How to style your neglected clothes

Plus, an Esther Studio jewelry giveaway!

Friends, I’m hosting a jewelry giveaway on the Esther Studio Instagram account to celebrate surpassing 400 followers over there. It’s easy to enter! The winner will receive a custom, made-by-me necklace or bag charm for themselves AND a friend, valued at $120. Anyone can enter. I’ll randomly choose a winner at noon CT on Wednesday, March 12. Good luck!

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I’m a shopper. I come by it naturally (I think it might be genetic?) and I’m also pretty good at it, if I do say so myself!

That being said, I can’t help but judge myself when I catch a glimpse of the items in my wardrobe that I was once aching to own, but now never wear. It reminds me of a post from Neighbourhood, in which Chloe Mihailovich asks, “Will I still want this in six months?”

If something doesn’t hold my attention for six months, but ideally much longer, it wasn’t a good purchase. When I buy things according to my more fleeting desires, the result can easily become clutter.

Another challenge emerges when my tastes change over time. This is quite natural and expected, but it frustrates me to see very nice things that no longer feel like “me” gathering dust in my closet.

In fairness to myself, I know I’m not alone in harboring a “shadow wardrobe” of unloved clothes. Our fast-paced consumer culture means most of us are buying more than we need.

Nonetheless, after writing last week’s piece on my most-worn winter workhorses, I got the idea to do something about my least-worn garments.

This week, I’ve been intentionally styling my neglected clothes. The goal was to see if I still love them, or if the neglect was a sign that they could move on to a more hospitable home. In the process, I’ve come up with some guidelines I think we can all use to get more wear out of our clothes.

So, in this post, you’ll find my advice for styling your neglected clothes in case you’re inspired to join me in wearing more of your closet. I’m also sharing some of the outfits I wore this week, and reflecting on the emotional and practical parts of this process.

My hope is that, by “shopping our closets,” as they say, we can:

1. Cultivate gratitude for what we have

2. Think twice before buying something new

3. Get our money’s worth

4. Flex our creative styling muscles

Let’s go!

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The game plan

If you, like me, could stand to wear more of your clothes, consider taking these steps to make it happen.

Step 1: Take an honest inventory

I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to look at my closet objectively. I poke my head in every day and have a little look around so I can plan my little outfits, but I realized that I was doing this with rose-colored glasses.

I was perfectly aware of which clothes I actively didn’t want to wear, but I wasn’t fully taking in all of the clothes that I like very much and was nonetheless ignoring. For example, I can stare lovingly at several wool and cashmere sweaters without properly acknowledging that each of them have only been worn once this season.

If getting more wear out of our clothes starts with our attention, we need to actively decide where we’re directing this energy. Might I suggest:

• Spending some time pulling out unloved items and hanging them in a special part of your wardrobe

• Considering why you’ve been neglecting these items

• Giving them a quick try-on

• Parting with anything that doesn’t fit or holds no appeal to you, and leaving the rest where you’ll see them

Once you’ve done this inventory, you’re ready to show the remaining clothes some love.

Step 2: Style your clothes for the current version of you

This step is all about setting yourself up for success. It requires a bit of planning, but overall I’d like to frame it as a fun challenge.

My suggestion for wearing the clothes you’ve chosen through your inventory is to, once every few days, pick a neglected item you’d like to wear. Based on the style challenge I gave myself, wearing my neglected items every day was too much. It made me feel a bit unmoored, like I was wearing someone else’s clothes for the week.

When you’ve got an item in mind, give yourself extra time in the morning or the night before so you can play around with it. This step is necessary because, if you continue approaching an item in the same way you always have, you’re not developing a new relationship with it. In the interest of a fresh start, here are some things you can try:

• Pair it with items you love and wear regularly. This will mean you’re comfortable overall, with only one thing different or potentially strange.

• Plug it into an outfit formula that works for you. If you normally wear jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers but you’re trying to style a neglected pair of dress pants, see how they work with a t-shirt and sneakers.

• Draw on familiar color combinations, or pair your neglected item with something in one of your power colors.

• If all else fails, try getting a little weird. Pair your neglected items with things you’d normally never think to wear it with, just to see what happens. It may be awful, or it may be amazing.

