A recent bout of ‘I have nothing good in my wardrobe’ and ‘I hate everything I own’ (yes, even after what I consider a very successful style journey, I have those days too) led me to revisit my method of finding new and interesting outfit combinations and reorganise my wardrobe.
Possibly the biggest hurdle is to get out of the rut in the first place. My instinct is generally to Google pretty much anything that I am struggling with and this time was no exception. Jumping online I typed in the exact phrases above and the results provided me with just the right information to kick start my imagination.
A very helpful suggestion was to take out everything you own, get it out of the wardrobe and piece by piece look at each item, really focus on them for a moment before putting each item back in place. This has the effect of refreshing your relationship with the items (because they are out of ‘context’) and reminds you of what you actually have to play with. I’ve done this often in the past but ruts have a funny way of making you forget earlier successes.
Having looked through all my pieces I then took on another suggestion from Google and poured over my favourite stores’ websites and look books. Jumping on Pinterest and browsing ‘layering outfits’ or searches specific to a certain colour top or jacket was also useful as I took notes whenever the thought popped into 
my head ‘I can do that with that…’
In the end I had two A4 sheets worth of ideas. Over the next couple of weeks, what changed for me was that getting ready in the mornings was exciting again. Each day I would pick one idea off of the pages and see whether it worked or not. If it didn’t, I made notes about why I felt it didn’t quite hit the spot and that ended up being of value as well.
Note: Allow extra time for getting ready if following this method as sometimes the first option isn’t so great in practice – or better yet, try the combo the night before.
This process sounds simple and at some level I knew what I needed to do the moment that I began lamenting my situation, but it’s the reminder to go to the beginning and to refresh every time you find yourself in a rut that kick starts the creative flow once more.
So consider this your reminder if you are feeling pigeonholed by your clothes – shop your wardrobe and climb out of your rut!
Click here if you want to find out more about my wardrobe organising service.
