Ah, the end of February. The magical time of year when it’s still (still!) cold outside. And for some reason, stores are peddling floral and gingham and short sleeves. It’s downright cruel.
But apparently, the LOFT’s marketing strategy is also working. Because right now, I would like to replace my entire wardrobe.
Are you, too, are sick of all your clothes? Have you worn a sweater and black pants every day for the past two months? (Guilty as charged.) Don’t despair – or blow your budget buying clothes you can’t wear yet. These tips might help you get out of a style rut without spending too many dollars.
How to Get Out of a Style Rut in 7 Steps
1. Clean out your closet.
I see you, checking J. Crew Factory. But pause for one moment. Adding one more cute top isn’t going to help you in the long run.
You need to start by getting rid of all the things in your closet that aren’t serving you.
It may seem counterintuitive to remove options from your closet when you’re in a style rut. But sometimes you have to take out all the distractions in order to see the things you actually like. If you’re looking at 100 pieces you only kind of tolerate, you won’t see the 7 pieces you still adore.
If you haven’t cleaned out your closet in a while, you might want to Marie Kondo this situation. She recommends taking every single piece of clothing out of your closet – and out of storage – and going through each piece one by one. This will take more time, but it is also eye opening to just how much unnecessary stuff might be hiding from you. If you aren’t suffering from a clothing avalanche, taking everything out might not be as necessary. I personally sort through clothes when I switch them out for the season and whenever I’m feeling twitchy and “have nothing to wear.”
So, what should you move out of your closet?
Clothes you just don’t wear
Get rid of clothes that you just don’t reach for. (Or when you put them on, you take them right back off again.) Even if you don’t want to admit it, you probably know what these items are. They’re the pants with the pockets that just don’t lay right, or the shirt that always gaps open, or the hand-me-down dress that isn’t quite your style anymore.
You don’t have to donate these items immediately. I use a “clothing purgatory,” where I put clothing into a bag at the bottom of my closet, pretend it doesn’t exist, and only pull an item from the bag if I actually want to wear it. Then I donate everything whenever I get up the gumption to drive to Goodwill. I know Marie Kondo thinks this will hurt the clothes’ feelings, but this feels like a safer, easier option to me.
Clothes that feel out of season
Put away clothes that feel out of season. I admittedly am mildly obsessive about colors, textures, and patterns feeling “in season.” For example, I have an orange plaid button-down and an orange sweater that only make their appearance in the fall. They’d be warm enough for winter, sure. But I know I won’t wear them past November, because orange is for fall. (I realize this may be neurotic. All my crazy will come out in this post. Just you wait.) So as soon as December hits, I put them away for next year. Removing them from my closet helps free up space for things I’ll actually be excited to wear. You don’t have to be this particular, but if you’re stuck, it might not hurt to try!
Anything that doesn’t fit
Please, please put away anything that doesn’t fit. If you can’t breathe when you put on those jeans, you shouldn’t have to look at them every day. If you can’t give up the idea that you might fit back into them, that’s totally okay. At least put them into a box where you can’t see them on the daily and feel guilty. If the item is sentimental? Also okay. But can you move it to a different closet? You don’t need to see it mingling with your work blouses.
If there’s a tiny fit issue, like a blouse that feels too wide, consider tailoring! My husband started getting suit jackets and blazers tailored a few years ago, and it showed me how much nicer things looked when they fit exactly right. Now it’s something I do to a few items a year. It makes button-downs and blazers fit infinitely better, because unfortunately Ann Taylor has not figured out my exact shoulder to waist ratio yet. Obviously, only do this to classic pieces you’ll wear all the time. You want the extra $15-20 dollars will be worth it.
Whew. See? Doesn’t that feel fresher already? This alone might be enough to help you break out of your style rut!
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2. Reorganize your closet.
Now that your closet is free from any debris, make sure it’s organized.
There are tons of methods for organizing your closet: by color, by length, by item type. I find it most helpful to group my clothes by occasion first, then by item type.
I swiped this idea from The Home Edit, who once posted a video of a woman’s closet organized by day of the week. Friday and Saturday night’s date clothes were on one end. Then came Sunday’s dressy church clothes. Those were followed by regular weekday work clothes.
I’ve adapted this model slightly for myself. All my special-occasion clothes are organized into dresses, tops, and pants on one side of the closet. On the other side, all my normal work clothes are grouped into similar categories. (From there, I organize by shirt type and color, but that is definitely optional if you are not an Enneagram 1.) This means I’m not sorting through date-night dresses when I’m trying to find a more casual option to wear to work.
I also recently moved all of my comfy after-work clothes out of my closet entirely. They now live in one dresser drawer, and it’s been super helpful! It makes getting dressed for work easier, since my casual t-shirts aren’t distracting me from options I actually can wear. It also makes things simple when I want to be comfy (read: when I’m at my laziest). I only have to open one drawer!