Don’t get discouraged if the first outfit you try doesn’t work. It might take a few changes to find something that feels right.

Step 3: Notice how you feel

At this point, if you found a way to style your neglected item, consider wearing it to be an audition, of sorts. If the item is to stay in your closet, it needs to both feel and look good throughout the day.

You get to decide how many “chances” the item gets, but this is a good time to be picky. If you already have a closet full of clothes you like and wear, it won’t be the worst thing in the world to part with something.

Everyone will have different criteria and standards, but some thing you might consider, beyond simply liking the outfit, include:

• Do I feel confident in this outfit?

• Can I move freely?

• Does my neglected item add to this outfit?

• Am I glad I wore this item or would I rather be wearing something else?

• Does this item fit my life today?

This is another chance to be honest with yourself. You are the only person you need to impress here, so take other folks’ opinions out of the equation.

Step 4: Decide what happens next

After wearing your neglected item out into the world, you’ll have the information you need to move forward. It’s not always as simple as remembering how much you like an item and vowing to wear it weekly. Sometimes it looks like:

• Recognizing that you may need to get the item tailored

• Needing another wear or two to figure out how the item will work best

• Choosing to sell, donate, or give the item away to a better home

Personally, I’ve experienced my fair share of all of these scenarios. Whatever you decide, consider it a win because you collected data and learned something from it.

Step 5: Reflect on your relationship with [your] clothes

Ultimately, it’s not great that we have a lot of unworn clothing in our closets. I don’t think we need to scold ourselves - the clothes are already in there - but I think reflection is important if we are to break the habits that got us here.

If you’ve spent some time wearing your neglected clothing, it’s now worth considering:

• What habits and systems can you put in place so that you’re regularly wearing more of your wardrobe? I know some folks will set all their hangers in one direction, then flip the hanger after an item is worn. After six months, the hangers left in their original position will tell you what didn’t get enough love. In the interim, you can try to flip as many hangers as possible

• How can you change your shopping habits so you’re not bringing in clothes you won’t wear? If you’ve noticed that you have a lot of unworn jeans, for example, consider whether and how you want to shop from that category in the future.

• How can you honor the current version of you while wearing “old” clothes? This is something I’m still working on, myself - more on that below - but it’s important to figure out. Ultimately, we don’t want to buy entire new wardrobes every time our tastes change.

I hope these ideas gave you a sense of how you might want to tackle your neglected clothes. In the next section, I’ll share my experiences.

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Check out my outfits!

Every day this week, I set about styling one or more items that were sitting neglected in my closet. Below, I’m breaking down what I wore and how, and sharing everything I learned in the process.

Outfit 1: The B-team

Neglected items: Black and white ruffled blouse, utility vest, floral midi skirt, taupe leather tote bag

I didn’t realize it when I was planning this outfit, but each of these pieces is a slightly lesser version of an equivalent garment in my closet. As in, I like all these pieces just fine, but I like others more. This is why I don’t gravitate towards them on a regular basis.

I wouldn’t recommend wearing all of your B-team items at the same time, because this could quickly become a B-outfit, but in this case I was quite pleased with myself. I think this was because I followed an outfit formula I know generally works quite well for me: fun blouse + vest + midi skirt + boots.

Lately, I’ve been getting bolder and bolder with my power clashing, to the point where I’ve come to view it as normal and expected. If everything is too matchy-matchy, I feel a bit itchy. The stripes and florals combination felt fun, and despite these items not being in my regular rotation, I still felt like “me.”

The verdict: This outfit might not be my favorite, but I learned that each of these pieces still has a place in my closet. I’m glad I saved myself from some ill-advised decluttering!

Outfit 2: It’s called a sweatshirt for a reason

Neglected items: Ditsy floral blouse, gray studded sweatshirt vest

When I ordered this studded vest around the holidays, I knew it was a bit of a stretch for my style. Still, I’ve pretty much never met a vest I haven’t liked, and I really do enjoy this one. I just… rarely reach for it. I think it might be because it feels quite casual, whereas my style leans more polished.

The best solution to this problem, I’ve found, is to commit to styling this piece in a more work-appropriate way.

