Have you reached your upteenth “I have so many clothes, and yet nothing to wear.” Grabbed from a thousand hangers in your closet, only to be left with a heap of objects on the floor – alma matter branded logos, trying their best to fit in with your new corporate linen pants, and platform stilettos that you swear you’ll put to work wear next time you see a night out.
Well, fret not. While opening your dresser may feel like a crossover episode of five past lives right now, reaching this point means you’re on the brink of a pivotal transformation for your wardrobe. You just need a plan, a vision, and a few visits to the shopping center or your favorite online boutique to breathe your inner that girl to life.
Step 1: Start Studying & Take Notes
If you’re a girl on a mission to reinvent her wardrobe you inevitably have some sort of vision of that girl you’d like to transform into. You might catch a glimpse of her on the commute home. Study how she gracefully steps up the platform, in heels at least three inches taller than you could only dare attempt without inevitably twisting your ankle. Perhaps she sports a wrinkle-free, polyester blouse, you’d never run the risk of encountering your morning coffee or glazed pink lipgloss that dazzles from the corner of your eye, even as you look away.
You could never be that girl, and that’s for certain.
But little do you know that the only thing standing between you and that girl are affinity to risk. So, it’s time to pull out the pen and start studying. What was it about this girl that caught your eye? Was it her shoes, or the way she dared to walk in them? The crisp button-down, or her courage to thrown it on for a whole work day regardless of the outer elements.
Take note of the type of clothes you whisper, “I could absolutely never,” to on the women that cross your path, out in the wild of the real world or your social media feed – regardless of is cost or style.
Doesn’t matter if it’s a vibrant, saturated crop top you find too bold for your skin-tone and too short for your midriff. A sundress you fear the wind could steal away at any moment. Or a run-in with the low-rise rhinestone jeans you swore were tucked away for good in high-school yearbook page, circa 2005. At the end of this exercise you should have a complete list of your “fashion avoidants,” or in other words, the staple items that are gaping black holes in your wardrobe.
You should have an idea of what comes next.
Now, let’s get to work.
Step 2: Catalogue your fashion “Unaffordables” & “Avoidants”
Once you have your complete list, it’s time to start visualizing. This is where the fun begins.
You can takes references from magazines, or sources online. I recommend visual content websites such as Tumblr or Pinterest, to be the best because you can get very specific about the images that you’re looking for. Begin to search for women who look similar to you, dressed in the type of clothing that you mistakenly believe, for whatever wrong reason, that you can’t pull off. Perhaps you aren’t used to seeing women with similar features to you (i.e. your size, your demographic, age), wearing the type of clothes that you’re inclined towards, yet afraid to commit to by the time you reach the checkout line.
This goes for price too. Catalogue all of designer handbags, shoes and accessories that may only exist on celebrities and red carpets, and on you – only in the realm of dreams. Print photos and clippings to carry with you on your next shopping spree. Once you have a complete catalog, face yourself mirror and visualize wearing the very items that you thought once believed, you could never pull off.
Step 3: Commit to the Act, and Swipe
Today is the day you either say hello to your inner that girl, or her bury her with another “maybe next time, but not today.” Perhaps you’re outside of the entrance of the store you never dared the enter. Watching the brand swing back and forth on bag, from other shoppers you casually watch from the exterior. Remember in this trying time, that you arne’t commiting to a million dollars, or even a hundred if you don’t want to. Just one item off your list of fashion avoidants is enough to set a new tone, and start you down the path of realizing that girl isn’t separate from you. She’s just been bound, and tucked away under a bunch of “i can’ts” or “I shouldn’ts.”
So, walk in, and date to commit to the first item that catches your eye. If it got your attention, there’s a reason – that inner desire is that girl coming to life. Don’t dim her spark any longer.
Make Room in Your closet, That Girl is Moving In
Housed in new clothes, you may feel like an imposter. Like you’ve got new keys to a new home that isn’t yours, or attempting to quite literally fit into an unfamiliar pair of shoes. But, don’t shy away from this feeling. One side of a transformation, isn’t meant to feel the same as the other – that’s the point of change! You should be uncomfortable. Like a butterfly, emerging for the first time in new skin. If you once thought, “I can’t pull this off,” now you’ve proven you can. And you have a starting point to inspire the rest of your wardrobe.
Once that that girl is free, there’s no going back.
This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Enjoy your stay, get to know her on a deeper level. You may realize you know her even better than you thought you did. After all, she’s been here the entire time.
She’s just been waiting for you to welcome her.
