Look through your wardrobe and pick 5 pieces that you absolutely love at the moment.

If your wardrobe has been neglected for a while, you might realize that you don’t have anything you are majorly in love with. If this is the case, just pick 5 items you wear the most.

Now take the first item, grab a notebook and write down every single outfit formula you can think of for that piece.

What is an outfit formula?

It’s a combination of specific types of garments.

For example:

Jeans + t-shirt

Jeans + jumper

Jeans + blouse

It doesn’t matter what colour the jeans or the tops are. Only focus on the formula that can be recreated with the same type of items in any colour.

Do a full breakdown of potential outfit formulas for your selected piece like I have in the example below.

If at any stage you find yourself struggling to come up with ideas, head to Pinterest and type in one of the following word combinations:

‘your garment’ outfits

looks with ‘your garment’

‘your garment’ style ideas

‘your garment’ outfit inspiration

You’ll be getting a ton of options so filter them by looking at the garment types.

The next thing you will need to do is refer to the outfit formula list and run the contents of your wardrobe against that list.

Make sure you have your phone nearby to take pictures of all possible combinations.

Put your garment on the bed or on the floor and start adding available pieces according to your list.

I’ll be referring to the list I made in the above example.

First line on the list – jeans + jeans. Pull out all available jeans and t-shirts.

Which ones go with the blazer? Put those items beside the blazer.

THE NEXT STEP IS IMPORTANT – now find the right shoes to complete the outfit. Line up all potential options.

(If you want to take things to the advanced level, try adding accessories like belts, bags or jewellery to the looks as well).

If you don’t have the right shoes, you’ve identified a gap. Put that look aside, take your notebook and start a list called OUTFIT GAPS. Try to be specific as to what shoes would work best.  For example, ‘black ankle boots with a block heel’ or ‘white leather sneakers’. 

You will also come across gaps in entire outfit formulas. For example, you might not have a pleated skirt, or a midi dress, a certain type of trousers. Or you might not have thought about a specific combination but then have seen it on Pinterest and loved it.

If you feel that this is a look you would have really benefitted from, put the item/s on the list.

DON’T FORGET TO TAKE PHOTOS OF COMPLETE LOOKS. Don’t take photos of the looks you can’t complete, just set them aside.

Keep going through this list until you exhaust your options.

Do the same process (Step 2 and 3) for the remaining 4 pieces that you picked.

This can be quite a lengthy process if you have a big wardrobe. You might also need to try certain combinations on to make sure they work. Just stick with it!

If you get overwhelmed after a few rounds of this, it’s ok! Take a little break! This process can feel like going down the rabbit hole initially, but it gets easier!

If you have little ones at home with you, don’t hesitate to get them involved! They could be helping you with outfits for photos, or putting stuff back or even giving you a second opinion whether the looks work.

A word of caution: take the latter one with a pinch of salt because their outlook on your wardrobe might not be in synced with yours. Years ago, my daughter vetoed a bunch of outfits I was trying on. When I questioned her why, her reply was ‘I only like pink, none of them are pink’. If you get similar feedback, maybe keep your little helpers on the tidying duties only.

Have fun with this exercise, keep your notes and lists tidy, take as many pictures as possible and have a well-deserved glass of wine afterwards!

I’ll see you tomorrow! xx