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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at VCU chapter.

The clothes you wear every day are an expression of you and how you present yourself to the world on a daily basis, so building a solid wardrobe that reflects your personality as an expansion of you is essential for any young adult. You may think that you have a solid wardrobe, but as you grow older, your wardrobe should grow with you, getting more mature and elevated as you do mentally and in terms of a broader world view (I mean, that is why you’re in college, right?)

Creating a wardrobe that is reflective of yourself, while still being modern and elegant, isn’t always as easy at it seems. It takes time and money to curate the closet of your dreams because it is always evolving, just like you are. Building a solid wardrobe is an investment, and it doesn’t happen overnight; it takes time and money, but in the end, to have a wardrobe that consists of quality pieces that make you feel comfortable and confident is well worth it.

clothes
Lauren Fleischmann

Decide on a Color Scheme

When choosing colors for your wardrobe, you want to start out with neutrals and build off of that. Keeping a base of three to four neutrals, with two to three accent colors keeps your closet cohesive and makes it easy to get dressed in the morning because all of the colors work well with each other. This doesn’t mean you should abandon all color trends, but it definitely means that you should be a bit pickier about the trends that you follow and adhere to because trends come and go very quickly, which leads to wasted money and a discordant wardrobe.

Always Choose Quality

High-quality garments make a huge difference in not only how you look but how you feel. Wearing cheap, plastic textiles can actually affect the way that you feel in your clothes and the way that you carry yourself. Dressing in nicer quality garments will not only pay off in terms of confidence but also monetarily; you get a longer cost per wear for each piece that you own, rather than having to constantly replace your clothes.

Build up From The Essentials

Making sure that your closet has the essentials is key. Make sure that you have camisoles, tank tops, V-neck t-shirts, crew-neck t-shirts, skinny jeans in different washes, dress pants and solid color button-up shirts. These are just a few of the essentials that you need to keep stocked in your wardrobe; these pieces will allow you to build a wide variety of outfits and looks with minimal effort. Keeping your wardrobe simple will save you money in the long run because of the cost per wear, whereas buying garments that you will only wear once or twice (or not at all) ends up wasting more money.

Pick Accessories That Accent Your Look, Not Overpower it

One problem people have when choosing accessories is that they are too loud when paired with the garments they are wearing. A bold necklace needs to be paired with a simple outfit, and a loud outfit needs to be paired with simple jewelry. Pairing statement jewelry with a loud outfit can be overwhelming and make the entire look too busy. Sticking to simple jewelry designs can make your outfits more uniform and simple, dainty pieces go with all outfits. On the topic of jewelry, make sure that you are choosing metals that go with your skin tone, silver pairs well with cool skin tones while gold looks best with warmer skin tones.

Maia is a senior at VCU double majoring in Print/Online Journalism and Fashion Merchandising. She loves to write about fashion and beauty and spends her free time reading, writing, and taking naps.
Keziah is a writer for Her Campus. She is majoring in Fashion Design with a minor in Fashion Merchandising. HCXO!