How much do you have hanging in your wardrobe that goes unworn?

By Becky Redpath –

A survey published at the end of January by the QVC shopping channel has shown that the average woman “owns 22 outfits that she doesn’t wear!” What’s worse is these are items that she has never worn, and they remain forever in their pristine shop bought state lurking at the back of the cupboard.

Don’t believe for a minute however, that this is a bad habit that only women fall into. On the contrary, men lag only slightly behind having on average 19 items of unworn clothing in their cupboards.

According to the survey if these items were placed on a clothes rail they would stretch from London to New York four half times over! Those are scary statistics but, having helped many lovely clients organise their wardrobes and make the most of what they already own, it doesn’t come as a great surprise.

We are all familiar with the 80/20 rule, and when it is applied to the clothes we own it means we only wear 20% of what is hanging in our cupboards 80% of the time. My job is to help my clients look at their wardrobes afresh, and put together outfits that they wouldn’t have previously thought of. Lack of time or confidence, means that we tend to grab the clothes we are familiar with and because we rarely have the luxury of hours in which to get ready, we tend to go for the same safe options. The problem is aggravated if you have so much squeezed into your cupboards that it makes it impossible to see or find anything!

I worked with a lovely lady one afternoon last week who is typical of many of my clients, because, she has a wardrobe full of clothes, but complains that she has nothing to wear!

This is where Look Great Feel Fabulous can assist because I help women make the most of the clothes they already own.

A visit always begins with establishing a client’s body shape, and ensuring they have the essential wardrobe basics in place. Most women have an idea of what suits them, but when an outfit doesn’t work they seldom know why.

Sometimes it’s simply because the style is wrong for their body shape, but more often, as Susan discovered, it’s a result of getting the balance wrong. Susan has a large bust and long slim legs and, had got into the habit of wearing loose shirts to cover her top half and leggings to show off her great legs. However a loose shirt hanging from a big bust creates an unflattering shelf and the illusion of extra inches, which had the effect of making Susan look more top heavy than she actually is.

I went through Susan’s wardrobe with her, discarding items that had seen better days and sending clothes that hadn’t been worn for more than two seasons to the charity shop. I then separated all her suits and hung skirts, trousers, blouses etc together in their relevant colour groups. This is also a great way of instantly seeing whether you need to introduce more colour to your wardrobe.

Finally I put together outfits from Susan’s existing wardrobe that she had never thought of. It’s amazing how great a suit jacket can look with a smart pair of navy jeans!

Susan was delighted when, by the end of the session, I had put together 20 new outfits from her existing wardrobe and she hadn’t spent a penny!

If any of this sounds all too familiar then help is at hand! Email me at becky@rebecaredpath.com or go to http://www.lookgreatfeelfabulous.co.uk/ and make the most of what you already own!