Life is busy. And the hassle of figuring out what to wear every day can be a tipping point adding to stress and anxiety, because in a significant way, what you wear affects your life. It affects how you see yourself, how you feel, and how others perceive you. A nicely assembled outfit can do wonders for your self esteme, comfort, and choice fatigue.
The way we dress matters. However, the hard truth is that for a busy woman, it can seem impossible to fulfill important responsibilities and have time left over to plan outfits. With some simple foresight and planing. Fashion doesn’t have to be hard, or time-consuming. You can set yourself up for success so that getting dressed every morning is a joy.
We know you’re busy, so here are just 5 simple steps to help you get into an efficient routine to keep you looking amazing and put-together in your fast-paced life!
1. Make a Plan
As all busy people know, if it's not in the plan, it's not gonna happen. In this effort to reevaluate your closet and take back some time for yourself, set aside some time to make a plan.
First, ask yourself, “What image do I want to project?” Think about colors, textures, and shapes that make your feel confident. Look at some inspiriation from other women you admire and want to emulate. Following fashion blogs, influencers, and celebrities that have the vibe you want is so inspiring. Even snap a couple screen shots of outfits you want to recreate.
While your style doesn't belong in a box, you can think of key words that you want to describe your "future self." Here's some inspo:
CEO Energy
Business Casual
Chic Mom
Trendy Fashionista
Comfy and Cute
2. Go Through your Closet
After you’ve decided what look you want to have, take a look at your closet.
One of the ways to eliminate wasted time in the mornings is to get rid of clothes you don’t like or that don’t fit the image you want. Those items that you never really wear just take up space and add extra time as you re-decide not to wear them each day.
A good rule of thumb is that, if you haven’t worn something in 2 months, you probably don’t need it. A good way to keep track of this is to hang up worn items at the front of your closet. If you notice that old, stained cardigan in your closet has been lurking in the back for quite some time, it’s time to throw it out or donate it.
If you have a hard time getting rid of things, just put it in storage for now. That way, you can still wear it if you decide to, but it won’t cost you extra time in your outfit planning. Just remember, getting rid of things you don’t need can be really freeing.
Another great tip is to put your staple items where they are easily accessible. If you have a pair of pants that you totally rock, put them in a higher drawer, or hang them at the front of your closet. Make putting outfits together easier for future you.
3. Experiment
Thinking about how you want to look is a great step, but what’s really going to help you find your style is to try different things out! Getting into a certain style is going to make dressing that much easier on your busy life. Try different items of clothing—maybe some things that you don’t usually wear. If you’re debating throwing something out or not, give it a try in an outfit and see what you think of it! You can’t decide what you like until you’ve tried some different options.
4. Keep Track of the Outfits you Love
As you experiment with your closet, keep track of the outfits that make you look good and feel good! Maybe you’ll notice that wearing green brings out your eyes, or that your comfy pants make you feel way more confident. If you like something a lot, snap a picture of it and put it in an album. Next time you're feeling stumped about your outfit, but you need to run, just glance through the album of outfits you love for some quick inspiration.
You’ll probably start to notice a pattern of things yuo like, and you’ll be able to follow that pattern in the future when you plan outfits. This is also important information to have when you buy new items for your closet.
5. Set things out the Night Before
If you really want to save some time, do your future self a favor and make a plan for the next day. When those busy mornings roll around, you simply won’t have the time to put something together that you’re happy with. So just take ten minutes at night to put together an outfit, maybe try it on if you really want to make sure it’s a good one, and set it out somewhere. This will help you avoid those awful realizations that the shirt you need is in the washer, or that the skirt you wanted to wear desperately needs to be ironed.
It can seem like a pain to plan when all you want to do is go to bed, but you’ll seriously thank yourself the next day when your morning is nice and smooth.
Feeling good about your outfit, can seriously change your whole day. With these steps, putting together outfits will be so much easier, and will help you portray yourself the way you want. Get out there and look good, but most importantly, feel your best!