Lifestyle Choices

Your clothing needs are determined by a number of factors:

The climate. North, south, east, or west—the climate in which you live will affect your fashion choices; for warm-weather girls, shorts, sundresses, and T-shirts may be staples; up north, in chillier climes, you’ll want to invest in a good coat, boots, etc.

• Your life-style. How you live and what you do will help you in picking the right clothes. Sporty and athletic? You’ll need casual clothes that let you move easily, feel comfortable. Romantic and impulsive? You’ll want clothes that indulge your sense of whimsy and fantasy.
• Your figure. You may adore the look of a long, slouchy trench coat with padded shoulders and a three-inch belt, but it’s bound to look wrong on your 5-foot, ninety-pound frame. Remember, not all styles flatter all body types.
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• Your budget. If your clothing budget is limited to the bare minimum, you need to learn to stretch your fashion dollar and to make smart clothing choices to get the most for your money. You’ll also need to break down your clothing choices so that you have pieces in the following general categories (if you have a category not represented here, just go ahead and fill it in!)

School

Play/ sports

Party/ evening

Travel

Special family events/ church/synagogue Other

How to Turn Your Clothes into a Wardrobe

Tired of a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear? Learn how to shop smart, plan ahead, so that your clothes start to work with each other and for you. Here’s how!

Ask yourself: Do the clothes you have work for your life? Why or why not? Answer by trying on all the clothes in your closet and getting rid of what doesn’t fit, you don’t like or don’t wear, is shabby/ torn/stained beyond repair. Better to have fewer clothes that you really like than wading through dozens of things that you’ll never put on. Ask yourself: Why did I buy this? Write down the reasons: To look grown up? Slimmer? Taller? Happy-go-lucky and fun? The answers will speak volumes about how you want your clothes to make you feel and look.

Analyze your preferences. What do your favorite things all have in common? Fabric? Color? Cut? If you can learn to understand what you like, you’re likely to seek it out when you shop.

Locate any clothing gaps. Do you need a basic navy pleated skirt or an ivory silk shirt? Then look for those things when you shop, not a powder blue suede miniskirt or a red angora sweater. Take the list with you when you go shopping to help resist the temptation to impulse-buy. Start putting it together. When you’ve gone through and winnowed out all the pieces that don’t work, start assembling a core wardrobe out of those that do. Try to stick to a neutral color scheme for the basic wear-for-years, investment pieces; e.g., black/ white/gray, red/white/ black, navy/ taupe/camel. Neutrals have lasting power in fashion; they won’t date and they will mix and match together and with other “accent” colors. Good neutrals to work with:

khaki

cream

gray

taupe

black

camel

white

beige

navy

brown

Expand and update. Add new clothes seasonally that bring fresh color, pattern, texture, cut, detail to your wardrobe. Also add basics in your neutral scheme, to keep your wardrobe growing.

Enjoy your clothes by thinking ahead. Plan to create new looks with shoes, hose, and other trendy accessories that work well with your staples. When buying an up-to-the-minute item, go for a smaller or lower-priced version; e.g., a gold metallic belt rather than a pair of boots; a scarf in a bold new pattern instead of a dress.

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