Do you want to feel amazing in your clothes? For a healthy confidence and style boost, try refreshing your closet. In this post, I’ll outline 5 ways to refresh your closet so you can look and feel great all year long.
Organize Your Closet
Before you buy anything, start by organizing your closet. This is the type of thing that can be daunting at first, but once you get started you won’t be able to stop. First, remove all the clothing from your closet. Lay it all out on the bed and look at it with a discerning eye. Make 3 piles – one to keep, one to think about, and one to throw away, donate or sell. Be honest with yourself as you engage in this exercise. So often, we keep things with intent to repair them, or things that don’t fit in hopes that someday we’ll gain or lose weight and be able to wear them again. Try to avoid keeping things you don’t need out of nostalgia. Too many clothes in our closets just makes it hard to see what we actually have which is not helpful. Second, once you’ve sorted your piles, return to the “maybe” pile and make a final decision about what to do with each of those items. Now deal with the hangers. Throw away all of the cheap wire hangers and keep only the nice ones. Finally, put everything back in your closet in a way that makes sense to you. I tend to group things by type. For examples, jackets together, tops together, pants together and skirts together. This way, I can easily pair items from each section to make entire outfits. At the end of this exercise, I always feel very accomplished and happy with my work. Inevitably, I find items I forgot I had and pair items that I had never thought to put together before to form new outfits.
Please note that this article contains affiliate links which means we may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. This helps us run this website and provide you more quality content so feel free to click away! OlderWiserHotter.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. You can read my full disclosure at the bottom of the page.
Make Sure You Have Fashion Basics
The basics are different for every person, but one thing is for sure, basics form the foundation of your wardrobe. They are usually mid-priced items that everything else builds upon. For example, basics may include a great fitting pair of jeans, a pair of flexible black pants, a crisp white oxford style shirt and a collection of un-faded t-shirts in basic colors such as white, black and gray. When you finished organizing your closet, were there basics missing? I find that I usually have enough basics, but may need to update them with some inexpensive new tees or a new pair of jeans that reflects the current year’s style.
Photo, Betty Shirt from J. McLaughlin.
Choose Fashion Investment Pieces
Now that you have your closet organized, you probably have a much better sense of what you have and what key pieces you need to pick up for your closet refresh. Stylists often recommend adding several “investment pieces” to your wardrobe at this point. These are high quality, more expensive pieces that don’t go out of style often and form the foundation for your new wardrobe. Examples of investment pieces may include a high quality classic pair of nude or black pumps, a sophisticated long coat in cream, camel or black, a classically-styled, medium-length blazer that you can wear with a variety of different outfits or a simple cashmere sweater or an elegant designer bag.
Photo, Warrington Blazer from J. McLaughlin.
Add Fashion Trends
Next, you’ll want to add some trendy pieces to keep your style up to date. Don’t skip this step, since it will go a long way towards keeping you current and fashionable.
This year, you might consider a double breasted plaid blazer with shoulder pads, or a bright pop of color in yellow or royal blue.
If you’re feeling extra confident in 2021, think about adding a pair of faux leather pants or a blazer.
Photo by Edward Berthelot via Vogue Magazine.
Here are a few fun fashion trends for 2021:
- Shein Yellow Puff Sleeve Shirt
- Shein Blue Puff Sleeve Shirt
- Tahari ASL Notch Collar Blazer
- Bostanten Leather Handbag in Yellow
- Covelin Women’s Leather Handbag in Soft Hot Blue
- Norma Kamali Plaid Blazer
  |   |
  |   |
  |   |
Get Out of Your Fashion Rut
I don’t know about you, but I often get stuck in a rut and wear the same colors or outfit combinations over and over again. For me, I get lazy and wear too much black and gray. The point of refreshing your closet is to give you a style and confidence boost, so avoid getting stuck in a fashion rut. Spend some time online researching current and upcoming styles and colors and intentionally weave your favorites into your wardrobe. Sometimes you feel a bit conspicuous the first few times you do this, but believe me, you’ll overcome that quickly and you’ll feel great! Don’t be afraid of new styles. If you’re nervous about something new, try pairing a new trend with a classic style.
Rehab Your Shoes and bags
Throughout your closet refresh, don’t forget about your shoes and bags. Often, we give up on our bags and shoes when they begin to show a little wear and tear. However, with a little care, we can rehab our shoes and bags and give them longer life.
For leather, use a leather cleaner such as Lexol and a soft dry cloth. Or, wipe them clean and use shoe polish to cover scratches and scuffs. For older leather shoes that are showing some cracking, use a leather conditioner such as Weiman to restore and protect. Shoe Goo can also be used to mend many things from a worn sole to a broken heel. If you need a new sole or liner in your shoes, a Cobbler (or shoe hospital) can replace old parts and extend the life of your shoes. Although they are a little harder to find, there are similar companies that specialize in repairing or refurbishing quality handbags as well.
Comment, Share, Link
Did you enjoy this post? I’d love to read your comments below. You can support the Older, Wiser, Hotter blog by using my affiliate links, sharing posts on your social media accounts using the buttons below and commenting. Or, if you’re a blogger yourself, link to the posts you like! I appreciate all of you!
Featured Blog Photo by jordi pujadas on Unsplash