Before a new season arrives, I like to do a wardrobe audit and wardrobe plan. This allows me to go into a new season feeling like my wardrobe is in order and ensures I’m not scrambling around trying to put new outfits together when the weather suddenly changes.
Here in Australia we are coming out of winter and heading into the warmer months. So I’m currently planning my spring-summer wardrobe. However, no matter what season you are going into wherever you are, you can still apply these same steps to your wardrobe planning process.
STEP 1: Audit (trying on outfits, what’s missing?)
So a few days ago, I got a few summer pieces out of storage and I gave them a wash because they were a bit musky. So if you also store away some off-season items, then the first thing you want to do is take them out, refresh your memory with these pieces and give them a wash if you need to.
Now let’s start the wardrobe audit and plan. There are 3 main steps I’ll be doing. The first step I like to do is to spend an hour in my wardrobe trying on outfits. The reason I start by jumping straight into my wardrobe and trying on outfits, is because this allows me to shop my closet. Rather, than going to Pinterest to find inspiration, or create a mood board which often puts me in a place where I feel like I need to add things to my wardrobe straight away.
This puts me in a scarcity mindset. But when I play dress-ups in my wardrobe first, this puts me in an abundance mindset.
It’s a great way to start the planning process, especially if it’s your goal to be a more conscious consumer or it’s your goal to curate your wardrobe.
So I spent a good hour trying on a bunch of outfits in my wardrobe and re-acquainting myself with my spring-summer wardrobe. I made sure to try on items that I didn’t reach for much last year as well, to try to figure out why they didn’t get worn much. When I was trying on outfits I had a little journal with me and I was writing down some notes as I was going. These are the things I wrote down along the way…
- Make more of an effort to style my belt with outfits
- Wear my floral tops more (I styled these lots in the styling session and loved them!)
- My mary-janes are great alternatives to white sneakers (when I want to elevate and outfit and not look so casual)
Anything I was tempted to buy, or thought might be a good addition to my wardrobe, was added to my wardrobe wishlist. This is a small list I keep in the notes section of my phone, of items I would like for my wardrobe.
Another thing I did was take some mirror photos of my outfits, and I put these all into a folder on my phone called “my outfits”. I can use this for inspiration on days when I’m wondering what to wear.
STEP 2: Checking, updating & prioritising my wishlist
So after that try-on, the next step I want to do is look at my wardrobe wishlist and see if there are any spring-summer items on there that I think will make good additions to my wardrobe this year. Because I’ve had this try-on session, I’ll have a better understanding of what might work on my wishlist and what items can be let go. It’s not my intention to buy everything on my wishlist.
My wishlist is a place for me to put anything I am tempted to buy during the year, and I can come back to these items after a while and see if they still feel right for me. Often I’ll laugh at items that have been on my wishlist for a while, and think “what was I thinking, putting that on my wishlist?” – and that is exactly the point of the wishlist, to put a wedge between you wanting and purchasing that item, so that you make more intentional decisions with your style.
Here are a few items on my wardrobe wishlist that stuck out to me for summer…
- Medium straw basket bag with brown leather handle
- Pull on, lightweight trousers in a light colour
- Tight t-shirt with mid-length sleeves (up to my elbow)
I next want to decide what to prioritise buying first. I try to locate the item that will give me the most “bang for my buck”. This item will be versatile and help complete multiple outfits in my wardrobe. I may also prioritise buying an item that has been on my wishlist for a long time – like my straw bag with a brown leather handle. This will be the third summer I have wanted this bag.
Step 3: Putting focus on my maybe items
The last thing I want to do is to put focus on my maybe items. So this is where I do a quick scan of my wardrobe and find those items that I am unsure about, or that I know I didn’t reach for much last year and bring these items into focus.
I want to ask myself questions about why these items weren’t worn much. Was it because they don’t fit properly and they need alterations? Was it because they don’t suit my style anymore? Was I just confused about how to style them? Instead of just decluttering these items, I want to see if I can make these items work for me again.
So I did a scan of my wardrobe and located a few items that I know I didn’t wear much last year. And I’ve put those pieces aside on a clothes rack. These items all have different reasons as to why they weren’t worn much. A few of these pieces, I have decided need alterations. Once these small alterations are done, hopefully I will reach for these pieces again.
Then I have a few more items that still fit me well, but I just don’t know how to style them and I’m unsure if they are right for my style anymore. So what I plan to do with these is keep them out on my clothes rack over the next couple of weeks or months, and try to focus on styling them when the weather is appropriate. If I left them in my closet, hiding away with my other clothes, I probably wouldn’t put as much effort into styling them, and they might go unworn for another season. So this is my technique to try incorporate them back into my style.
Thanks for reading and good luck with your wardrobe plans.
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