Level up your fashion game this year by modernizing your wardrobe. This journey looks a little different for everyone, but this post will make this seemingly daunting task a lot more manageable. Keep reading for clever tips and advice that will create a current wardrobe full of pieces you’re excited to repurpose, style, and keep for this season and seasons to come!
Modernizing your wardrobe is all about dressing for your current lifestyle, whatever that may look like for you. Pay attention to what you actually reach for, then take inventory of your closet. After that, do some style research by heading to Pinterest to scope out styles and looks that you enjoy. Modernizing your wardrobe is much easier when you have a clear vision of what look you’re trying to achieve and what you need to do so. Identify pieces that are over or underrepresented from your wardrobe, then begin to reinvent the items that aren’t serving you to help fill any gaps. Modernizing your wardrobe takes a little time and a lot of creativity, but it’s not nearly as daunting of a task as it seems.
Make Your Options Clear
Whether you’re making new clothing or trying to purge the old, clear out your closet or sewing arsenal to get a much better view of what you’re working with. Those jeans that hit the floor months ago because they were too slouchy are the perfect candidate for a little refresh. Let out the hem or roll the cuffs. Complete the look with a belt and fitted top for a balanced look that’s effortless but super trendy. Got a mountain of t-shirts? Add a simple knot to create a fitted look or use our Lavender Tee hack for a t-shirt refresh. For those that live for wide-legged trousers—Now is your time to shine! Pair them with a sweater or straight coat. When you know what pieces you’re working with, it’s so much easier to achieve a modern look.
Pay Attention to Prints
Tartan plaids saturated the FW 20/21 runway. This print is a part of most wardrobes, but how you style is where it counts. A tartan blazer with a bodysuit and crop top for the fall is a home run idea. Since the cold days come and go, a warmer alternative is a tartan midi skirt, perhaps with a high waist and a daunting thigh-split paired with your favorite chunky sweater and slouchy knee-high boots. Other popular prints for the season are pinstripes, paisley, checks, etc., so pick patterns that work for you and marry them with current styles for a fashion facelift.
Don’t Toss Your Outerwear
It’s a big-ticket item to buy or make, so it’s easy to hesitate when deciding if it’s time to let a jacket or coat retire. Try updating pieces by replacing details like buttons or modifying the shape or hemline to better sit with current trends. Some outerwear pieces, like a leather blazer or trench, don’t need any tweaking at all. They’ll do the updating all on their own.
Oversize It
So, you haven’t cleaned out your closet in a while, and it’s full of ill-fitting clothes. Maybe you made or bought the wrong size. If it’s too big, then you’re right on track for this tip! While we’re all still fighting this pandemic, we’re living in comfy and oversized things. Now’s the perfect time to take that big sweatshirt that you made and style it up or alter it to give it a different look. Add accessories to flatter your body (belts are supreme), or remove the sleeves and change the neckline for a vest that’s stylish and repurposed.
Expand the Dress
Dresses tend to be occasion specific and are some of the most neglected pieces in a wardrobe. It’s easy to forget about the expensive gown at the back of your closet that you bought for a special event like a wedding or work party. Whether it’s formal or casual, dresses are an entire outfit consisting of a bodice and skirt. Get creative by separating the two for a new blouse, skirt, or a trendy two-piece. If you like to keep it simple, consider starting with a summer dress layered with a tank and sweater. The sweater is then easy to tuck and transform a frumpy piece into a stylized one.
Styling Up and Down
If you found a closet filled with ill-fitting clothing like suiting during your inventory check, take some time to alter them with a tailored slouchy look, then style down your tailored pieces (including but not limited to the blazer) with loungewear pieces or trainers to bring two different styles together in a really modern and chic way. Conversely, the opposite can be done styling up pieces that you love. Take your favorite lounge set to a stylized level by pairing it with scarves, longline coats, blazers, heels, etc.
Fashion is a lot more fun when your style goals are achievable and clear. With the tips and styling suggestions above, creating a modernized wardrobe for this season (or any season) is attainable and totally worth it.
What are some pieces that you’re going to make or altar to modernize your wardrobe? Leave a comment below!
1 comment
Stephanie – Great article! I am on a mission to renew my wardrobe with better quality versatile pieces, preparing to transition from a conservative workplace culture to a more creative work culture, also in the sewing/fashion industry like you. Because I am still working a demanding full time IT job from home, I am enlisting professional tailors for some new pieces rather than pretending I have time to make them myself right now. One is what I’ll call a “two-piece pantsuit” in a conservative worsted wool navy pinstripe (purchased from Mood, I believe, like 10 years ago). This wool will become a chevroned dolman 3/4 length sleeve top with some wide legged, cropped trousers lined in china silk I am about to purchase from you. The tailor is going to give me the muslin when she’s done so that I can make perfectly fitting pants over and over. I love sewing, hate fitting!