After chatting with my sister last week, she asked me to write about mixing and matching clothes with a few essential piece’s, so Jane this one is for you.
In this article, I’ll cover reasons to learn how to better combine your clothes and accessories. Next, I will explain my method of composing your looks, I’ll also tell you about the things you need to keep in mind for this to be successful. And then, the icing on the cake to get there as best as possible: your intuition. Finally, I will finish by giving you a personal tip to consolidate the image that you send to others and to yourself, this is how to manage the opinion of others. This sometimes influences much more than we think about our clothing choices.
How to harmonize your outfits?
Everyone can answer this question in a basic way. By that, I mean that we all have reflexes installed over time, a way of mixing materials, colours and styles without thinking too much, in a fairly simple way, and especially when we are sure that it coordinates perfectly and that it suits us.
Result?
Most of us settle into habits, do not dare to get out of what we are sure of, prefer the comfort of the certainty of not being wrong ... Normal.
I want to tell you today: Go ahead, get out of your habits, try new associations, be daring, get out of your comfort zone, assert your beautiful personality through mixtures of gender, colours and style that suit you. Get inspired around you.
Reasons to learn how to better combine your clothes and accessories
If you are more creative, if you challenge yourself to push the limits of your wardrobe further, if you innovatively combine your existing clothes and accessories:
You will see your wardrobe in a new light
For example, do you always wear this leather jacket with the same pants? If you realize that it can match other highs and lows, in endless possibilities, you will see it differently! It will become your ally, instead of becoming your ordinary jacket, without conviction. This lack of conviction affects the perception that you and others have of your image.
Your posture, your approach, your image of yourself will be changed, positive.
The consequences will be directly on your self-confidence!
You will no longer feel like you are wearing the same thing all the time.
No more “Nothing to wear” syndrome. Yes!
You will feel like your wardrobe has a lot of more clothes, it’s not a luxury when you think about it.
You'll want to buy less often and be able to allocate your budget to learn even better to make the best use of what you already have or other things that matter to you. This is the learning to go further in combinations among so many other things ultimately save a lot of time and money.
More ideas and creativity
It’s a virtuous circle, it generates even more ideas. In some cases, you could even become a reference for those around you.
This will seriously consolidate your self-confidence and perhaps bring you where you do not expect it: a promotion, a meeting, a happy event. Because I am convinced that when things are right and done with heart, the rest follows naturally.
You will find pleasure in wearing your clothes which will seem new to you because they have been shaped differently.
My method to compose unique outfits that look like you.
I'm going to start with a "centerpiece".
What is a centerpiece?
It is a garment or accessory that alone gives style, character to your outfit. For example blue jeans, a printed combination of black and white graphic designs, a sweater with a very original cut and with an inspiring colour, a blouse with a fantasy that "takes up space Like a crop.
How to choose a centerpiece?
This centerpiece, you choose it according to the following elements: your tastes, the context, the dress code of your business, your constraints, the weather, your desires and mood, your goals and your intuition.
Do you really want to wear this sweater that defines you and meets your mood for the day? You take this sweater as a starting point because it corresponds to the weather forecast and you do not want to be cold. Then think about the other imperatives of your day! Imagine a day at the office (the dress code of your company is not too strict, but you are held to elegance and certain sobriety) and dinner and drinks with friends in stride, without you having time to iron at home to change yourself.
This sweater meets your mood for the day, your desire to wear something that defines you that day, and your intuition. You "feel" it, you tell yourself that with this sweater, you will brave this meeting which intimidates you a little bit. It remains to be seen whether the other elements are present. To respect the dress code of your business, you will compose around this centerpiece a set of clothes and accessories that will strengthen its presence. That is to say, pieces whose sobriety will allow the centerpiece to express its full potential and therefore enhance yours. In this specific case, sobriety will be necessary for the look to respect the company codes. By that, I mean that the originality of the sweater will be the only "eccentric" element of your outfit (Except for personalities who have an artistic style, or fashion, who will know how to combine several centerpieces with accuracy). Surrounding it with basics will allow you to achieve your goal. Feel yourself without overdoing it. Stand out from your colleagues, because basically, you want to stand out in the office, without being noticed, being feminine, without generating thoughts in the office.
It remains to be seen whether other constraints are to be taken into account
Here, you will need to add an accessory, such as a very nice pair of high heels to trade in the evening against your elegant ballerinas for the office (or the heels will do the trick all day long, it depends on your feet and your habits!), because you are going to dine with friends. Another tip: put in your bag a necklace and a pair of earrings to complete your outfit.
The second method is simply to reverse the process
You are in a less creative mood and you are attracted to a set that suits you but a little too classic, "uniform" style. Indulge yourself, choose these pants so comfortable whose model highlights you, with this white blouse that goes with everything. Add your grey cardigan, mid-length, to form a “basic” outfit that is perfectly suitable but not very original. Then add your personal twist: for example, a pair of royal blue high heels or a very avant-garde scarf with an exceptional pattern and whose colours suit your face so well. A nice pair of classic earrings to finish it all.
Your intuition and your story
How does your intuition make you so unique and how can you use it to better combine your outfits? In this part, I want to remind you that you have in your hands.
One tool that allows you to always check that you are in the right place is your intuition.
Do not give anyone the power to choose for you
This friend who tells you "this is really what you need, I'm sure", it's nice, but that remains to be verified! Of course, not everyone does that, others know exactly what they want, and that's great too. I just think that you have to manage, whatever the context, to question yourself by being centered enough to make the right decision, quite simply. This also applies when you are facing a saleswoman. "It suits you so well", "this outfit was waiting for you", "this kind of thing is not for everyone" are often disguised sales tactics. Of course, the person in front of you cannot always remain objective, unless they have known you for years and they really accompany you in your choices with heart and quality of service, but this is rather rare.
How to manage the opinion of others, and make sure that it does not determine your choices?
Example: "I never wear this dress, because the only time I put it on, my best friend laughed at the colour, she told me that it didn't suit me at all." After a few questions, we often come to the conclusion that this dress exactly matched the desired style, but not yet assumed.
What do you think really matters?
Is it the opinion of others regarding your outfit? Do you think it is possible to please everyone? It is up to you to assert yourself, in the eyes of all, in relation to your unique style, to impose it as obvious. And believe me, if you are sure of your choices, that you are aligned with your style, your entourage will follow you. If you doubt or let other people's opinions take up too much space, you will give them the power to choose for you and most of the time, you will not always come out unscathed. Here are two easy ways to respond to a non-constructive remark about your appearance:
Say stop and admit your emotion
I wish you would never tell me that kind of thing again, maybe you don’t see it, but it doesn’t make me happy when you tell me that.
Get the other person to put themselves in your place:
Do you think it would make you happy if I told you that kind of thing?
In conclusion, I invite you to practice, as of tomorrow, when preparing your outfit for the day, to think outside the box and reinvent your assortments. When you go shopping, make sure to check when you get back to what pieces your new clothes will match. You will leave much more creative at the start of the day with your new clothes.
