Style Tip- Stop Saving Your Good Clothes for Later
Happy Wednesday, ladies. Today I thought I would start a new series. On the first Wednesday of each month, I’ll share a style tip I think can help us all dress better that day, that month, and for the coming years. This month it’s about the way we pigeon hole our clothes and how to stop saving your good clothes for later.
Most of us sort our clothes based on lifestyle activities.
- Clothes for cleaning out the garage, gardening, painting, and generally stuff we wouldn’t want to answer the door wearing.
- Clothes for relaxing at home, popping out to the mailbox, and are not ashamed to be seen in.
- Outfits for running errands, grocery shopping, doctor visits and lunch with the girls.
- Date night clothes for dinner and a movie.
- Pulling out all the stops for the theater, ballet, a wedding or ceremony.
All too often women wear the same thing day in and day, never wear their nicer pieces.
Why do we save our best clothes?
- Shifting lifestyles can make your clothes seem out of place which changes how often we wear them.
- Our health changes so we wear more casual clothes.
- We’ve bought clothes for a lifestyle we don’t have.
- Most often- we are afraid to ruin them!
Whatever the reason, you need to shift everything down one level and start wearing your good stuff.
How to start wearing your good stuff
- Those clothes you save for dressy events? Style them more casually for a date night out. Wear your sequin cardigan over a pair of dark denim and casual flats. Toss on your little black dress with keds and a denim jacket. Your nicest black pants would look great with a simple tee and so on.
- Your date night clothing is easily dressed down for running errands and lunch with girlfriends. Who says you can’t wear a skirt or nice trousers to meet friends for lunch? That dress you wore to a baby shower looks perfect with flat sandals and a cotton cardigan.
- The stuff you reserve for hanging around the house you can allocate for gardening, cleaning out the garage, and heavy housework.
- Those clothes you don’t want to be seen dead wearing? Get rid of them. If they’re wearable at all, donate them but otherwise, tear for rags or otherwise render them unwearable.
How many of your favorite items are lingering in your closet that should be brought out to play?
All too often we save clothes for occasions that never come and they go out of style while we’re waiting. Don’t waste your money or squander the things that you love by letting them go unworn. Life’s too short to wear the second-best stuff so treat yourself well, and wear the best you own.
What have you been saving that needs to come out more often?
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Thanks for reading ladies and remember to only wear what makes you feel confident.
Love this post! My mother always saved something back “for good”. She kept a nice robe and gown in case she visited relatives overnight. And of course, everyone had their church clothes, not to be worn at any other time. Same line of thought concerning china and glassware. Coming from the hills of Kentucky during the depression probably had something to do with her mindset. Your readers always have such interesting insights!
My readers are the best!!
I am guilty of that. I have 6+ unworn outfits put away for evening special occasions when I actually go to about one or two such events a year. I could easily get some of them taken up to wear everyday, or re purpose a sparkly top and wear it with casual pants. On a slightly different topic, I also buy for the weight I am going to lose, in order to motivate myself. But it never works and I end up giving away many too small outfits when they become dated.
I find it more motivating to buy something I can wear the very next day that makes me feel great! See if that works for you too.
This is great advice! And at 82 I have been doing it. It is a wonderfulf way to live. Just donāt wait as long as I did. Started when I was in my late 70ās.
This hit close to home and has got me thinking. Thanks for the tips!
I have sweaters in my closet that i never wore. Really pretty ones in cheerful colors. They make replacements for all those sweat shirts I use to reach for. I’m warm and look better. Sometimes we just need to upgrade our look because we tend to grab those sweats for lounging around when we have perfectly comfortable sweaters and pants that look better. If you’re sick, wear them but if not, wear your nice warm sweaters and pull on elastic waist pants. Skip the joggers and sweats.
I learned this early on. My uncle gave me a bottle of Chanel #5 perfume when I was 16. I used it carefully on special occasions. One day about 2 years later I realized it was completely empty. It evaporated!! That was 50+ years ago. I still have the bottle right now, lives in my underwear box to remind me.
My mother used her sterling silver every day, but she still never burned her rose candle, the same type Erma Bombeck laughed about back in the day.
Those are poignant memories, Nancy. Thanks for sharing and inspiring us.
I totally agree. I no longer need special dresses for the navy ball since hubby is retired. Couldnāt bear to part with a couple of them. Loved your ideas. Thank you. Just reorganized my closet so my good clothes are Front and center. Wearing t shirts and sweat pants all day Makes me feel yucky.
You deserve to feel awesome Joy. Toss the cruddy stuff and wear the good stuff until it wears out:)
Love this post. Totally agree with the concept.
For those of us that are(over 50) having more big “O” BIRTHDAYS, this is a must mindset.
After I had a very bog “O” birthday last year, my new motto is :
“IF NOT NOW, WHEN”?
Yes, YES! I agree Patricia
Excellent blog article today, great ideas and much to think upon! Now, to put it into practice!!..probably requires a fair amount of grit and determination on my part, as I and all my family were brought up to be āsavers.ā Thanks to you, Jennifer, and all other members for positive reinforcements and great attitudes!
I don’t recommend my method (house burned down) but starting from scratch with a wardrobe is oddly liberating. I have purchased just two “dressy” outfits, and I am going to take your advice and try to style them “down” for more wear.
That so rough Kay, I’m so sorry.
Ohhh love this post…..and it just makes soo much sense:):) I am def going to do this!! Just the other night I had a j.jill top that I just bought in my closet, and was contemplating to wear it out for a casual nite. Actually was just saving it for idk what haha???…..but bc it was solid black it def appeared as a better top(and it is) but not dressey…….sooo I did exactly what you suggested, and wore it with a pair of better dark jeans and black patent loafers:):) it proved that this theory works….glad I took the tags off and wire it for a casual nite…..loved it and actually looked greatā¤ļø??
Way to go, Jacqueline!!
The title of today’s post caught my attention. You wrote this for me!! LOL Actually, you provided several important tips and ideas. In addition, I am trying to face my own CRAZY ideas/rules such as:
1. Saving new clothes w/tags for that “right” time (an evening out with friends, the right mood, the right weather, the right fit, the right feeling, etc.). If the “right” circumstances don’t come together, new clothes can hang in my closet for months and even years. Yikes!
2. I have a designated area in my closet for clothes that have been worn but not enough to be washed. Often I narrow my search for what to wear each day to that limited section to prevent it from becoming overcrowded. That means that I will wear a particular outfit once every week or two until it needs to be washed. Then I’ll repeat that cycle with other outfits. At any given time, it looks like I have a small wardrobe when in reality my closet is bulging with clothes that I am “saving”.
Thanks, Jennifer, for causing us all to THINK about our habits, self-imposed rules, etc. and to ENJOY life by wearing all those beautiful clothes while we can. ?
I think we should “snap” the tag`s off new clothes, the day after we buy something and “break it in:)”