Have you ever struggled to find that perfect look? An outfit that perfectly matches your vibe? Or wondered how everyone else seems so put together even on their lazy days? Well (hopefully) you won’t have to worry anymore — I’m here to help!
The first problem might be your closet. If your closet is so full of clothes that you sometimes forget that you own certain items, you might be blind to your choices. Clean that ish out! Start with things that are stained or holey and work your way up to the hard decisions. Do you really need 3 cardigans that are just different shades of brown? You may feel like you are restricting your options by getting rid of clothes, but if you don’t even remember that you own them, they aren’t getting worn anyway. Make sure that all of your clothes fit you well and that you feel comfortable in all of them. If you don’t feel comfy, you won’t wear it.
After you’ve narrowed down your options a little bit, you’re ready to start putting some outfits together. The easiest way is to start with one piece of clothing that you know for sure you want to wear and center the outfit around that. Got some fun pants you want to rock today? Start there are and match them with your shirt and shoes. Have a super cute top that’s a little hard to pair with things? Start there and add other pieces. When in doubt, remember black leggings go with everything.
It’s also a good idea so spend a good hour or so trying on different combinations of clothes. This is basically practice, it gives you some inspiration for later outfits and makes you better at putting them together in the first place. You can’t expect yourself to make a killer fit on your first go, give yourself time to get into the swing of things. It’s like winged eyeliner — you won’t be good at it the first time you try it but the more you try the better you’ll get. The other benefit of just going through your clothes making outfits is you might stumble upon something amazing that you can wear later and it provides some insight into what matches well with your current wardrobe. It’s also not a bad idea to have a few go-to outfits, ones you feel confident and comfortable in so on days you aren’t really feeling like putting a lot of thought into your outfit you can just pull out one of your signature looks and be done.
A key thing to consider when putting together an outfit is layers and accessories. Does it feel like your missing something? Throw a cute jacket over top and see how that changes things. A great place to start with jackets is getting a jean or army jacket. They go with a lot of different styles and colors so it makes it easy to match. If you’re feeling a bit bland, put on a bracelet or some fun earrings (or both!). The thing with jewelry is that it doesn’t have to match perfectly, it just shouldn’t look out of place. Keeping all your jewelry either gold or silver also makes it so if you want to wear more than one piece, they won’t clash with each other.
The last thing I want to mention is shoes. Getting a few really nice pairs of shoes that you can rotate through can really step up your game. My suggestion is to get one pair of everything you would be interested in wearing. My list is: knee high brown boots, comfortable everyday heels, Toms, tennis shoes, sandals, and work shoes. I keep my work shoes separate from the rest of my shoes so I don’t ruin my good shoes. The shoes you pair with an outfit can really make or break the whole thing, so if the fit feels off when you’re done, try a different pair of shoes.
Hopefully this will give you a good place to start on your journey to becoming the fashion icon of campus! Happy mathching, collegiettes!