine that most of us have most of the things you list in our wardrobes - and just mix and match to suit our mood and the occasion.

Where did you get this idea that there has to be only one ‘you’, who should be wearing a strictly defined range of clothes?

I guess my motivation is to just try to simplify life. We've got 3 kids at the fast-growing stage, and my husband works away a lot, and I feel like I'm constantly sorting piles of clothes! If there were fewer clothes, it would be easier to keep on top of, and less "stuff" in a busy house.

I've only bought secondhand for years now, so feel less bad about sending things back to charity shops, and I don't actually have LOADS, but it's almost like I've got 15-20 stand alone outfits, but barely anything I could mix/match. If that makes sense!

I just don't know how you pick a style. If I see particular things, I might think "oh that looks like something X would love!", whereas I feel like my wardrobe doesn't have that "togetherness" of style that others seem to have.

I would suggest you:

• pick 6-8 outfits you love


• put the rest in the loft


• see what you actually miss


• stop buying!

And 'eclectic' is a style. People really overthink this stuff. They are just clothes.

I know it sounds daft and confusing!

It's not that I want a uniform of just leggings/sweatshirts etc, but more how do you decide on a direction to focus your wardrobe.

So I want to be able to use my clothes better - by not having 4 distinct looks. One look is more "sophisticated/ grown up" and one is more "gap year/beach" which is fine but they don't really overlap and I want to reduce what I have, so I guess I'm trying to figure out whether to keep the smarter stuff or keep the comfy stuff or keep the Boho stuff etc.

Coz I wouldn't wear a smart blouse with yoga pants and leather boots and an oversized scarf. So I just want to refine what I have, but I need to figure out a vague direction!

Obviously I'll need to keep some random bits that don't fit in, but overall I want things that work together easily so that I don't have so much stuff.

I mean… I wear leggings and loose tops for shlumphing around the house, but I have a particular look for out. In winter that’s a fairisle sweater and turned up jeans with boots, in summer it’s wrap style dresses that accentuate my waist. Autumn/spring a bit patchier. But it basically means that I have lots of clothes, but most conform to a type that I think suits me, so I can get dressed pretty unthinkingly.

It sounds like one style but all with growing levels of smartness. So unless you wanted to always be casual or always be Smarter, you are going to need all these elements. So if it is about simplification then let's say you have 4 of each type of outfit, edit it down to 2 or 3 of each type. Remove the outfits you like/wear least?

Keeping out a few items and putting the rest away is a good idea, and see what I miss. I might start with that. Thank you :)

Honestly I don't own or buy much at all, it's just that there's very little overlap in what I do have. I seem to not be making much sense to many of you!

Yes just put half in the loft and let it evolve.
The key is to stop buying really.
Nothing bad will happen if you just experiment, you are overthinking this IMO.

@Twattergy yes! I think that's it. They're all styles I like but in levels of smartness. Honing down to a few outfits in each style might be the way forward, so like 4 mini-capsule wardrobes, rather than 1 capsule wardrobe.

OP don't change your styles. Just get rid of (or pack away) any clothes you don't love and wear reasonably often.

I've been decluttering and honestly it's made a huge difference to my life. The best thing I read was 'if you're feeling overwhelmed get rid of stuff'. It's that simple, and for me it has worked.

Chuck, THEN tidy.

Good luck !

@NerdleNoodle thank you :) I'm so glad it's working for you! I think you're right, maybe I don't need to get rid of any particular styles, just refine what I have to the item I really love.

I think I just look at those around me who all seem to have a definite "look", and I feel like when I turn up to events they will be there looking like them, and I could look like any of my 4 style expressions, which has been making me feel...unrefined?! But maybe I do just need to embrace that I like different styles on different days, and just cut down to a few bits I love, even if they don't mix and match.

My wardobe is split into three sections, casual clothes, clothes which are more for occasions or going out, and tailored and formal clothes.
So instead fo reducing my wardobe, I'm doing almost the opposite. I've gone through my clothes and kept the ones I can't part with and sorted them in their 'category'. Then I've sorted and hung them by type. I can then see where there are gaps in my wardrobe that I need to fill to make these clothing pieces work together in each category. For me, I couldn't stick to one style, and would rather have a working wardrobe than stress about nothing matching.

It sounds to my that you've got you're style already. But do you stick to a colour palette? This is how the mix and matching works. I have a set of cardigans that work with all my dresses because I buy the same colours.....

It's difficult but surely you need different styles for different environments.
I have skinnies, sweaters and boots for winter at home, shorts or short skirts with ethnic linen tops for summer.
Work tends to be neat, fairly close fitting dresses or narrow black trousers and tunics for work. I'd just put some of it away for a year.
Having more styles stops it feeling formulaic, makes it more creative surely?

No advice but just to say I know exactly what you're talking about! I've recently been decluttering and selling things on Vinted, then buying stuff I like from Vinted that wasn't normally my "style" so if it doesn't suit I haven't spent loads and I can resell!

For streamlining I've bought a few things I'd like to be my staples but again this is all personal preference.

I have started wearing jumpsuits so have got three now 🙈 a plain black one, a Phase Eight going out one and a nice patterned one I can wear during the day. This is out of my "style" because I'm tall I didn't think I'd suit them but discovered a world of tall/long length ones on Vinted!

Jeans wise I've slimmed it down to - one going out pair, day time pair, black skinnies and just bought a pair of bootcut (been reading the debates if they're in fashion again or not but used to love my old pairs so again - Vinted, £5!)

One staple I'll never get rid of is floral dresses, I can't resist them and do have a few 🙈 I love floral especially when they have a more vintage look which I love but never brave enough to carry off so always do a wee "nod" with the patterns or accessories.

However after all that, at home I live in leggings, lounge wear etc and like you have small children so don't actually go out much or wear nice things! So when it is time to go out I get confused about what to wear 🙈 as too many choices. Hence the not knowing my own style 🤣

I agree with this. That's just an average woman's wardrobe of different outfits for different occasions. I thought you were going to say you had adidas shell bottoms, a seasalt tunic, white stilettos, a sex pistols t shirt, and a ballgown.😂

Take a look at the Style Essences” on here:

theconceptwardrobe.com/7-style-essences/complete-style-essences-guides

Everything you have described would fall under “natural”.

It’s also a great website generally.

I nearly didn't post because I didn't want to sound unhelpful but I don't get this either. No-one I know in real life has only one style. As Totters says, where has this idea come from?

Nor am I even seeing 4 styles from your description op, more 4 different types of outfit, all of which sound great, and each of them appropriate for different occasions. More to the point, you love them all.

I also expected yourpost to be about say, a preppy look, a goth look, office chic, gala event, etc., these cothes that you're describing are just cothes for the occassions of your life. So, have a good clear out. Take out every item. Does it fit well, is it in good condition, do you really like it, do you ever actually choose to wear it, etc., Some people also add in "does it suit you?", but personally I am happy to wear some things that I think don't particularly suit me but they tick the first 4 questions and I love the item. Redundant items (10 white tees) store the excess so it's not in the way.

Disclaimer not everyone fits this system but it's something to think about. I like systems so it's helped me.

I did the House of Colour style consultation , it really helped me focus on what in my wardrobe suited my shape/look/personality/lifestyle best. It means you know why you like your favourites, what to wear for different occasions and what might not be worth bothering with.

I also think you could mix things up more than you seem to be doing. One of your smart blouses with the yoga pants or dungarees sounds good to me. Or a sweatshirt and / or denim jacket over a fitted dress. And I'd have thought an oversized scarf would go with pretty much anything.