We’ve all been there, stepping into our dressing room or wardrobe, or opening the cupboard doors and feeling like there is nothing there that we haven’t worn 100 times already (impressive if that’s true! Because the average times a garment is worn is only 7!). We look at our collection of clothes and feel bored or tired with them but don’t want to throw them away or necessarily buy new ones. What’s the solution?
I’ve got six simple ways you can make old clothes feel new! Give them a try and see how refreshing and new your old wardrobe feels afterwards.
- Try a styling challenge – see how many different combinations you can come up with for 1 or 2 pieces in your wardrobe. Aiming for 5 or more different looks can be a good place to start. Wear the item with things you normally wouldn’t and try new colour combinations, layer up (if it’s winter like it is here right now) or wear an item differently than it’s designed to be for example a jumper as a shirt or a skirt as a top or dress – you’ll be surprised what really works! If you need help, invite a friend over and make a day of it playing dress ups together!
- Go through and rearrange your clothes, change the order they hang in; moving some of your lesser worn pieces to the front and centre so they become the first things you grab instead of the last. This will really help mix up the combinations you choose and feel like you’re wearing something different to normal.
- If there is anything you are not wearing because it doesn’t fit or sit right or needs mending then take it to a seamstress to sort it out. You’ll get more wear, love how you look and feel amazing too. This is also great if you have long jeans and want to crop them, or long sleeve shirts you want to shorten, or skirts or dresses you want the hem line adjusted on. A good seamstress will be able to help you find the perfect and most flattering lengths for your body.
- Accessorise! Wear a scarf as a belt, or a headband (or wrap it round a headband like a saw an awesome wardrobe stylist suggest on Instagram this week). You can even just tie it onto your handbag. Wear some bold necklaces or earrings, slide on some bangles or fun socks. Have fun with adding all the trimmings to your outfits to give them a new twist.
- Do a bit of upcycling yourself. Add some fun iron on patches to your denim jacket, or embroidery on the back pocket of your jeans. If you have a cricut (or a friend with a cricut) print out a cool saying or fun design and iron it on your t-shirt or sweater. Bead over the top of old worn logos to jazz them back up. Get a bit creative and see what you can come up with – make those old favourites shine again.
- Check Pinterest or google images for the latest fashion trends, celebrity styles, catwalk photos and styling ideas and see how you can recreate them with what you already own. Or use a favourite movie or tv series character(s) for inspiration.
Bonus idea – do a wardrobe swap with a friend, swapping over 2-5 of your least worn pieces (depending on the size of your wardrobe) and see what new combinations you can come up wearing at least one of the pieces they swapped with you every day for a week. Feel free to make your own rules and swap back at the end of the week or keep your swaps – just make sure you both know what the plan is from the outset!
Which idea is your favourite? Will you be giving any of these a go? Let me know!