Dress for Less: A Guide to Making the Most of What You’ve Got

There comes a time when you go out and hit the shops keeping an eye out for something that appeals to you and find nothing. Maybe you go out with something specific in mind and you just cant seem to find it. Recently I’ve been having that problem, I don’t know if it’s a lack of inspiration but today when I went out a recent comment I saw on the internet kept popping into my head ‘mens fashion is boring’. Now I know that’s not the case, I just hadn’t found anything that excited me. There are times when even if you do want something new you can’t find anything or you can’t afford anything new. But it’s not all doom and gloom, nows the perfect time to revisit what you already have and see how you can update or get more wear out of it.

A good starting point is to have a clear out of what you own at the moment and put anything you haven’t worn in the last 12 months to one side. Now you can go through what you have worn and reorganise your wardrobe. What’s the point? You’re likely to come home from work and just dump whatever you’ve been wearing back in your draws or wardrobe, I know I’m guilty of it from time to time. After a while you just end up grabbing whatever is on top of your draws or the first thing in your wardrobe. When your clothes are organised well it allows you to see everything you have and that way you’re more likely to wear that jumper thats been hidden away for the last 9 months.

While you’re going through your clothes check anything that needs any maintenance and recheck the fit. Some pieces may just need a button or two replacing and are good to go. See if anything needs a slight adjustment from a tailor, maybe you’ve lost a little bit of weight and that shirt could do with taking in? This will give you more mileage from your garments. If you have a little bit of money spare look into investing in things that will help preserve your items like shoe trees and a good cleaning kit, a decent tie rack and hangers.

Revisit the clothes you’ve worn in the last 12 months and maybe the older pile providing they still fit and see what needs updating or how you can restyle individual pieces. You may have worn a particular cardigan in the past only one way and never considered wearing it with anything else. Nows the time to reconsider and restyle! Your style may have completely changed and developed and you may have new ideas of how to wear your old garments. This is where having a look book comes in handy, while you’re building your new outfits take a photo of each one and add it to your look book, if you haven’t got one yet or want to know how to get one you can find out here.

Finally accessories don’t cost the earth and are a handy way to revitalise an old piece or entire outfit. Adding something like a coloured pocket square can uplift an old blazer or maybe a brooch? Try adding a casual tie to dressed down looks or maybe try a different belt. See what will work with what you currently have and then if you have a bit of money to spare spend it on some cool accessories.

So there you go a little insight on how to revamp and restyle your wardrobe when you’re lacking inspiration from the shops or you’re on a small budget.

If you think we’ve got it wrong or think I missed out a vital point, let us know by commenting.

If you want to keep up to date with the latest trends or check out our latest how-to’s, guides and top tips why not subscribe? You can subscribe by RSS here or subscribe by email by filling in your email address in the subscription box in the sidebar. You can also catch us on Bloglovin here.