Making the transition from summer to fall is always a challenge for me. I never seem to have the right pieces to go from one season to the next. This year is even harder, having spent the better part of the last 18 months working from home.
When you only see people on video, it is all too easy to show up in athleisure. I’m guilty. Gone are the days of “office clothes,” not even sure what that means anymore…
But, with fall just a few weeks away, I wanted to change things up, move away from sweatpants and bring more casual pieces into a closet filled with more suits, blazers, and, blouses than I could ever need in my current job. I decided it was time for a major overhaul.
Losing the suits was an easy first step. Then, the bigger question….what next?
One of the things I struggle with is transitional pieces. I never seem to be prepared for the chilly weather that signals summer is over. Almost instantly it’s cooler and I’m left scrambling to pull out sweaters that aren’t too heavy, but aren’t too light, and this season, unlike seasons past, they all seem dated. Does anyone feel the same?
When I really thought about it, I realized that over the past year, I only bought one or two new pieces. I can tell you it makes for an uninspiring closet. At the very least, I needed to find some key pieces that could breathe new life into my tired wardrobe and give me outfits that helped me dress well, even on the laziest of mornings. I wanted to build a closet that could help me mix and match to create lots of perfect looks without breaking the bank.
Wrongly, I thought I could do it on my own. After a day of shopping and coming home empty-handed, I realized, my style had changed and I needed help deciding what pieces to invest in.
So, I went online.
I ended up finding inspiration from a blog I read by Megan Kristal, founder of @thewelldressedlife. Twice a year she hosts a wardrobe challenge. Four weeks of exercises and inspiration on how to create your ideal wardrobe. Sounded good to me, so I took a leap of faith. She had so many great ideas and tips for updating your clothing choices and using what you already have as a base. Love it!
What’s great about the challenge is that it starts off by using a vision board to define your personal style and use it as a lens to think about your lifestyle overall. I used Pinterest to search for the looks I liked most and created my ideal wardrobe. Just this exercise alone was eye-opening, helping me see that I gravitate to the same pieces and colors and that there was a lot of clutter in my closet that needed to be cleared out.
Next, is editing and organizing your wardrobe to fit the style envisioned, purging pieces that don’t fit, are unflattering or just don’t work for the look you want. This was definitely the hardest part for me. But, once I did it, it was so liberating.
Finally, the fun part…. shopping to build a closet you love.
Each week the new challenge was posted and included a Facebook Live Q&A with Megan, where she provided tips and inspiration. There was also a private FB group you could join that was a great forum to connect with other women in the process.
There is something about getting rid of the old to make room for the new that makes you feel good. Now on to find some great pieces for fall. I’ll keep you posted!
How are you transitioning your wardrobe this season?