Using Your Wardrobe to the Max
Lucky Magazine had an article this month about thirty different unique outfit ideas. While I appreciated the inspiration, what really caught my eye was the end of the article. After the outfit ideas, the editors at Lucky had listed off exactly what pieces they had used to create the month of outfits. It was far less clothing than I expected. Four dresses, three skirts, one pair of shorts, two pairs of pants, ten tops, two belts, two scarves, four handbags, three necklaces, a bracelet, a pair of earrings, and only five pairs of shoes were used. Eying my closet after examining theirs, I realized that I am definitely not taking full advantage of my wardrobe. I’m willing to bet that you probably aren’t either and that a fresh look is something you are always striving for too. So, here are some ideas to freshen up your current look and use more from your closet without buying anything.
One of the biggest tips I learned from perusing the many outfit combinations that Lucky offered was to combine unexpected colors. For example, one of the four handbags they used was a bright green hobo. Now, I do not own any brightly colored handbags because I was too worried I wouldn’t be able to carry it enough for it to be worth it, but they paired this bright green bag with everything from neutral black and white stripes to navy and khaki to purple and pink. So my challenge to you is to look at your closet with a fresh eye and match colors that you wouldn’t normally. See if you can create one “new” outfit with an unexpected color pairing.
Another trick I saw was that each outfit was like a book; there was one “star” focal point and a “supporting cast”. For some outfits a dress or skirt stole the attention and the rest of the outfit was neutral pieces, for others a piece as simple as the belt drew the eye. A scarf or handbag worked beautifully for created an attractive look. This makes it really easy to pull together a new outfit as well. Choose something from your closet, a scarf, skirt, dress, blouse, whatever and make it the focal point of your outfit by making all the other items you wear “support” the focal point. For example, in many outfits where the handbag was the focal point, the fashion experts at Lucky chose neutral colors like black, white, gray, navy and khaki for the outfit while the handbag was brightly colored. When the dress was the focal point, the shoes, belt, and handbag became neutral. It works the other way as well: mixing lots of bright colors and making the blouse the only neutral effectively made it the focal point for one outfit.
