“ I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!” I have said it so many times in my life despite the fact that my closet was full of clothes.

Sometimes I have special events and I truly have nothing to wear. But many times I am either guilty of having bought random stuff or I just don’t know how to put things together.

Clothes DO BECOME dated. They get wrinkled, deformed, damaged beyond repair. Ohhh! The pains of getting dressed and looking good.

So why do so many people, especially women, struggle with clothes? We struggle to put together cute outfits. It’s time consuming. Overwhelming and frustrating. There are so many brands and styles nowadays too. Fashion went from changing once in a decade, to once a season, to monthly and daily. New clothing lines at many of our favorite stores constantly being launched. We buy, then come home and feel happy for a little while, but soon we feel dissatisfied, so we buy again.

Ever ask yourself, “Why I don’t even like my clothes?”

After many years of studying, reading, and amalizing human behavior. And also after many years of being a girl myself, I have found the major reasons why we don’t like our clothes. Together with some very helpful solutions.

REASON NUMBER 1: YOU ARE BUYING UGLY PIECES

It’s going to be the toughest one to swallow but it’s the truth. Not all clothes are pretty. Some clothes flat out just suck. Let’s stop buying them. There are clothes that have sass and paired with the right items stand out, and there are clothes that are just flat out drab. Some clothes are too thin. Some patterns on clothes are as dated as a 90’s piece of wallpaper. Many clothes are also made of very shabby materials that once put on do not shape the body, but rather just droop and sag. Just because it’s cozy it doesn’t mean it should be worn.

With fast fashion taking such precedence nowadays, more and more cheap items that resemble pajamas and squared boxes are being released. People online come up with their own swag and sweaters. But truth is, as a society we look the worst we have ever looked. We are wealthier than ever, yet we dress so poorly. We love to purchase cheap thrills, but often times do not realize that the thing we are purchasing don’t hold a wash. They also don’t look good on us. They also don’t look elegant. We need to stop buying things that won’t make us feel like we envision once we go home. The world will change once people will start to make a commitment to only buy what they absolutely love. 

2. REASON NUMBER 2: YOUR CLOTHES DON’T GO WELL TOGETHER

Like art periods in history, clothes also have their specific era and style. Not everything can be combined together. I see people all the time that own a cute top and a cute pair of pants. But they just paired them TOGETHER and now they look  all wrong. 

YOU ARE MIXING THE WRONG COLORS, TEXTURES, AND PATTERNS 

When it comes to matching clothes, the first step is to match colors. Light blue goes well with darker blues. Yellow and red go well together. Orange and blue. Opposite colors on the color wheel go well together. Colors that also vary in intensity can go well together, too. Navy blue and black don’t go well together, but a bright yellow shirt goes well with a bright pink pant or jacket.

Here is a super easy tip. If you are wearing either a top, bottom or shoes with lots of texture. That should be the star of the outfit. Everything else should be kept to a simple and sleek texture and color. For example, are you wearing a cheetah pant, top, or bottom? Pair it with black or beige as far as everything else. Keep one item as the star of the outfit. Simplify everything else.

Are you wearing a shearling coat? It’s full of woolly texture. It’s beautiful. Make it the star of the outfit. Pair with simple jeans and a plain color shirt underneath or sweater without a lot of texture, weave, patterns.

Pay attention when shopping to how the clothes you are looking at are being paired. Not all websites are good at this. It’s ok to be critical of it. But there is a lot of good inspiration out there for these type of things. 

Just make sure you don’t end up being the all black clothes only type of person. Black erases a person’s personality and presence. It’s the reason most shopping stores have their employees wear all black. To shift our attention towards their products instead.

REASON NUMBER 3:  THE CLOTHES YOU ARE SELECTING DON’T COMPLEMENT YOUR BODY

There is an outfit persona for everyone. If you don’t know what your style is, think about your everyday life. Where do you go? What are your needs? Are you usually hot or do you like cozy sweaters? Do you spend a lot of time in professional meetings, or do you get dirty a lot and need more easy to wash clothes? Do you spend a lot of time at home or out and about and need something more elegant? Are you at home a lot but want to feel chic? Truth is a person could be at home all the time and go for a pair of joggers, but prefer cashmere and silk robes, while someone else may be just fine with a pair of sporty everyday pants and sweatchers from their significant other.

Pants and shirts need to match a person’s body shape. Clothes create illusions. They can elongate a person, or make one look shorter. Clothes can accentuate curves, or make them appear like our body parts are squeezing inside of our shirts and pants. Too many times I see people that wear clothes that aren’t the right length. Or tops that are too big, or too small. Too short or too long. Stripes for example will make a person appear wider. Place them on the widest part of your body when you already have wide hips, and you’ll be looking in the mirror wondering what is wrong with you. Clothes can truly accentuate our bodies or make us question everything about ourselves.

You want to look thin buy a little bigger clothes. It’s not about size. Clothes that are too tight will make a person’s body look like it wants to explode out of there rather than being hugged.

REASON NUMBER 4: THE CLOTHES YOU ARE SELECTING DON’T MATCH YOUR NATURAL BODY TONES

Our bodies blend and mesh with the colors that we wear. It’s an overall look that we are going forth both make up and clothes. It’s like those days when you look at a friend and say, that color looks so good on you! Why not have that happen every day? Here is my easiest rule to easily figure out which colors suit you best. Take a selfie picture by a window/. Then look at the colors inside your eyes. All the pigments of your hair. Check all the colors found within your skin. Do the same with your hands. Check the color of your veins.

From now on start to shop for clothes with more of these colors. Tones that complement the colors that are already naturally found in your body. Than take those colors and find a  lighter and darker version of them as well.

This is how I did it for myself for example:

STEP 1 I TOOK A PHOTO SELFIE. USING THE GRADIENT TOOL I DREW IN ALL THE COLORS I FOUND ON MY SKIN, HAIR, AND EYES.

STEP 2 I FOUND CLOTEHS THAT WERE MY STYLE IN THOSE COLORS:

A SHIRT IN A LIGHTER VERSION OF THE REDDISH PINK FOUND  IN MY SKIN FROM THE PALM OF MY HANDS.

I FOUND SOME WINTER SWEATERS WITH COLORS FOUND IN MY HAIR, VEINS, AND EYES!

STEP 3 I FOUND MAKE UP THAT EVEN MATCHED MY OWN BODY COLORS:

REASON NUMBER 5: YOU ARE BUYING POOR QUALITY CLOTHES

You are purchasing poor quality items. Poor shape and materials. Fabric and composition does matter. The shape of a sturdy leather boot that is hand made, will drape a person’s calves a thousand times better than a thin plastic leather imitation black boot that is wrinkled before you even buy it. You can being to recognize quality of clothes and shoes by comparing them side by side. Department stores are the easiest. Not all luxury items are better made. But hold a shoe that is hand made in Italy in real leather, vs. a plastic shoe and you can see which one will be sturdier, and will have a pointer shape, or a slimmer ankle gathering.

REASON NUMBER 6: YOU ARE INTERMIXING CLOTHES WITH DIFFERENT STYLES  

You intermix clothes that are different styles that don’t go together

The second step is to make sure that clothes go well with each other. That is where style comes into play. A cowboy boot won’t go well with a lace blouse. Mismatching style is something that at first is best to leave it to the experts. Because there is an art to it and it takes a lot of practice to actually nail it. You either rock it or you won’t. If you love country clothes wear a country outfit. If you like work sleek suits stick with clean patterns and clothes. Plaid desn’t go well with stripes either.

You find even more tips on how to start selecting the right staples for your clothes from my other post which you can find here.