Does your wardrobe fit your lifestyle?
When I was younger I would only buy clothes for the fun activities in my life, and completely ignore that I also needed clothes for going to school or just everyday life, which was a mistake of course. A kick-ass wardrobe not only needs to reflect your style, it also needs to reflect your lifestyle. If you recently did a wardrobe detox, your closet might look depressingly empty. "I don't want to wear the same thing every day!", "I only have four outfits left" were some comments I got from you.
A detox is only the first step, the real benefits happen when you put good stuff back in! Of course, most of us can't just go out and buy everything we need to restock our wardrobe right away, therefore it's important to buy the things we really need first. But how do you figure out what you really need?
Even a small budget can be spent well or not so well. If you only buy lots of pretty bikinis and some evening dresses you still won't have much more to wear. But by adding a few well thought out key items and basics you can broaden your outfit options by a considerable amount. Start by focusing on those areas in your life that are underrepresented in your closet.
How to find out whether your wardrobe fits your lifestyle
Write down all activities you do in an average three weeks and estimate how often you do them. Group the activities into categories that require the same kinds of clothes, e.g. I often go to university and shopping, but for both I wear casual everyday outfits. Try to express your time spent in form of a diagram like the above.
Don't consider real-time, but rather how many days per chosen time period you do something from each category. You might spend 8 hours at work and only two at a fancy restaurant, but you need one outfit for each. Some possible categories are: casual/daytime, nightlife, work, working out, lounging, sleeping, special occasions, etc
Ideally, the amount of clothes in your closet should correspond roughly to the distribution of your categories, i.e. your lifestyle. To get a better idea of the quantities, you can also estimate how many times you need an outfit from each category within the time frame. I chose three weeks because I think I would like to not repeat the exact same outfit in three weeks (1 month seemed too long and two weeks too short :). Feel free to adjust the time frame if you want to. Here is an example:
- work - 15
- daytime/casual - 12
- fun stuff/ going out - 12
- nightlife - 5
- lounging - 10
- working out - 3
If you examine your wardrobe with the diagram and the frequencies in mind, you should have a better idea of exactly what areas need some TLC and what to spend your money on first.