A common misconception is that when the seasons change, your bank account will feel the drain of the summer heat or decrease as fast as the temperature in the winter months. All because you are trying to update your wardrobe to stay in touch with the latest trends. However, in reality all you need to do is make a few small changes to the clothes that you already love to wear.
I know what you are thinking, everyone has seen these clothes and there is no way that I can hide the fact that my average white tank top has been sitting in my closet for years. To help demonstrate, I’m going to walk you through a few examples that are currently sitting in my closet. I am going to go through the ways that I keep updating the outfit without sacrificing grocery money for the sake of a new look. All while being able to keep those favorite articles of clothing that I want to hang onto as long as I can.
First – I want to start with a dress that I have had since college. It’s a simple cotton empire waist navy knee length dress. A dress like this is extremely easy to update season after season. For instance, when I first bought the dress I wore it with black knit long sleeve sweater all of the time. It was a great dress for school as it was comfy and safe, but as I left school and my style expanded I wanted to try new things. That’s when I went out to look for something that could update this dress, I ended up in Dressbarn where I fell in love with a bright yellow bolero. This helped to change the look from a college classroom to an office. Also by simply changing the shoes I wear – the look can change from from daytime to office to an evening out with friends. A simple change like this can cost you $0 by just looking in your closet for those heels you haven’t see in months or the cute strappy sandals you forgot you owned.
The next article of clothing that I love to rework is my black skinny jeans and my black no sleeve satin top. I love wearing black because I can add whatever I want to it. For example, when I go to work I can wear a bright coral blazer and a pair of patent heels to dress it up. The blazer is from Torrid and the shoes from Payless. (Fun Tip: Many people think poorly of Payless because of past quality issues. However, in recent years the company’s overall product quality has improved and is worth the trip. They have a lot of items and a fast turn around on styles. This means shoes go on sale quicker here than in other stores.) Together these two items came to $65. When I want to dress this look down I change out the blazer to a knit beige sweater and my Coach sneaker with a sequin flower on the side. These sneakers I’ve had for about 10 years and my sweater was a gift so not only am I able to update this look twice but I can bring in pieces that I’ve had sitting in my closet next to it.
A fun way to update a look is by getting creative and using items in your closet that you wouldn’t think to put together. A great example would be my yellow cotton lace dress. I found this dress at Dressbarn and fell in love with it. This particle dress can fit all types of moods just by changing the accessories you add to it. For example, I love wearing this particle dress with brown cowboy boots and a brown suede belt. In the fall I will add a light blue denim jacket to complete the look. I love the 80’s vibe I get from this outfit when I pair it like this. For this look the denim jacket is from dressbarn. The cowboy boots are from DSW and I bought them in the off season about 8 years ago and they were under $50. (Fun tip: When you are looking for a certain item but don’t want to pay full price for it, wait a couple of weeks and then return to the store. Many stores have a 4 week turn around period for inventory which means in the item will only be full price for about that time period.)
Another way I love to wear this dress is with my nude heels and blush beaded headband. By taking away some of the heavy items, like the jacket and boots, it gives this dress a more spring feeling. The headband came from Accessories, which has gone out of business, so I am not sure how much I paid. The nude heels are from Payless and were only $20, which for an item that can be worn with hundreds of items — I’ll take that as a win! Also by adding something simple like a headband or heels you are changing the outfit so something that can be worn to a bridal shower or work event. Sometimes taking items away can be just as good as adding them.
These are some ways of updating a look you love without spending a ton of money to do so. Do you have a look that needs to be updated? Tell us below of items that are in your closet that need to be reworked.
