Clothes That Fit the Life You Live
How comfort, personal style and a fresh look at what you already own can make getting dressed more enjoyable.
Your working week may have changed considerably since you bought some of your clothes. Your tastes, daily routines and sense of what feels comfortable may have changed too. Taking another look at your wardrobe can uncover useful favourites, suggest a few alterations and make it easier to put together outfits you enjoy wearing.
10 Top Tips for Upcycling your Wardrobe
- Start with an ordinary week. Think about where you go, how you travel and what you spend your time doing.
- Look at your most-worn clothes. Notice what they have in common, including their fit, texture, colour and ease of care.
- Choose clothes that feel comfortable now. Give yourself enough room to sit, move and breathe easily throughout the day.
- Try complete outfits. Include the shoes, layers and bag you would use, then walk around and sit down before deciding.
- Experiment with one unfamiliar combination. A shirt worn open, a different layer or another pair of shoes may give a familiar item more use.
- Investigate a specific alteration. Ask a repairer or tailor what is possible and what it would cost before committing.
- Make favourite clothes easy to find. Keep the pieces you regularly wear visible and accessible, with suitable storage for their fabric and shape.
- Photograph combinations you like. A few reference pictures can help on mornings when you are short of time or inspiration.
- Give clothes the care they need. Follow care labels, deal with loose buttons and check whether an overlooked favourite needs a simple repair.
- Shop for an identified need. Before buying, consider when you would wear the item and which clothes you already own would go with it.
The clothes you keep passing over
There are trousers you like until you sit down, a jumper you admire but find scratchy, and a jacket that has been waiting several years for the right occasion. Meanwhile, three or four reliable outfits move steadily between the wardrobe, the washing basket and your back.
Those favourites are useful clues. Perhaps you enjoy a softer fabric than you used to, need shoes you can walk in or prefer clothes that work through several parts of the day. Your week may now involve home working, a train journey and an evening class, while your wardrobe still gives considerable space to a former office routine.
In research published by WRAP in 2022, based on a 2021 survey, people reported that 26% of the clothing in their wardrobes had gone unworn during the previous year. Some clothes naturally have occasional uses. Looking through what you pass over can nevertheless reveal a practical problem: a missing button, an uncomfortable fit or uncertainty about what to wear with something.
Choose a small section to investigate. Trying on five neglected pieces is a manageable afternoon task. Emptying every drawer onto the bed can become an unexpectedly ambitious commitment shortly before bedtime.
Has your routine changed more than your wardrobe? Talk to Coach Max about how you spend your week now. Changes in work, travel and leisure can help explain which clothes you keep reaching for.
Try them on for longer than a minute
A changing-room mirror offers limited information about how something will feel during lunch, a commute or several hours at a desk. The same applies when you try on clothes at home.
Sit in the trousers. Reach forward in the shirt. Fasten the jacket over the layer you intend to wear underneath it. Walk around in the shoes and notice whether you are already making allowances for them.
Comfort is personal. You might enjoy the structure of a fitted jacket, the movement of a loose dress or the reassuring weight of a favourite jumper. Pay attention to the details that repeatedly irritate you, such as a neckline you keep adjusting or sleeves that interfere with everything you do.
An alteration may help with a particular problem. Shortening a hem or replacing a fastening could return a useful item to regular wear. Ask about feasibility and price first, especially when changing a garment’s shape or construction.
Give yourself time to decide about pieces that no longer fit comfortably. You can set them aside while making the clothes you enjoy wearing today easier to reach.
Recognising your own taste
Personal style often becomes clearer when you examine what you already like. Take three favourite outfits and look for similarities. You might favour rich colours, generous shapes, crisp collars or an interesting texture. You might enjoy quite different clothes for different parts of your life.
Psychologists use the term “enclothed cognition” to describe how the meanings associated with clothes can influence the wearer’s thoughts, feelings and behaviour. A review of 40 studies found support for this principle in later research and raised concerns about the reliability of some early findings. It offers a reason to be curious about your own responses, with no universal formula for feeling confident.
Notice which clothes leave you feeling at ease and ready for the occasion. Perhaps a familiar jacket helps you settle into a working day, while a particular colour makes getting ready for dinner more enjoyable.
You can explore those preferences with what is already available. Try a favourite shirt with trousers you usually reserve for something else. Add a layer, change the shoes or wear a piece of jewellery that has spent too long in a drawer. Take a photograph if you like the result.
What do you feel good wearing? Explore that question with Coach Max, including the occasions when getting dressed feels easy. Your own examples can help you describe what you would like more of.
Give a favourite another outing
Clothes can spend a surprising amount of time being saved for something. A good knit waits for a weekend away, a lovely shirt for dinner somewhere special, a coat for an occasion worthy of the purchase.
Consider whether any of them would work for plans you already have. A favourite shirt might be perfectly suitable for Saturday lunch. The coat could make its first appearance on an ordinary afternoon out.
Keep care manageable by following the garment’s instructions and attending to small repairs. If you discover a genuine gap, write it down before shopping, including the fit and practical features you need. Having a specific use in mind gives you something concrete to assess when trying an item on.
What would make tomorrow morning easier? Talk to Coach Max about one small change you could try this week, whether that is preparing an outfit, arranging a repair or finding time to revisit a few favourites.
Before putting everything away, choose a combination for tomorrow. Include something you enjoy wearing and check that it suits the day ahead. You may find that an outfit you had forgotten about is already hanging there, ready for another outing.