This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
I am not going to suggest you get Marie Kondo round to cull your wardrobe and leave you with 10 pieces – that is a bit over-functional for me. I am also not suggesting that we have lots of pieces in our wardrobes that still have the price tags on. No, we have matured beyond that phase or have we?
I am talking about the fact that we buy too many items that are very similar. I mean how many navy jumpers can one have? You cannot wear them all at the same time and chances are you will always wear your favourite. Get rid of them all bar two.
Marks & Spencer – leather flatform brogue shoe £49.50
Do you even know what is in your wardrobe? I can’t always remember the names of my friends so I definitely will be unable to list the contents of my wardrobe. Maybe we should only own what we can remember we have – that would clear out a lot of the wrong clothes. It can’t be that nice if we can’t remember it. Finding an item you have not worn for ages is not like putting on a pair of trousers and finding a £10 note in the pocket. No it will more likely give you a feeling of guilt because, not only had you forgotten you owned it, you probably bought something very similar thinking you had nothing like it.
Boden – Bella Jersey Dress £80
Grace suggests that we turn the hangers around once we have worn something and so at the end of the season we can see what we have not worn. Good plan until your daughters raid your wardrobe and everything is pulled out, tried on and tossed to one side, usually with some equally tossed aside remark like, “Mum, surely you don’t ever go out in this?”
Your wardrobe should be a series of building blocks and you add and detract without ruining the shape. At our age we know what suits us, or we should do! Let’s not think that the new fashion might suit us – we should be able to look at it and say are these the right or wrong clothes for us with conviction. Maybe occasionally step outside your comfort zone but do not do it too regularly. My experience is that if you are wearing clothes that you feel confident in i.e. that you know suit you you will look good. I would love to do the Bohemian look, long floaty dresses and floppy hats, Greek sandals and woven bags. However much I love that look I don’t feel comfortable in it and the clothes wear me rather than the other way around. I am better in tailored clothing with maybe one of the Bohemian items thrown in but not the whole look.
Me+Em Gingham Track skirt – £159
The real fact is we are pretty well-sorted with clothes and if we never bought another thing we would survive. But what is the fun in that! So having said all of the above I am going to pepper this post with a few items that have grabbed my attention and maybe yours over the past weeks and so far I am resisting as I do not need any of them!
Marks & Spencer pure linen shirt available in 8 other colours – £27.50
The Sales have started but beware as realistically they are selling the heavyweight items as they probably over-bought thinking summer would never come. Now that the sun is shining the shops are hanging onto all the high summer gear and may not reduce them until the Autumn winds prevail.
Click on the pics to go through to the relevant websites to purchase.
I have tried to pick items that could be worn for longer than just the summer and could be the right not the wrong clothes and accessories!
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