My Closet Makeover: Part 4 – Pulling It All Together

The difference between wearing clothes and wearing a pulled together outfit is intention.  Just like when you’re designing a kitchen and the cupboards have to match the flooring, which has to match the paint colour and the counters, and the whole thing has to coordinate with any adjoining rooms, every single piece of clothing you wear should be considered.  Think about what your footwear, your accessories, and your clothing are saying both individually and together, and also what they’re saying about you.  There should be harmony…

I’m going to stop myself right there.  If I get any douchier, I’m going to have to kick myself in the crotch out of principle.  Just buy all the stuff I told you to buy and wear it.

The hard part (but also the fun part) is finding what to wear in the first place.  If you have all the bits, putting them together isn’t like assembling a puzzle.  There should never just be one way to do something, and that counts for getting dressed.  If you buy pieces that will only go with one thing, then not only are you wasting your money, you’re doing it all wrong.  I believe, if you shop smartly, every item – be it a top, pants, an accessory, even a bold statement piece – should be a part of at least three completely different looks.  At least.  Not including pj’s, socks and underwear, I have one wall of a closet and four drawers in a dresser.  I really, honestly, don’t own that much stuff; however, as an experiment, just to see if I could do it, I went an entire month without repeating outfits.  At work, I mean.  My lounging kit pretty much doesn’t change until it’s dirty.  But to work, I didn’t wear the same thing twice from January 9th to February 10th, and without even trying, I still haven’t duplicated.  I just went the month to see if I could do it and I’ve continued because it seems that I can.  I’ve worn the same items, several times, but my ensembles have never been the same.  Now, when I decide what to wear each day, it’s like a challenge to mix and match items I haven’t before.  It’s incredibly fun, but I’m afraid I might have developed a sick addiction.

I think the very last thing I can pass on to you is to make a conscious effort to become fearless – wear one thing every day that you wouldn’t have before.  Soon enough you’ll find there’s nothing you won’t consider (although there are things that no one should consider wearing – I’m looking at you, belly tops, dead in the eye).  I even almost wore a dress today.  A dress.  Almost.  And I just might actually go through with it next week.  If you know me even a tiny bit, you’ll think I’m lying.  I own more than one yellow thing.  Yellow.  If you know me and my skin tone even a tiny bit, you’ll wonder if I’ve lost my mind.  I wear skinny jeans.  Skinny jeans.  If you know me and my disdain for constricting clothing even a tiny bit, you’re wondering when I became such a girl.  Well, people, I became a girl when I realized that it wasn’t all high heels and short skirts.  Being a woman can be fun sometimes (sometimes…) and I haven’t been uncomfortable once.

Since taking stock in how I look, I feel better about my outsides, I feel more confident, more professional, and I’ve found a new hobby.  I didn’t make a big change, I still dress in the same general style I’ve always dressed, but I’ve put effort into it.  I’ve turned it into a sport and I’m starting to sound douchy again, so here’s me wrapping it up (finally)(I KNOW).

Oh, and if anyone wants to pay me to buy all their clothes for them and then dress them every day (not physically – I don’t want to see anyone naked, pleaseandthankyou), I’d be more than happy to take on a second job.