What to do when you ‘Have Nothing to Wear’

I’ll bet that you have at least once in your life, opened your wardrobe closet that is filled with clothing, only to say ‘I’ve got nothing to wear’

You. Are. Not. Alone!

I can’t even begin to count the number of times that I’ve complained about having nothing to wear, especially since I have a pretty extensive wardrobe. If you follow along my Instagram stories, I’ve shared that one of the things I hate is packing for vacations, because trying to figure out outfit combinations drain so much of my time and energy.

So when I was having a relaxing drive home one day, I got thinking!

Why on earth do I feel like I have nothing to wear when my closet is bursting at the seams?

I finally figured it out and have put together some tips so that you, my friends, who are also struggling can finally have SOMETHING TO WEAR! Hallelujah!

Here’s what to do when you “have nothing to wear”:

Time for a Closet Purge

Sometimes you just need to clean out your closet and make room for the new!

There are psychological benefits of clearing the spaces in which you live in and your closet is the perfect place to purge.

I do closet purges once every 6 months, usually when the seasons change and it helps me so much with rediscovering what’s in my wardrobe and learning how much my sense of style has changed. Sometimes we hold on to items that we don’t really need anymore and being able to set that aside and donate them is also a great practice.

My little sister also benefits greatly from my closet purges 😉

Browse Pinterest or your favourite Instagramers for Inspiration

I do this religiously- especially when I pre-plan my shoot days.

Pinterest and Instagram provides a great space to find inspiration and I follow a lot of my fellow bloggers and fashion channels to see what the new trends are and find that it also opens up my mind to different ways of putting pieces together.

Play Dress Up in your Closet

 I call it playing dress up because it removes the element of stress attached to NEEDING to pair things together to look good.

Similar to how we come up with some of our best ideas while relaxed, I find that I come up with my best outfit combinations when I’m not desperately trying to.

Try out different combinations of tops and bottoms, perhaps even combinations that you’ve never thought of before. Experiment with layering and think outside the box- for example, I find that some of my longer skirts can double up as pretty decent looking dresses and tops.

Just Pick a Colour- Gaddammit

From my language, you can tell that I use this line for myself when I hit a certain brick wall one too many times.

In times of trouble when I really just got to pair something together, I find that choosing a colour really helps. The colour you choose sometimes relates to your emotional state at the time and having a colour scheme helps to guide you in narrowing down your choices!

Change the way you shop

This is a BIG one! For the longest time, I’ve been trying to figure out why I can’t find enough variations for my outfits and why my closet keeps expanding but my choices don’t.

I finally (really) figured it out and am teaching myself to practice it every time I shop.

Prior to this revelation, I’ve always had a tendency to shop for similar items, or similar looking items. For example, tops with a certain style, or items that are unique and tend to forget that I also wear bottoms and need some staples for work.

So now when I shop, I stay mindful of a couple things:

Don’t forget the staples

• Items like simple tees should not be forgotten and overlooked. These are perfect for layering and adding a new element to your entire wardrobe and can be dressed up or down for a variety of occasions.
• Pants and jeans: you need those so feel free to find a variety that have subtle differences on colour or style

Don’t just pick the unique, stand-alone pieces

• As a blogger, I find myself drawn to unique pieces that catches attention. Though, on a day to day basis, you can’t exactly wear vavavoom pieces all the time. I try to keep in mind the ratio of stand-out pieces I have in my wardrobe and try to balance it with more day-to-day wear.

Think about your outfit as a whole and how a piece will benefit the wardrobe

• I found that In my closet, the ratio of tops to bottoms are like 80:20, so I’m being more mindful of what I already have and what I would need to complete my wardrobe so that it’s comprehensive.

I recently tried to style one of my skirts in 2 different ways to try and use the pieces in my closet more often. See what looks I came up with here.

Reorganize your Closet

I’ve tried colour coding my closet, tried to separate my clothing pieces based on their separate categories but none has worked thus far.

Although, something new that I’m trying out that you can as well is by organizing your items together as an outfit.

So this means a full ensemble of top, bottom, shoes will go together in chunks. I don’t really know if this is sustainable but if you try it, let me know!

I hope this list helps you guys to combat never having anything to wear! Let me know in the comments if you have any tips and tricks of your own!

Till next time xx