This Is Why You Find It Hard to Get Dressed

Written by: Lisa Patulny

If you’ve ever wondered why you agonise over what to wear each morning while others seem to have a gift for effortlessly planning their outfits, it might be that you’re missing a few key wardrobe building blocks. (Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to be born with innate style to get dressed successfully.) By implementing a handful of straightforward shopping and styling strategies, you can avoid rushing out the door in an outfit that doesn’t feel quite right. The dream, right? As always, a well-planned wardrobe starts with the creation and curation of a capsule wardrobe. Keep reading for our insight on putting it all together.

Create a capsule wardrobe

Investing in wardrobe essentials (the kind of pieces that work together, every time, without fail) means you’ll always have the building blocks of a great outfit to hand. Make a capsule wardrobe checklist (or reference our 40 wardrobe essentials checklist, here) and work on filling the gaps in your closet. Once you’ve got a roster of hardworking basics together, you can invest in unique pieces that add touches of personality to your outfits.

Get situation-specific

If you want to go one step further in organising your wardrobe, consider pulling together smaller, season or situation-specific capsules. By creating streamlined mini collections of wardrobe staples (say, for each season, for work, for special events or for an upcoming vacation), you’ll have a pre-curated edit of clothing and accessories to pull from when you need it. Plus, you’ll be able to see where you’re missing situational elements.

Pre-plan outfit combinations

Take the time to put together a few foolproof outfit formulas using your minimalist wardrobe essentials so you have backup options when things aren’t working. (Need ideas? Peep our outfit formulas post for inspiration.) Keep them on file on a Pinterest board or in a photos folder on your phone for easy reference. When you’ve got a spare few minutes to play around in your wardrobe, add ideas to build up your selection.

Buy with a colour palette in mind

You’ll know we’re longtime fans of a neutral colour palette for easy and effortless dressing (which is partly what inspired our search for timeless pieces here at The UNDONE), but this strategy also works when styling. Passing over flashy colours and prints in favour of muted shades will allow you more outfit options. If the odd bright piece does catch your eye, pairing it with neutrals will integrate it seamlessly into your wardrobe.

Read next: Outfit Formulas That Always Work.