How do you organise your clothing?/how do you put your outfits together?

[tulpe]

Warning.........some may perceive this thread as a bit poncetastic but is a genuine question!!

Am wondering if the way I organise my wardrobe is stopping me from making the most of my clothes. I always seem to end up wearing the same outfits and also feeling like I have nothing to wear (even though I have loads of clothes).

Have already "gokked/trinny & susannah-ed" myself in terms of shapes, colours etc. So everything I own suits me.

How do you organise your clothing? Do you hang things in "outfits"? Or do you have everything in separate groups eg trousers together, dresses, tops etc?

Do you spend time putting your clothes together/trying different looks - like when you were a teenager and spent ages faffing around with your clothes on a sunday afternoon?

Do you decide what to wear in the morning or do you decide the night before?

Every once in a while I haul everything from one particular category out (say, work clothes) and then see what goes with what. You do end up seeing some combinations you wouldn't necessarily think about, and it gives you a chance to go through, see what needs fixing/throwing out etc. and where there are obvious gaps in your wardrobe.

I sometimes plan the day before, but most of the time I wear what's ironed (can result in some odd combinations towards the end of the ironing cycle).

I have never been good at casual clothes until recently!

I now have a capsule wardrobe that consists of black, navy, brown linen trousers and lots of tops that go with them. I wear shrugs or short cardis and then accessorise with chunky necklaces, earrings and bracelets. I have lots of different coloured shoes - red, turqouise, brown etc and sort of mix and match.

this works great for me as I am a TA at school but can do the same 'look' for casual.

I also have dresses for smarter occasions and use the tops for school to go with skirts as well.

I stick to a basic palette of colours when buying stuff so everything in theory will compliment each other and it means that some things I can keep for years.

I hang like by like in the wardrobe, ie all shirts together, all skirts together, etc etc in colours - sounds ott, but it helps for quick mornings.

also try to buy minimum or no iron clothes.

I don't have clothes specifically for work / casual etc, as I intermix, its more for season, hot cold wet etc. - with the exception of a few evening dresses and formal weddings.

Mostly I like dresses, but so hard to find pretty and comfortable - have a look at the thread about monsoon - i am still giggling at the pantomine dress!! It does look like something an amdram group would make up when they need a dress but don't have quite enough of one material so use all the odd bits!!!

mine isn't! just have only a few things so its easy to hang everything. DD's clothes though - all over the place she has more clothes than me!!! way more!!!!

My life is even more fab than giveloveachance's. I have colour coded hangers (for skirts, shirts, cardis, and trousers). And I hang everything in its little group. This means that when I am trying to find something to wear at 7 in the morning in my dizzy nauseous pregnant state I can grab one item from each section and make an outfit. I mostly look boring and dull at work though, I have to say. My weekend clothes are much nicer.

Thanks people

I am pretty organised. I already hang everything in separate groups (trousers, skirts etc) but inevitably reach for the same things. Think I need to take Bleh's advice and go through my wardrobe looking for different combinations of stuff that I haven't worn together before.

Am freakishly fond of ironing.....find it very relaxing..... , so never have the "bugger, will just have to wear whatever is ironed" issue.

and yes, MMJ, my life is fab . I realise that I am incredibly lucky that the biggest question taxing my brain and stress levels today is how can I make the most of my available clothing!

Also drag out all the accessories that you have. They are amazing at making "meh" outfits fab.

I organize (although that seems a bit strong for my wardrobe) in colours, and then there are certain colours I like together i.e. teal/brown, purple/grey, brights/beige, pastels/white, anything/denim.
Although tbh I wear uniform for work so it doesn't really matter if I make a mistake .
I generally consider what I'm going to wear the night before (althouigh usually wear something that just 'feels' right), and if I'm going out will agonise for days and probably try on several outfits/combinations.
If you don't feel like you're getting the most out of an obviously well thought out wardrobe then I would definitely suggest a regular trying on session as bleh suggests.