Wednesday, June 26, 2013

How I plan my wardrobe

Sneakpeak from my walk-in..


Bloggers note: Whatever this post might look like - I´m usually your typical Never-Have-Anything-to-wear-Kinda-Girl.
But I just recently came up with this super-awesome and super-nerdy system to make my life slightly easier..


It started with the realisation that there is no such thing as ONE base-wardrobe when you live in a country with seasonal temperature changes.
You need to have at least TWO.

I started using this system last fall and re-did it 2 months ago for spring/summer. It´s sort of like an image-index of my closet - and it works both for shopping- and outfit purposes.

So, here´s what happens:
I first gather up images of all basic garments I want/need in my closet. Including images of garments I already own. (If the garment´s not online, I usually just try to find an image as similar as possible)
I do this category by category; Bottoms, Tops, Dresses, Jackets, Shoes, Bags, Jewelry and Accessories.

There are some rules to this system - designed to make the transition to next season a bit easier:

 - In the basic wardrobe I need the colors to be subtle and prints should be down to a minimum. Yellow bird print is not basic anywhere, anytime.
This doesn´t mean you shouldn´t own things with colors or prints - it just means that these types of clothes doesn´t belong in your base wardrobe, they should be considered seasonal/trendy. The base wardrobe should be considered as long-lasting.


- To my most efforts - I try to avoid crap garments and crap accessories. I´m actually doing this to SAVE money. A 20€ necklace from H&M will never make it to my next season. A 100€ gold necklace will probably never leave my jewelry box. For me, buying the cheap necklace is almost the same as throwing 20€ away. And that can be OK! But just for trendy, one-season-pieces - Not for my basic wardrobe.
For shoes and bags I try to stick with real leather and avoid any types of fake leather (aka PU leather)
Same goes with clothes. I want my basic clothes to survive for more than one season. This means avoiding: Acrylic knits, cheap, thin cotton knits and jersey (you know the ones you can instantly feel will loose all shape after 1 wash) and polyester.
It does not mean that I NEVER buy these materials. But if I want the garment or accessory to survive to next season - I go for sustainable materials. (Tip - That´s when you can tell your hubby it´s an investment)

Alright, so here´s my image index for spring/summer 2013:






And now for the BEST part - Mixing images together and creating outfits! Just like when you were a kid, playing with dolls!
I do this part in Adobe Illustrator, but it can also be done in a simple Paint program.
I try to create at least 20 outfits using ONLY my basic garments and accessories. That way I can easily tell if a garment is unnecessary. 
If I don´t want to use it in any of the 20 outfits I´ve created - I´m not gonna use it enough to make it a purchase.

The SECOND best part is testing out if a new, trendy/seasonal garment will fit into my wardrobe. 
Say I´m in the mood to buy a particular dress. Then I just take an image of the dress and try to match it up with my base wardrobe garments. 
If it makes me feel inspired it´s a Buy - If it´s not easily matched it´s a Bye!
(That´s what I did in THIS post, before I bought the dress)

Here´s what it might look like when I create my outfits using my basic garments:


And some more...



This is almost amusing enough to be illegal. I know this post can seem a bit overachieving, but you won´t belive how much fun this is - AND how much everyday time and money it will save you in the end. 
If you want you can always print out your outfits for reference and keep it in your closet.

Good luck with Your spring/summer wardrobe!



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