3 minute read
Fashion: Shop Your Closet
from Glo - August 2021
Shop your closet
By Lauren Caggiano
Was 2021 the year you promised to save money by curbing spending on items like clothes? Maybe that’s not going so well. That’s OK. It’s never too late to recommit to your goals, no matter how late in the year.
Shopping your closet is one means to that end. Basically, it involves creating outfits from your current collection of clothing and accessories. It can be a helpful way to make the most of your existing wardrobe without feeling the need to go on a spending spree and racking up unnecessary debt.
For example, we often see outfit inspiration on social media, television and even on people in public. When you shop your closet, you can channel that inspiration to make it work with what you already have. If you want to be stylish without the extra expense, then give the shopyour-closet challenge a try!
Still, it might be easier said than done. You might go in your closet only to feel like you’ve got nothing to wear. Nothing speaks to your wardrobe feels uninspired and even unappealing or frumpy. What’s a modern gal to do? Have no fear. It’s all about reframing your approach if you ask one local fashion expert and boutique owner. Darcy Vail, owner of Belazzo Revived Style in Wabash, has a few ideas to rekindle love for your threads. First, she said it’s important to develop a ritual of sorts to re-establish a connection.
“Get yourself lookin’ and feelin’ good,” she said. That means hair and makeup, a glass of wine or hot tea, a Polaroid camera, candles lit and oils diffusing, and your favorite playlist as background music. These are just a few suggestions. What matters is that you find what works for you.
In other words, as she put it, “you are setting the mood for a date with yourself and your closet. There’s no rush or panic. You are looking and feeling calm, relaxed and ready to put some outfits together.”
According to Vail, the good mood approach matters and alone can be a gamechanger. “When you come from a place of being playful and excited, your closet can look totally different,” she said. And that’s where your Polaroid can come in handy! Her suggestion: “Snap that pic so you don’t forget not only the outfit, but how you felt in it, as well, and maybe even write that emotion on the back of the pic. For example, those perfect trousers, with a simple silk neutral cami, and pink heels you added for that pop of color made you feel sexy as hell, write “SEXY!”
Vail’s suggestions are strategic, because we associate clothing with emotions, and that can be for good or bad. However, by following Vail’s lead, you can enjoy a more productive relationship with your wardrobe.
“When we come from a place of curiosity and playfulness, it feels so different than thinking ‘uggggg I have nothing to wear’ (with a closet full of clothes),” she said.
Here’s to getting that loving feeling back. a
photos: shutterstock.com
