How to style yourself back to work in 2022

Since January started I have been working with many of you to sort out your wardrobes ready for the return to the office. It might only be 2/3 days per week right now but the feeling towards it has shifted as has the landscape. There is a real want for people to go back into their work environments, to chat in real life, work next to their colleagues and go back to work events again. But the days of wearing a suit and tie, a pencil skirt and jacket have gone as offices are embracing the smart/casual dress code that once was just saved for ‘dress down Fridays’.

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What has changed since the pandemic?

The pandemic has accelerated the move towards smart/casual dressing with companies realising that you don’t need to be suited and booted to look professional and do your jobs properly.

What this does mean is you can’t rely on the old ‘uniform’ of throwing on a suit. Now it is acceptable to bring some personality and self expression to work, this means having a wardrobe full of smart separates instead. That requires a bit more creativity and can be overwhelming.

While it’s clear dress codes have relaxed massively, it’s still essential to look professional at work. It really is part of your tool kit for success as well as showing you mean business and you take your job seriously, Smart/casual can be tricky to master with many people getting it wrong and ending up looking too casual or too formal.

By adding a few key pieces you will get it spot on and hopefully enjoy dressing in a more creative and interesting way. It also means the lines have now blurred; your work wardrobe blends into your weekend wardrobe which definitely has its benefits. It means you can get more wear from everything and have a more sustainable wardrobe with less clothes but more ‘cost-per-wear’, this definitely feels like we have moved on.

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What do you need in your work wardrobe for going back into the office?

There are 6 things that I believe by adding them into your wardrobe you will create lots of go-to outfits that will help when dressing every morning for work.

THE BLAZER

Now the blazer is an acceptable separate that can be worn over-sized, more casual and softer or to add interest and colour to your outfit.

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THE DRESS

Update your look with shirt dresses and looser styles rather than fitted tailored dresses of old. Inject some pattern and colour to give your outfit some personality.

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THE TROUSER

Any trouser shape goes from wide leg, barrel leg, ankle length and high waisted, its all about the trouser.

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THE BLOUSE

Make sure a couple of your blouses at least are a bit statement to add interest and personality. Look for puff sleeves or pussy bow styles.

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THE JUMPSUIT

Just this week on the new series of The Apprentice, Karren Brady was the belle of the boardroom wearing a bubblegum pink jumpsuit. This would have been unheard of just a few years ago but grab yourself a jumpsuit and take the stress out of getting dressed in the morning.

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THE SHOES

Quite often this can be the hardest thing, flats vs heels, those LK Bennett court shoes just don’t feel right anymore, what can you wear instead? Boots, loafers and even smart trainers.

New Year wardrobe declutter

Entering a new year offers the chance for new beginnings, and while we typically assign ourselves to a long list of resolutions that, chances are, we just won’t stick to, one commitment worth fulfilling is – decluttering your wardrobe. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume or the unorganised mess that is your wardrobe then spending time clearing your wardrobe can be a transformative process too.

For me a mid season tidy and clear out helps me keep on top of my wardrobe and helps me re-focus my outfits for the coming weeks til Spring. But if your wardrobe is chaotic then it will make the process of getting dressed everyday much more difficult - sometimes the feeling of not having anything to wear is because you can’t easily locate what you have. Clearing out clothing clutter will also help you to identify what gaps you may have in your wardrobe – garments that you may need to purchase to get the full potential out of the clothes you currently have, enabling you to create outfits with ease and take the stress out of dressing.

In this typically quiet time of the year its a chance to really spend time digging into not just your wardrobe but bags or boxes of clothes you have stored in other rooms, the loft or under the bed. When you go through your wardrobe be realistic about what you wear day to day, what you like to wear and what still fits you. Not sure where to start, then read on for me tips on how to have a new year’s wardrobe detox.

TAKE EVERYTHING OUT

Whatever is in your wardrobe (and drawers or clothes rail) needs to come out. If you have a lot of clothes, you might want to tackle a section of your wardrobe at a time working from clothing through to shoes, bags, and accessories, to make the decluttering process less overwhelming. Seasonal items might be best left to one side to deal with once the weather is more appropriate. I like to make use of a clothes rail to shift items from my wardrobe onto while I look them over and try them on - a bed works just as well! However you choose to tackle your situation, make sure everything you own is turned out and individually considered.

TRY EVERYTHING ON

Everything. Trying on all the clothes you own will help you make better decisions about what to keep or let go of. Clothing on a hanger looks very different on your body, and pretty shoes might pinch your feet; making any decisions without trying it on is a big mistake. Even if you know you love a particular item, trying it on will feel good and help you to discover fresh new ways to style them. Any items you’re unsure of, test them out with the other pieces you own; figure out new ways to wear them and you might save something from being donated.

ASK YOURSELF 5 QUESTIONS

I've found five questions are helpful to consider when making decisions about individual items of clothing. I put them on and stand in front of a mirror to ask myself:

1. Do I wear this regularly? If not, why?
2. Is it comfortable? Do I feel good wearing it?
3. Does this item fit into my overall style?
4. Can I create various outfits with this one item?
5. Do I love wearing this item or do I just like the way it looks on the hanger?

