My Image Factor

Last year a poll of 2,491 women suggested women spend almost one year of their lives deciding what to wear.  That means the average woman will spend 287 days rifling through their wardrobe! That correlates into an extra 16 minutes morning deciding what to wear.

The study also found, on average, women will try on at least two outfits each morning before coming to a final decision, and that one in two women spend 15 minutes the night before work working out what to wear.

I’m not a professional organizer, but have some tips to make the time more productive.  To benefit from these tips, one first needs to understand  purchasing “outfits” is not always the best option. Retailers are good providing ideas with manufactures coordinating pieces in a certain color pallet.  Unfortunately many people will stay within that selection reducing their ability to maximize the new purchase. I for one, often find one piece will fit well but the style of the coordinating items don’t.  If it doesn’t read well on your body, how often will you wear it?   If you read the closet post, part one, you learned about pairing down the wardrobe for your body, now lets get it back into the closet.  Make a master list of what you have and then a second column of what’s needed.  This will start your shopping list.  Organize your clothing into  categories rather than outfits. Hang all jackets together, all slacks together, shirts together etc. From there, start separating into colors.  If you look into my closet (yes, I only have one,  and I share it with my husband) you will sees all blacks are together, all whites, blues etc.  My jackets reflect a color spectrum.  Black and whites together, then blues, plums to reds.  There is one yellow and one taupe jacket. (remember those odd pieces)   This makes it easier to put items together.

If you are starting a workable wardrobe, consider  one basic suit and a second complementary color in either a suit of separates or jacket and pieces that go with the basic suit.  Black and taupe for example.   This is what is called “capsule” building.  That way when you purchase a new item, it should coordinate with those pieces.  My rule of thumb of selecting a new piece, it has to go with at least three other items in my wardrobe. If something goes into the closet, something needs to go out.  After all, why are you purchasing a new piece? Once you embrace the idea of investment dressing, this makes sense.  Granted there are always those few odd pieces, bought for a special occasion or a weak moment.  But if you purchase a new piece, shouldn’t you be able to use it for more than one outfit?  This goes for accessories too.

This is one of the reasons people engage the services of a professional certified image consultant to get started on the right path.  In a previous post, I mentioned about having a color analysis. I remember back in the 80s people where running around in stores with little booklets of fabric swatches and saying  “I can buy this, it doesn’t match!”   If you have one of those, don’t throw it out, but remember it’s not about matching as much as it’s a tool so new purchases blend with those colors in your pallet.  You’ll have better options of mixing up your wardrobe pieces and create your own unique style, not something from the clothes catalog that looks good on the model!