We all get those times in the year when we're completely frustrated with our wardrobes; never having anything 'right' to wear and ending up with a pile of clothes on the bed and still no clue what to put on for a party. Luckily for you there are ways to give your wardrobe a makeover so that you're left with a collection of your favorite garments and more importantly ones that can be worn together.

Start making plan for this as soon as possible, but give yourself a week. Make notes of the kinds of styles that you like, for instance linen tops if you don't already have any. If it helps, draw a picture of yourself in the kind of clothes and style you'd like to (and think you can) carry off. This list will help you to sort out what's in your wardrobe and make space for the new stuff that you'll need to tie it all together. Next, stand naked in front of the mirror and get a good look of yourself, no matter how much you might not want to do that. Has your body changed shape over the past year? Are the clothes in your wardrobe really suitable for your figure now? You might find that you've held on to a six year old jumper that you don't wear, but you love the style. The only reason you don't wear it is because it doesn't fit, so it's time to buy one in a similar style, but a different shape.

Now comes the hardest part: trying on every garment in your wardrobe one by one. Look in the mirror when you're wearing them and ask yourself (truthfully now!) when was the last time you wore it, whether you will wear it again and whether it makes you feel good. Does it fit well? If you're aiming to lose weight or tone up then have three piles: 1) to keep 2) to throw out 3) to get fit for. If you're not looking to lose weight then simply have two piles; keep and throw out. You should be aiming to reduce your wardrobe by at least one third, so that you can make space for newer, more modern styles that will also bring different outfits together. When you decide to keep a garment, imagine exactly what you'd wear it with. If there's nothing, and you can't even think of something worthwhile to buy that would match then get rid of it. That might be difficult, but it's useless if there's nothing to wear it with.

The last step is to find all the items in your wardrobe that don't fit with an outfit and imagine what you need to buy for them to have a place. If you need a new pair of light jeans to go with your white top then do you have other tops that could go with those jeans too?

Before you discard your old clothes, please think of what you're going to do with them. Charity shops and thrift stores are crying out for your fabulous clothes and someone else could get just as much enjoyment out of them as you have, whilst at the same time raising money for a good cause.

Stan Tian

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