How often should you update your wardrobe and how to do it wisely

How often do you buy new clothes and throw away old ones? And how to understand that the thing is no longer needed? Should I stick to just one style? Fashion expert Natalia Porotikova and designer Sofia Zharova discuss these and other issues in the book “Body and Clothes. How to look stylish without sacrificing comfort."

With the permission of Bombora Publishing House, Lifehacker publishes an excerpt from the first chapter of the book. It tells you how often you should update your wardrobe and how to do it intelligently.

Sometimes intonations and not the most important thoughts are remembered better than the message itself. I remember how an acquaintance, a jewelry designer, told me in response to the compliment that I made to her dress: "That's when you will find your style …"

I confess that these words touched me at that moment. The intonation of the familiar was not exactly arrogant, but an extension from above was present. But most importantly, at that moment I really did not feel that I had a style, and this was perceived by me as a flaw, as a gaping lack of something necessary that every person should have, especially if he works in fashion.

But I continued to observe how people around me dress, how I dress myself. And I could not help but notice that, in general, people's style is changing, just at different rates, and this is normal. The amplitude of the changes is also different, and no one will tell you how radical the transformation should be, if you have conceived it - there is and cannot be a standard for this. Over the years, the favorite colors, favorite brands, places of purchase and the quality of things change. People themselves change, and it would be just strange if this was not accompanied by a change in the internal request - for other silhouettes, colors and songs.

Even celebrities, artists and TV presenters change, although this is the most difficult for them: when the features of your appearance become a trademark, you need to think ten times before changing something. But even among the celebrities of the first row there is an example that covers all the possible "when you finally find your style" - this is Madonna. The 37-year career of the singer is a series of reincarnations, in which she nevertheless remains recognizable and popular.

If you finally found your style - poke yourself with a stick: you, hike, dead.

Wardrobe volume

In 2017, Afisha published an interview with Joachim Klöckner, author of The Little Minimalist and the owner of only 50 items.

Joachim Klöckner

Gradually my wardrobe was reduced to two pairs of underpants, socks and shoes. There are also two T-shirts and two overalls - a summer one with short sleeves, a winter one with long ones - a plaid and a backpack. That's probably all. I buy things in a workwear store, so they are white and yellow - by the way, this is very practical. I can wash everything together: the colors do not fade and I save energy. I usually sleep on an inflatable mattress. Even now, being the owner of plus or minus fifty things, I regularly ask myself: do I need this blanket or can I do without it?

Anna Dello Russo, the editor of Japanese Vogue and a legendary personality in the fashion world, uses a separate apartment in the center of Milan as a dressing room, and she fundamentally does not wear either last year's collections, much less vintage.

Both of these people are lovely and stylish. At which point your optimal wardrobe volume is located, only you know.

The attitude towards things that you do not wear can also be different. At the very beginning of my passion for fashion, I kept a variety of designer things, thinking then to hand them over to the museum. Over time, I gave up on this idea. But maybe for you the idea of a fashion museum in your own closet will be wonderful and inspiring. True, this will no longer be quite a wardrobe.

For myself, I decided that the ideal amount of wardrobe is the things that I can easily remember (not counting the seasonal ones, postponed for the summer / winter). If I remember about some things only when I take them out after a long break, this is not a very good sign: I do not use what I have, but the things are lying and do not bring any benefit. An excuse to go over your wardrobe again and donate some to charity.

Life cycle of a thing

How long can a thing in your wardrobe last? Surely you will find:

long-lived things that you continue to wear;
long-lived things that just lie;
things for one season or for one time, but so far it is not clear from them.

The life cycle of these things will be completely different. Now we are not touching upon the rich and interesting topic of wardrobe analysis and do not specify why things from the second group are not worn and simply lie - as a sentimental value or just in case. It is important that you have a certain amount of things that are comfortable for you and a certain comfortable update rate. These categories are related, they affect each other and your comfort, so it is better to be aware of them.

Wardrobe speed

Often people say that they want to buy things less often and so that they wear longer. In practice, this is not always the case, and in fact, this state of affairs is not the most desirable for all people.

Update speed is also a style trait.

The speed and amplitude of your style fluctuations is the same characteristic of your self-presentation as a sense of humor or dislike for camouflage.

