Blazer- New Look; Jumper- New Look; Skirt- La Redoute; Shoes- ASOS (old, but very similar here)
Last autumn/winter, I wore mom jeans, turtleneck jumpers and boots for about six months straight. Then spring/summer came around and you would think that would break the cycle and I would start wearing more adventurous, summer appropriate clothing. Nope. I just switched the jumpers out for slogan t-shirts and the ankle boots for Stan Smiths. The cost per wear on those trusty ASOS Farleighs is nice and low, that's for sure. I didn't break out the summer dresses until August. AUGUST. And that's literally only because I went on holiday in the Mediterranean. (Understandably, I was not about to try wearing jeans in Greece or Malta. Thought getting heat stroke would dampen the holiday mood a little.)
I've been feeling in that mood in which I hate 90% of what's
in my wardrobe. I haven't felt that excitement to put together outfits that I
used to. I would put things on and they would just look (to put it oh, so
eloquently)...blah. Nothing I owned felt like it went together. Except for
jeans, because everything goes with jeans. Perhaps it was having an,
altogether, rather gloomy summer in Scotland that made me feel like all I
wanted to wear, and all I felt comfortable wearing, was jeans. You don't really
want to wear summer dresses when it's drizzling constantly. Or perhaps it was
due to my post-university slump, which left me lacking in any motivation, that
I didn't feel the inclination nor the inspiration to experiment.
Whatever the case, I've made the decision that enough is
enough. I'm getting my mojo back. (I'm also attempting to take a break from
jeans. Pray for me.)
3 Tips for Breaking out of your Style Rut
Organise
The first step is to reorganise your wardrobe. I know, I
know: it's a gruelling task, but it helps to solidify in your mind what you've
got to play with. So take an afternoon, pop on a podcast and empty that sucker
out. Since we're coming into autumn, now's also a good time to pull out all
those vacuum bags of winter clothes from under the bed and make the seasonal
switcheroo. You might find even just doing this gives you some inspiration.
Get some inspo
If you're still feeling uninspired by what's in your
wardrobe, check out what's in everyone else's. Go to Pinterest, go to
Instagram, go to your favourite fashion blogs. Check out what other people are
wearing lately. A good trick I like it to go onto Pinterest, create a board for
fashion inspiration and start pinning. You could search a more general term,
like autumn fashion, or you could search for specific items and how to wear
those, like pleated midi skirt outfit. Pin whatever speaks to you. Then check
your board and pick out some common links. For instance, mine has a lot of
chunky knitwear, midi skirts and slogan t-shirts. And because you've organised
your wardrobe within an inch of its life, you'll know if it's something you've
got already. If not, proceed to...
Shop
Okay, it's not the most minimalism-friendly solution to
finding inspiration, but it works for me. Sometimes the solution is to add
something new. You don't have to splash out on a whole new wardrobe here- just
a couple of key, statement pieces to add to some new flair to the stuff you've
already got. For me, this sparkly midi skirt was a winner because a) it goes
with lots of things I already own, and I can dress it up or down; b) it makes
any outfit look more interesting and c) it's sparkly. (That last point doesn't
actually have anything to do with anything other than the fact that I like
sparkly stuff, because I am secretly a magpie, but oh well. SPARKLES.)
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