STYLE: Shop Own Closet

STYLE

Shop Your Own Closet

The first step to dressing great is to weed out your closet.

Once you have gotten rid of the clothes that no longer work, and you have sorted your clothes down to one season, it's time to go shopping in your own closet. You're going to assemble new outfits from your existing clothes. This may sound easy--but it's actually a lot of work. Be prepared to spend some time.

The trick is to figure out which articles of clothing can be mixed and matched with the rest of the garments in your closet. Any items that are for special occasions only, such as formal wear or bridesmaid dresses, can be set aside. However, don't be too quick to judge. Could that fuchsia gown be paired with a white denim jacket and sandals for a summer dinner out? Or a suit jacket and boots in the winter?

Next, unload your closet. Yes, you've read correctly. Hopefully you have already done the first steps of weeding and sorting by season. All of your remaining clothes, and accessories like scarves, should be taken out of the closet to create outfit combinations.

You may be lucky enough to have a portable garment hanger. But, if not, the bed or the floor can work as well. I set out my clothes in the bedroom, then hang them up outfit by outfit on the shower curtain rod in the bathroom.

The clothes need to be sorted into similar types of fabrics. In most cases, a shiny polyester top isn't going to look good when worn with a natural linen skirt. There are exceptions, say white on white, where the outfit is coordinated by colors. But, in general, outfits look best when paired with similar textures and weights. Think about what goes with what. This is easy for the woman with a closet full of cottons and linens. It will be more challenging for someone who follows a lot of different trends.

There will be some transitional garments that might work with almost everything, such as denim jackets, solid tights, or a classic black tailored blazer.

I find the process of assembling outfits easier if I focus on creating a certain look, instead of trying to figure out every possible combination of clothing I could wear. Having some photos to use as a style inspiration is a big help. For example, when I stopped working in an office, I began to dress very casually. Call it the unemployed look. I realized I needed to figure out a business casual style that wasn't too dressed up. I wasn't going to be walking around in suits. But, at the same time, I was in danger of dressing so informally that I would have trouble procuring local freelance and consulting work. So I needed a new style model.

I browsed online and saved some pictures that were inspiring. They gave me new ideas of how to use my old clothes in a different way. I might add a scarf to a plain shirt to appear a little more polished. Or how to dress in ankle boots in the summer.

One you have general groupings of clothes, the fun begins. Start with an article of clothing that you will use as the base of the look. I like blazers and jackets as the foundation of business casual. Others may like to start with their pants and skirts. The main idea is to pick a category and then work through your clothes in a methodical way.

I started with a purple blazer, then took out every top in my pile, to see what combinations could be created. Each time I found a matching top, I would then go through my pile of skirts and pants to see what worked. I also checked if a scarf might be added. Once I went through every possible combination with my purple blazer, I did the same thing with the next jacket. And so on, until I had worked through every summer jacket or blazer in my closet.

TIP: Keep all the garments in order and go through them methodically each time, so you can keep track of which combinations you've tried. Otherwise, you may get hopelessly confused.

How are you going to remember which outfits work together? Stop and take a photo of each outfit combination. I like to hang the outfits on my shower curtain rod to use the white as a background. I use my cellphone for pictures, so it's easy for me to scroll through the outfits in the morning when I get dressed.

Sounds like a lot of work? Right. But it will save you tons of time digging through your closet in the morning. Not to mention you will find all kinds of new outfit combinations that you never would have considered before.

If you have an enormous amount of time, you could try each outfit on and have a friend take a photo. Not every combination will work when you try it on. However, I find it easier to photo every reasonable combination, then delete the photo later if the outfit doesn't look good.

While this process is time consuming, it's an excellent way to find dozens of new outfits from the existing garments in your closet.