Expand your wardrobe without buying anything. Try these free and easy styling tips to increase the options for the clothes you already have.
Have you ever stared at the clothes in your closet and felt you had nothing to wear? It happens to me, too. The problem isn't enough clothes to wear. It is usually clothes you don't like some aspect of. Maybe the length of the skirt is off. Maybe the shirt is longer than what you want. It's too warm to wear that long-sleeve shirt, even though it would be perfect.
With these styling ideas, however, you may find you can wear clothes you already have, but in a way that feels good and looks fresh.
Why Try These Ideas?
The most sustainable clothes are the ones already in your closet. Rather than buying more clothes (even from a thrift store), styling in a different way allows you to wear what you have, but in a different way so it feels like you have new choices.
None of these make permanent changes to your clothes. You can do them, then remove them without causing damage.
These tips also do not require any sewing or making any purchases.
You may find you prefer the way the clothes work with these styling changes. Some of them can be made permanent with alterations, which will require sewing or taking it to a seamstress or tailor to do the alterations.
Try these ways to style your clothes and see if they work for you
Styling Idea #1 - Roll It Up
1. Roll up the bottom of your jeans or trousers and cuff them. This lets you show off colorful socks, and you can wear flats instead of heels if they are long.
2. Roll up your sleeves. This can give a long-sleeve top 3/4 length sleeves, and 3/4 length sleeves can become elbow length or short. Play around with it and see what works.
3. Roll the waistband to make your skirt shorter. How many times? As many as it takes to get the look you want. Below is a comparison before and after I did one of mine.
This isn't a huge change, but it is enough for me to feel better about it.
Styling Idea #2 - Tie It Up
1. Gather your shirt in the front (center or to one side) and wrap a rubber band around the end. Tuck this under so it doesn't show. You can also turn under the bottom of the shirt for a neater finish.
2. For blouses, tie the ends in a knot in the front. This can also work with lightweight cardigans, as I did in the photo above of the black cardigan with the black and white striped skirt.
3. You can also tie a knot on each side at the bottom in front for another look.
Styling Idea #3 - Wear it Back to Front
1. This is a vintage Beeline top I found at a thrift store for 50 cents. I loved the pattern and the colors, but I never liked the way it looked when I wore it. Something was off.
The shirt zipped up the back, so I wondered what would happen if I wore it backward. I tried it and not only did it fit, but I also loved the way it looked. This is the way I wear it now.
This won't work for everything, but try wearing a shirt or dress with the back in front and see what happens.
Your Turn
There are some tips to get you started. The next time you put on something that doesn't feel right, try some of these temporary alterations and see if they make a positive difference.
