Refreshing Your Clothes For January According To A Woman Who Won’t Buy New Clothes In January

New Year, New You chants the internet. Who decided that at the beginning of the year we’re systematically required to reinvent ourselves? We know that change is a beneficial factor in living our best life, but rearranging every aspect of ourselves within the first week of January is downright crazy. Who has that kind of mental energy post-two-weeks of ham and turkey dinners?

Fashion heavy-hitters try and persuade us with the newest trends as early as the first week in January. With that, in order to be “essential” come the new year we have to adhere to certain fashion fundamentals: seasonal stripes, dainty pastels, OTT accessories.

The old me did this. I’m a maximalist to the core and the January sales provide me with the perfect arsenal to restock my buckling wardrobe. The new, more-sartorially-mature me, however, rejects this theory.

? Got Nothing To Wear ?

A post shared by POLLY NOR (@pollynor) on Feb 17, 2016 at 1:27pm PST

Illustrator Polly Nor wonderfully draws how most women feel during the new year.

I have a couple of recommendations for refreshing your wardrobe that won’t result in running amok during the sales.

Ready?

Take Time To Evaluate Your Entire Wardrobe

Cancel lunch on Saturday because you have a wardrobe to clear, missy. It’s a long task (probably requires one full day and one+ bottle(s) of wine), but having an overview of everything you own will help distinguish the must-haves from the must-nots. Bet you forgot about those two-seasons-old flares, didn’t you? All that’s needed is a wash and a new button and hello new outfit combination.

Quality Over Quantity

Here’s the situation: You have ten pairs of black jeans; 9 pairs cost under €60 and were made with cotton and polyester. After a handful of wears, 3 pairs have ripped knees, 1 pair has faded and another has shrunk. The tenth pair cost €100 but is made from durable denim and has lived through two wardrobe lifecycles so far. Solution? Invest in quality, ditch the quantity.

Obey The 6-Month Rule

Tidying icon Marie Kondo believes most people hold on to belongings because of the nostalgia associated with them (now, she also speaks to her possessions as if they have feelings, but that’s another thing). The general golden rule of wardrobe purging is if it’s not worn in 6 months, it’s gone. It’s okay to say goodbye *queue Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman. In saying that, if you have a favourite staple piece that comes out once-in-a-blue-moon, but makes you feel fabulous, then it deserves a place in your wardrobe.

If You Want To Invest In One Thing, Let It Be This

A couple of articles ago, I made a prediction about the types of trends we expect to buy in shops in 2018. In case you missed it,  expect grown-up pastels, feisty prints, colour blocking (with an emphasis on yellow), Western wear and sartorial stripes.

Yellow fever left – right; Ports, Jasper Conran, B Maxwell

Be the most wonderful version of yourself this January, but do it in last season’s jeans.