Redesigning My Wardrobe: What Needs to be Added?

Ok, so, I finally got round to decluttering my wardrobe, and throwing out almost all of the things that just don't fit right or just look ridiculous. You can go back and read my post about decluttering here. 

So now that I am down to a minimal wardrobe, I want to go back through my wardrobe and work out exactly what needs to be added to it in order to have ten full daytime outfits that I love! I also need to work out what needs to be taken in or repaired, and what I'd ideally like to replace at some point. 

Going Out Wardrobe: 

Having looked back at my "going out" wardrobe, I'm pretty happy with it for now, so I'm not currently looking to add to it. While there are a couple of dresses that I no longer feel look amazing on me (the red one for starters) I'm going to focus on my day to day wardrobe rather than adding to a collection that I already wear less and less. 

In an ideal world I would remove the red dress and possibly the yellow dress and replace them with different ones. I love the white dress with the purple flowers at the moment because of the structured top and the flare to the skirt, so I'd be looking for something along those lines to replace them. 

I also need to have the flapper dress on the bottom left taken in, as it's rather too big now from when I first bought it. 

Here is my completed "going out" wardrobe. 

Everyday Wardrobe - The Bottom Half:

I thankfully still have nine pairs of trousers, jeans and shorts to keep in my wardrobe for now. Otherwise I'd be seriously struggling for clothes to wear. Not that this is anywhere near perfect, and there are a lot of changes I'd like to make over the coming months to create a wardrobe where I love everything, and everything I have is practical for where I'm living and what I'm doing. 

I'm going to work through each set of clothes individually and talk about them, why I'm keeping them and what I'd like to change.

Both the pale yellow jeans and the pale blue jeans are eventually going to be moved into my summer holiday wardrobe. They aren't really practical for living in England, or for romping about with two toddlers. They are going to get filthy and ruined pretty quickly. 

The dusky blue pair in the middle are pretty new and I love them. Although, having taken photographs of them, I'm not as big a fan of the skinny jean look as I used to be. Whilst I love the trousers themselves, and won't be swapping them out, I will bear that in mind when I go shopping in future and look for straight leg or bootcut designs instead. 

I carry all my weight in my hips, and any piece of cake takes up residence there. So I need to balance that out a little bit with what I wear (and stop eating so much cake/do more exercise to tone those areas up). 

I know a lot of people love wearing shorts year round, but I'm not really one of them. However, shorts with tights, I really like. I didn't have any tights when I took these photographs, so it's hard to say how much I will love these once I get them on with tights. 

I have a feeling that the navy blue polka dot shorts in the middle will be a long term keeper, and I'll wear them to death with navy blue tights, but time will tell. 

In general I'm looking to add more trousers or jeans to my wardrobe and move at least one, if not two, pairs of shorts to my summer holiday wardrobe. Again I'll be looking for straight leg or boot cut trousers/jeans to balance out my hips. 

The lighter grey jeans on the left are now rather too big for me. But I love them. I like the fact that they are straight leg rather than skinny, and feel they balance out my hips well. I think I'm going to have them taken in and see how they look then, before making a decision on whether to look to replace them with different jeans. 

The blue jeans in the middle are new, and I love them! They are from Massimo Dutti and are so soft and comfortable. They also don't sag after you've been wearing them five minutes, and keep their shape all day. They are skinny jeans, but I still think they balance my hips better than other trousers I have. They are a keeper, and I'll be looking for more Massimo Dutti jeans to add to my collection. 

The dark grey jeans on the right are from Zara. They are soft and comfortable, but they do sag after about an hour wearing them, and then they look a little too big. They are also skinny jeans and don't balance me out that well. I'll be looking to replace those eventually, but they fit and I'm happy wearing them for now. 

So I'm looking to do the following with the bottom half of my day to day wardrobe: 

• Find five new pairs of jeans or trousers to replace those items that are really summer holiday wardrobe clothes;
• Buy tights to go with the shorts, both for now and on a long term basis for the navy blue polka dot shorts;
• Have my light grey jeans taken in;

When looking for new trousers and jeans I'll be looking for: 

• Trousers that are straight or boot cut leg, to balance out my hips;
• That are soft and comfortable but that don't sag after wearing them for a bit;
• That are darker in colour and will hide the grime of being at home with two toddlers
• Ones that look great in photographs, I'm going to have to be part of the selfie brigade!

Everyday Wardrobe - The Top Half:

This is the most scant part of my wardrobe, and needs addressing first. I bought a lot of tops online, anticipating sizes and fit and getting it pretty wrong. I need to make sure that when I shop, I take time to go and try clothes on, rather than ordering online. 

Here is my current, very limited, selection:

The cream top on the left will need to be replaced at some point. It creases so easily, and is also rather too big now. I would have it taken in, if it wasn't so easily creased, but it is, and so I think it'll have to be replaced eventually. 

I love the other two tops, although I think they might each need to be shortened slightly. They are a little too long and so crumple around the top of my jeans (although I might need better fitting jeans too!). 

So I'm looking to do the following with the top half of my day to day wardrobe:

• Replace the cream top eventually with something similar that doesn't crease;
• Have the other two tops shortened slightly to make then sit better against my jeans. 

When looking for new tops, I'll be looking for:

• Tops that don't crease easily;
• That are comfortable and don't feel awkward when I'm moving about;
• That fit properly, trying on is essential. 

Everyday Wardrobe - The Jumpers: 

I think I'm going to need to add more cardigans to this mix. The two jumpers I have are lovely, but I can't wear anything underneath them, and I really do like to layer my clothes as I tend to get hot and cold very easily, so I'm constantly removing and reapplying layers!

Realistically I think the red cardigan isn't going to last too much longer, it was worn to death while I was pregnant. So it'll need replacing at some point. 

I think I'd like to add in a mix of cardigans and blazers for a bit more of a formal look, while keeping to my layers! 

Everyday Wardrobe - Shoes: 

I haven't even bothered photographing my shoes, because they are pretty dire! I have one pair of black knee high boots, which are now far too big in the calf and will need replacing pretty quickly. I also have one black pair of ballet flats, which I bought in the middle of a shift in the pub about a decade ago, when my flat shoes fell apart during the shift. They are pretty simple, but don't really match the rest of my wardrobe. 

So shoes are pretty high on my list, given I'll obviously need to wear them every day in the uk. 

Right, wardrobe analysis complete. Now it's onto my favourite bit, planning the shopping!