I moved house last November. Although moving is horrible, one advantage is that it’s the perfect time to declutter. For me, we were moving from a modern home to one with smaller wardrobes, which meant a wardrobe cull and putting most of my winter clothing into storage over summer.
As the weather cooled during lockdown, I started getting excited about what I was going to find in that magical cardboard box. I had spent time online creating trend reports for my clients so I knew what looks were going to be strong for the coming season, and I was able to match up in my mind some of the items I already owned that could be reworked to fit these new trends perfectly.
There was one item I really wanted to find: a winter jumpsuit unworn for a couple of years that was now back on trend. I could remember moving it backwards and forwards from the ‘sell’ to the ‘keep’ pile a couple of times and I hoped it ended up in the ‘keep’ box. It hadn’t.
I had also put some of my older winter boots away. There were a couple of pairs I had thought would work for this winter that I was excited to see. One pair did, one pair didn’t and I might have been heard to swear about how fickle fashion is…
“Don’t be too fast to bin too much.” I’ve heard this from stylish friends a couple of times over the years as they’ve told me of their regrets after over-zealous wardrobe culls. Now I need to add my own voice to the refrain. So how do you know what to keep and what to cull?
If the item is a bit special, if it’s still in great condition, you’ve loved it and you have space, keep it. You might not wear it for a few seasons, but trends do recycle, and you may well be able to wear it again.
The challenge is the trend may return but in a subtly different way. I had dreams of adding a puff sleeved blouse under the jumpsuit which would have brought it bang up to date, while the boots were knee high (back in), pointy toed (back in), but the toe was exaggeratedly long (not in) and would have dated the whole look.
Google is your friend when it comes to trend awareness. The northern hemisphere trends you see online from November through to February are what we’ll be seeing in our stores come April. Take note of the details to see how you can re-work existing pieces to make them current rather than just re-wearing them which may not work (like my boots).
Fashion is all about following the trends, while style is making it your own – the marriage of the two is where the magic happens.
Jackie O’Fee is owner of Auckland’s leading personal style consultancy, Signature Style. If you’d like a hand to work the trends with your wardrobe she’d love to help. Call 529 5115 or email crew@signaturestyle.co.nz