3. Honestly assess the items that are remaining.
Now that your closet is orderly, it’s time to assess the items that remain. Now that you only see items you like, do you still feel stuck? Sometimes all it takes is a good clean-out to see your closet with fresh eyes.
If that’s not doing the trick, you might be missing some pieces. But before you hop on the Internet, it’s time to make a plan. What are you missing that would make it easier to wear the items you already have?
For example, a year ago, I bought a camel blazer. In theory, it was a great purchase. I loved the look, and it seemed like it would coordinate well with my closet. But soon after I purchased it, I realized that I wasn’t pulling it off the hanger. It took a while to figure out why.
First, I realized that I only had one pair of shoes that I thought worked with the blazer. And those shoes were only appropriate for a few months out of the year. I also figured out that I don’t like wearing collared shirts with blazers. (Am I the only one who has this problem? Probably.)
So I found a white v-neck top and a pair of shoes that coordinated with the blazer. And now I want to wear it all the time. (Plus, those items work with other stuff in my closet, too. Win-win.)
4. Use Pinterest strategically.
Sometimes you need a little new inspiration to break out of a style rut. If you’re not sure what you’re missing to make items of clothing work for you, try using good ol’ Pinterest.
But don’t endlessly scroll your home feed. Hello, overwhelm. Try searching for individual items that you own but don’t know how to style. Pin all the outfits you like. Then see what you need to recreate those looks. I keep a secret board called Recreate This just for this purpose.
When I was searching for how to pull off a camel blazer, here’s what my Pinterest board looked like:
Looking at these images all together helped me figure out that I should wear the white jeans I already owned, and that adding brown or leopard print shoes to my closet might be helpful.
5. Try an app like Stylebook.
If you’re constantly forgetting what outfits you can make with items you already have, an app like Stylebook might be a great solution.
Fair warning. This solution is a wee bit time-intensive. But if you’re super serious about mixing and matching your clothes, it can be a helpful visual tool.
On Stylebook, you upload images of your clothes, remove the background, and then arrange the individual items into outfit flatlays. You can find a more comprehensive tutorial here.
Some Stylebook Tips
I added all my clothes to Stylebook a few years ago, and if I’m honest, the uploading process was kind of a beast. The software does a decent job of recognizing your clothing and eliminating the background automatically ONLY IF you have a plain white background. I didn’t, so I spent a ton of time manually editing photos. Don’t be like me. Do a Googe image search for similar pieces online, and just upload those photos. It’s infinitely easier.
Lots of people schedule their outfits or plan for trips on Stylebook, but I find it most helpful for keeping a log of outfits I can actually wear. If I see images that I love on Pinterest, I’ll recreate them in my Stylebook using pieces from my actual closet. I’m way more likely to check the app for inspiration in the morning than dig through a Pinterest board.
I also like it to test out new items. If I’m considering a new item to my closet, I will digitally add that item to my “closet” and see how many outfits I can create using it. It’s a helpful virtual try-on to see if an item is a smart buy.
If you want a simpler version of this, you can keep an actual pencil and paper list. You might also photograph outfits to keep in a particular folder on your phone.
6. Get fresh perspective.
If all of this sounds entirely overwhelming to you, ask someone else for help! Take a friend to brunch in exchange for her help cleaning out your closet. Or Facetime your sister to ask for new styling ideas.
7. If you need to buy something to break out of your style rut…
…try not to make it another patterned top. Sometimes you need those, for sure. But is one more blouse really going to add that much versatility to your closet?
Personally, these are the categories I try to concentrate on when I’m in a style rut.
Shoes
If you’re stumped for how to wear something, make sure you have the right shoes! I also love how good shoes set the tone for an outfit. My style is relatively classic (read: occasionally boring), so choosing shoes with a little personality helps me feel more stylish. If you’ve got all the basics, a funky new silhouette or a pair of patterned shoes might breathe some fresh air into a tired closet. I love leopard flats for this!
Basic layering pieces
If you feel like you have tons of clothes but no outfits, you might need more neutral layers. These pieces might feel boring, but they are the glue that holds your more interesting pieces together. A white v-neck top is one of my favorite staples.
Outer layers
If you only ever wear a basic black cardigan, try adding a blazer (perhaps in a color that’s not black?), a moto jacket, a denim jacket, or a duster cardigan. (And FYI, if it’s still in the single digits where you live, you can definitely put your parka over a blazer.)
A pair of pants that are not basic (i.e. skinny blue jeans or black pants)
If you’ve worn exclusively black pants for weeks, of course you’re bored. Try a pair of colored pants (I’m a huge fan of white or maroon), or check out a straight- or wide-leg pair. (I have my eye on these for spring.)
Accessories
If your entire closet feels tired, I love adding a good statement earring. You can pair them with just about any outfit! My very favorites are typically a neutral color with an oversized, interesting silhouette.
Hang in there! Spring is coming!
What are your tips for how to get out of a style rut? Tell me everything in the comments or on Instagram @annaleighsaxton!