To pull this off, I grabbed a ditsy floral blouse I recently snagged off Poshmark but hadn’t yet figured out how to wear. Then, I pulled my most reliable summer skirt out of storage and popped on a pair of heeled knee-high boots. I topped it off with some rather “extra” jewelry and felt quite good!

I sincerely loved this outfit, but things started to fall apart midday because I was getting super overheated. I should have known! Despite each of these pieces being made of breathable cotton, as soon as I get in front of the classroom, I start sweating.

Once I took off the sweatshirt, I didn’t feel nearly as good. The blouse and skirt don’t totally go together on their own, the vibe was off.

The verdict: I’ll be keeping both the blouse and the vest, but I learned a hard lesson in that the vest is not classroom friendly. I’ll save it for a day when I’m not teaching.

Outfit 3: Me from five years ago

Neglected items: Tan plaid blazer, emerald green corduroy pants

I’m experiencing a real aversion to blazers lately, and I’m so confused about it. They used to be the cornerstone of my work outfits, but lately they feel too bulky. Stuffy. A bit normcore. No matter how I try, I just can’t make them work, so several of them are now in storage.

This plaid blazer was allowed to stay in my closet because it’s made of a thinner fabric so it’s not as overwhelming, and I can also roll up the sleeves if I want to show some skin. The plaid adds visual interest without taking over an outfit, and it works with both pants and skirts.

That being said, I haven’t been wearing it much this winter, so I wanted to show it some love. I paired it with some emerald green corduroy pants I bought several months ago and never took the tags off, which is very unusual for me.

I don’t really understand what happened with these corduroy pants. They tick several boxes. I love green. I love corduroy. I love a full length, wide leg pant. I even tried them on in the store and loved them there. And yet!

This is going to sound strange, but I think it comes down to the fact that they don’t have belt loops. I love accessorizing with a leather belt, so these pants feel a bit “unfinished” to me.

Nonetheless, I knew I had to give them a fair shot. The result was an outfit that honestly felt and looked fine, but it reminds me of something I would have worn earlier in my career. Going back to my point about power clashing, this outfit feels a bit toned down to me and it needs something to make it a bit weirder. I think a striped t-shirt would have helped.

The verdict: I’ll wear this blazer again, and I’ll wear these pants again. Just not together. They each need to be paired with something a bit “off” to best reflect where I’m currently at with my style.

Outfit 4: My muscles cannot be contained

Neglected items: Cream puff sleeve t-shirt, brown barrel leg jeans

This was my Friday outfit, and let me be very clear: by this point in the week, I was becoming rather tired of the effort required to style my neglected items. It was honestly a lot of planning!

Since I was off work that day, I opted for jeans. Something I’ve learned in recent months is that I have way too many jeans for how often I actually have a chance to wear them. Since I dress up for work, my jeans don’t see much action, even on weekends. This is a shame, because I really do love them.

This chocolate brown barrel leg pair feels special. I got them tailored to be the perfect length, and the color is unique. Aside from preferring these pants with my Mary Jane ballet flats, which were not appropriate for the day’s snow, there is nothing wrong with them.

My big issue is with the top. Doesn’t it look nice? Yes, it looks nice.

I love the ruffles and the puff princess sleeve, but the elastic on the sleeves can’t compete with my ~muscles~ so the sleeves are constantly riding up. Additionally, since purchasing this top before Christmas, I’ve told myself that I’m not allowed to buy any more cream-colored tops. I prefer white and I think it looks better on me.

The verdict: These pants and I are a match made in heaven, but I will be re-homing the top.

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This week was challenging

Looking back at this week of styling my neglected clothes, it was rewarding but difficult. And I think the difficulty was the point. I think it’s good to confront your less-than-desirable habits and feel the need to change. Ultimately, I’m glad I discovered some renewed enthusiasm for several items in my closet, and I’m sure the items I’m re-homing will find the new life they need.

If you decide to try this approach to shopping your closet, I hope you get what you need from it! Please let me know if you find any hidden gems you’d forgotten about, or if you have any personal style epiphanies. Like many things in life, I take this seriously - but not too seriously that we can’t have some fun along the way. I do hope you have some fun along the way.

As always, thanks for spending time with me this week!