A New Year’s Resolution List From A Personal Stylist
Whether you want to call it resolutions or goals, this is a list from a personal stylist that everyone should incorporate in 2020. Maintaining your wardrobe and your personal style, should be something you’re always striving to do.
Can you say that you really love every piece of clothing in your wardrobe? Can you say that you only ever purchase clothing you absolutely need? Can you say that you consistently clean out your wardrobe? If the answer to these questions are all a “yes” then maybe you don’t need this resolution list, but doubt it’s many of you. I mean, we are human.
Here are 10 goals from your personal stylist to keep you and your wardrobe on track this coming year:
1. I will start the year off with a closet clean out
There is no better way to start the year off than a closet clean out. The beginning of a new year is the best excuse to embrace a fresh start. It’s almost as if when you flip the calendar from December to January that you get to be a completely new person.
As a personal stylist, I challenge you this year to become more minimal and organized when it comes to your wardrobe. Getting rid of clothing items that don’t fit you well or that you never wear can lift such a weight off of you. Closet clean-outs ultimately allow you to take inventory of what you have and what you may need. It also saves you time in the future from having to dig through a bunch of junk to find what you are actually looking for.
2. I will complete a closet clean-out 1x/ season
Goal #2 exists because cleaning out your closet one time doesn’t mean it will stay organized forever. Even if you try to promise yourself that you will always keep it cleaned up, that doesn’t mean you will.
Although a new season isn’t as impactful as a new year, it’s still another great time for a fresh start. After your January closet clean-out, before you know it, it will be spring cleaning season. In the spring, it will be a great time to take account of what you wore this past winter and what items you will need as the temperatures start to change. Which brings us into our next point!
3. Every season I will create a list of items I need (and stick to it)
One thing I focus on as a personal stylist, is making sure my clients have complete wardrobes. I believe so strongly in having a complete wardrobe. A wardrobe where no matter the occasion, you always have something to wear. A wardrobe that is transitional, yet timeless.
These wardrobes exist and if you don’t think yours is at that point, we can get it there. It starts with creating shopping lists of items that you know you need. Try to cut out purchasing random pieces that you see in stores just because they’re fun. You will likely end up wearing them once or twice and then they no longer work for your wardrobe.
The goal is to shop for necessities or items that will work for many occasions and will stay in style from season to season. This rule doesn’t mean you can’t ever buy a fun piece, but it’s just here to remind you of the items that you really need.
Think of it in terms of grocery shopping. If you don’t bring a list with you, you will end up purchasing a bunch of food that you may not really need and you will most likely go over budget as well.
4. I will challenge myself to wear items in new ways
Many people think they have nothing to wear because they assume they can only wear that one scarf with that one pair of jeans. The way that you create multiple outfits is to get creative when it comes to styling.
Instead of pairing that sweater with a basic pair of jeans, wear it under some overalls or with a skirt instead. There are many ways to mix and match different pieces, you just need to challenge yourself. If you don’t know where to start, then start by watching youtube videos or pinning pictures on Pinterest. Inspiration can easily solve this issue!
5. I refuse to buy clothing just because it’s on sale
If you can keep this resolution, your stylist, your wardrobe, and your bank account will all be saying thank you. Many people fall into this curse, where you feel like you need to buy something just because it’s on sale.
This is when you end up with too many clothing items that you just feel mediocre about. Or perhaps clothing items that sit in your closet with the tags still on. The tags may remind you of a great deal you got on that item, but if they just sit in your closet, they really robbed you. The point is that I want you to absolutely love each and every item in your closet.
6. I will not buy clothing that doesn’t fit me right
This point is very similar to the previous one. If you find an item of clothing that you absolutely love, but it doesn’t fit you right, you need to pass. Forcing things to work that aren’t meant to work is when your style just starts to go downhill.
Unless you’re purposely going for an oversized look, don’t purchase anything that doesn’t fit you the way it should.
7. I will not buy something too similar to another item I already own
We all have our favorite clothing colors, and pieces that we love to every day. However, when we find something that works, we tend to go all in for that item and everything similar.
Then before you know it, your whole wardrobe starts to look the same. Now, believe me, I’m all about a monochromatic wardrobe and if you find a style of pant that flatters you the most, then rock it! Go ahead and buy multiple pants, but mix it up with a different color or pattern.
8. I will challenge myself to get outside of my comfort zone
Now that we’ve covered all of the bases when it comes to maintaining your wardrobe and of course your necessary shopping rules, let’s get into the real new year’s goals.
As a personal stylist, one of my favorite aspects of styling client’s is getting them out of their comfort zone. Many clients approach their first styling appointment skeptical and not ready to have an open mind.
After trying on different pieces and earning some trust, they start to loosen up. As soon as you have an open mind and can try different pieces and styles is when you can really discover what you like and your personal style. A lot of the times you will surprise yourself.
For example, maybe you’re super loud and have a strong personality, but you dress very plain because you don’t want to draw attention to yourself. That right there is staying in your comfort zone. I love to stretch that zone, so that you get to the point where you really discover your style and you don’t care what other people think.
9. I will fight to love my body
One of the biggest things I’ve learned as a personal stylist is that it simply doesn’t matter how great your wardrobe is, whether you have a personal stylist or not, if you don’t love your body.
Loving your body is step #1 in my book. There are clothing items that can flatter you better and there are ways to style your specific body type, but if you don’t love yourself, you’ll never love any piece of clothing on you.
No matter how secure you are, I believe we can always love ourselves a little bit more each and every year.
10. I will put effort into my outfit choices because I deserve it
No matter how busy you are, whether you’re married with 5 kids or not, you deserve to look good. Not for a specific career, or a person, but for yourself. The days that I wake up a little bit earlier, put some makeup on and wash my hair, I feel like I can conquer the world. I know I’m not the only one out there that feels this way.
Sometimes just putting an extra 10 minutes into your look can keep you focused at work, confident in your role, give you more energy, and keep you motivated all day long.
This may be one of my crazier examples, but even this month I decided that before I got my wisdom teeth out I was going to get a spray tan (the night before), do my hair and do my makeup. You may ask why? Why would I put all of that effort into my look before I go into surgery and lay on the couch for the rest of the day. Well, the answer is simply because I knew if I looked decent, I wouldn’t feel as bad. You may say the fact that your tan and your hair is curled is not going to take away your mouth pain. It didn’t, but when I looked in the mirror, all I saw was swollen cheeks, not a mess of a human being.
Wrap Up
As you probably know, there is no one size fits all resolution list. I’m not saying these 10 things are what you need to do, but if you are interested in improving your style this year, this is a good place to start. When I put on my personal stylist hat, these are questions I like to ask my clients (and myself.)
Maybe you need to just pick 1-2 items from the list, or maybe you pick all 10 and change some out for your own, whatever it is, something is better than nothing.
Thank you guys for reading, I wish you the most confident, healthy and self-loving year!