MAKE PILES

This is the holy trinity of sorting, as you are working through your wardrobe making piles of clothes and being honest with yourself when doing so. You can be as clear cut as KEEP, BIN & DONATE, or you can have a pile that is out of season so needs to be stored, you could also have a pile that is ebay or resell and a another pile that is keep but not sure how to wear it or style it. that can be put back into your wardrobe. The piles are a way of making you think, clearing out the clutter that gives you structure and shows you what you wear regularly and what you don’t wear at all. My top tip is to bag up the donate and bin items as soon as you can so you don’t go back to it and so it doesn’t create more clutter sitting in bin liners in the house. If you have trouble letting go of the items you never wear, whether you have sentimental attachment to them or just like the look of it on the hanger; remember that by letting go of the clothes you never wear you're allowing someone else to love and appreciate them.

PUT EVERYTHING BACK

What is left is the foundation to build you perfect wardrobe from and by keeping your wardrobe at a manageable level it becomes wearable and accessible. Focus on on filling gaps you have identified to make the pieces in your wardrobe work harder for your style and resist purchasing unnecessary items. Make a list of things you think your existing wardrobe would benefit from and focus on acquiring these items the next time you go clothes shopping. Your goal is for a versatile and manageable wardrobe to fit in with your space and lifestyle.

THE RESULTS

After decluttering, you should have the room to see exactly what you own so you can reach in and grab what you need without having to hunt through the rails or piles of clothes. Everything you own should make you feel excited to wear it, or at least relaxed and comfortable. Having a well edited, organised wardrobe takes away those feelings of not having anything to wear; you know exactly what you own and how each piece works with the others.

If you need help detoxing your wardrobe then email me now for a consultation.

How to fall back in love with your clothes again post lockdown

I am writing this a few days after the governments announcement of dates that will see us slowly but surely start regaining our pre-covid lives again. But what of our wardrobe and our style that have been somewhat neglected over the past few weeks, months or for some even a whole year. Lockdown has pushed everyone into a sense of comfort over style, joggers over jeans and walking boots over knee high white crocodile leather boots (yes they are a thing!).

So how you do fall back in love with the things you have gathering dust in your wardrobe?

Alot of friends and clients that have been in touch or I have caught up with for walks over the weeks have said to me that they haven’t brought a lot during lockdown as they haven’t seen the point of it. Now that we have some dates to go out again and start to get our social lives back, suddenly getting into your tracksuit every day doesn’t seem so appealing. But some of those pieces that we have been neglecting might have emotional pre-covid ties to them that we perhaps need to re-establish to get us to start thinking about wearing it again. So it’s time to step back into your wardrobe and start feeling your self again, follow my tips on how to fall back in love with your clothes and if this doesn’t work then call me for my help.

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1. Step out of your comfort zone

   For weeks we have been gravitating towards the same combinations of leggings / joggers / tracksuits / sweaters / hoodies but now is the time to step away from this comfort zone and push yourself back into the groove of your pre-covid style. Try challenging yourself to wear a certain item like a skirt, a pair of jeans or even a shirt that you haven’t worn for ages and see how it makes you feel. Think about the styling, add a belt, tuck it in, layer up a sweater or blazer over the top. Slowly but surely you and your confidence will start to come back to life.

2. Re-acquaint yourself with your wardrobe again

   Hello jeans, hello blazers, hello nice jumpers I have been ignoring for months. Open your wardrobe and start to remind yourself of what you have inside. Now is a great time to reassess and detox your wardrobe. Perhaps you have fallen out of love with some pieces, some items might not feel good anymore, or have holes in due to over-wearing so need to be chucked out. But you might find a favourite top that you completely forgot about and get excited about wearing again. Clearing through the clutter that might of built up or been ignored whilst we have been in lockdown will give you a chance to see cleared and put outfits together better.

3. Try your clothes on

   Now that you’ve had time away from your wardrobe it is best to have a big try on, what fits, what doesn’t, what do you like, what don’t you like anymore? And make some piles and try to figure out why you clothes are going into the piles you have created. This will give you a clear picture of what you have, what you like and what you are missing to make your wardrobe work better for you post-lockdown.

4. Mix pieces together you haven’t worn before

   You will probably remember wearing jeans and a nice top, or jeans and a jumper or a skirt and t-shirt with trainers, before we went into lockdown. Now with what you have left mix it up a bit, try some new styling ideas by mixing some items together that you have never worn before. The key to this tip is to make sure to focus on the unexpected part as much as possible. Pair special occasion skirts with trainers, boyfriend jeans with a sequin top, or opulent shirts underneath dungarees. Some of this will work for your taste and some might not, but the important thing is that when you're doing this exercise, you'll be opening your mind to out-of-box ideas you might not have felt comfortable considering before.

5. Try the 30 day challenge

   Lastly before you start spending every evening on the Zara app buying anything you think is nice, consider taking 30 days to live back in your wardrobe before you buy anything new. This transitional period between kids starting to go back to school, 12th April when the shops open and finally 21st June is a gift of time to allow you to really re-asses what you have, what you want you style to be and make the best shopping choices for your money for 2021.

Everyone has days when they seem to hate every item of clothing they own — days when nothing seems to work quite right. But sometimes making your wardrobe work is as simple as forcing yourself out of your comfort zone and spending time looking at what you currently already own. Even if it's not the easiest task it will change your perspective on your clothes and style in the coming weeks. I know already that some clients need my help with this as it can seem overwhelming and that is why I am here to help if you cannot do it on your own. Please get in touch and book a wardrobe and styling session so we can utilise what you have in your wardrobe before you start buying anything new for Spring.