Here we could finish the chapter - everyone is different, we disagree - but it also happens that the rate of renewal does not coincide with the inner feeling, as it should be, ahead of it or lagging behind. And I want to delve into this.

For example, new things for some reason get bored too quickly, they need to be replaced. Or a person does not crawl out of the same things for years, but not because he is very pleased with them, and not because there is no way to buy new ones. The information environment pushes us to consume, so I will assume that more often than not, things get bored faster than they wear out.

How to make the life cycle of things optimal?

Buy after pause

I’m not saying “buy less” because saying “less” will not make things better. By “buying less”, you will simply give up good things, and then, having accumulated bitterness for denying yourself and wanting to “reward” yourself, you will impulsively break into something random.

But "buying after a pause" is a completely different matter. This is to give yourself time to think, to walk around with the thought of a thing. Ask yourself with a cool head if you really need it. Or not needed - needed, but does it make you happy. The hero of our book, Andrei Abolenkin, calls thinking about a thing for several days an important criterion for a purchase.

Do not be afraid that you will miss out on a cool thing, even if it is one and it is on sale. Firstly (and most importantly), there are many things. Secondly, you can almost always repeat a thing in a studio, find it on eBay, or choose something even better.

Several years ago I did not have time to buy a luxurious tailcoat from Alena Akhmadullina at a sale, black, with a fringe along the bottom line. These were the days of the "bird" collection, the boutique was still located on the other side of Nikolskaya. Some girl managed to buy a tailcoat before me and, probably, had a great last evening in it at school (it was just before graduation).

Have I lost something? In truth, no. Alena Akhmadullina's atelier still works, and there are no problems in going there and ordering this tailcoat according to my standards, if I suddenly need it to the bone. I am not going because I have no reason to need this particular thing. That is, I did not lose my coat, it remained in the access, which is limited only by the strength of my will!

Wear and change things in capsules, not singly

This is the way that Sophia works great. She picks out a few things and wears them in a circle for two weeks; then they go to rest, and Sofia takes the next ones.

This technique has many advantages: Sofia says that she needs a longer contact with her favorite things than wearing it once, and here it is just possible; in the morning it takes less time to choose what to wear; good things made from natural fabrics (for example, suits) should be allowed to rest, this is how it works; the capsule can be thought out in advance, and a thoughtful choice is almost always better than a random one; you use almost all the things in your wardrobe, including those that you forgot about, and what you don’t want to wear will reveal itself; things will bother you much less.

It is worth choosing the most pleasing and high quality

I understand that for many people in our country this sounds a little derisive, but if we are talking about style at all, it is worth choosing the best available. Do not be afraid that you will not like the thing. Of course she can do it (so buy after a break). But even a thing bought after long deliberation may eventually cease to cause joy, and this is normal.

But the quality will not go anywhere. Quality things that you really like are a great talisman against unsuccessful purchases. I have two shopping rules: one about clothes, the other about shoes:

if, after trying on a few things, I gladly change clothes back into my own, then I do not need anything from the tried on;
If I return to my boots from a pair of shoes in the store, I don’t need to buy these shoes. It is necessary to choose a new one from the best from the point of view of convenience; I walk in Blandstones with an orthopedic insole.

Questions to yourself

Do you have long-lived items in your wardrobe?
List them. Why have they been with you for so long?
Do you often buy things for one season or for one time? Do you like it?
How much space does your wardrobe take up? Are you limited by storage space?
What is your ideal wardrobe size? Give the approximate number of items / bows, pairs of shoes, jewelry, or the number of cabinets / rails.
Is your ideal wardrobe large and rich, with clothes for all occasions, or easily visible, compact and functional? (Or suggest your own version; it should contain a quantitative characteristic, an epithet or the number of things / bows.)
How much space do you actually have for storing clothes, shoes and other things? Do you have a dressing room? List all places where you store items, including seasonal items.
What is the ratio of the things you actively wear to everyone else?
Are you satisfied with this situation?
Is it important for you to buy new things often? What happens if you don't do it for a long time?
How do you part with things?

Check out your photos from the last 10 years. How do the changes take place: imperceptibly or radically? Are your external changes an event for others, a "change of image"? If so, how many such shifts have you had over the years?

How often should you update your wardrobe and how to do it

In the book Body and Clothes, you will learn how to create stylish looks for any situation and choose the right clothes for your body type. And Porotikova and Zharova will tell you how to combine beauty and comfort.