The reason you have nothing to wear — and how to solve it
Each morning, as we stand in front of our closets, wrapped in a towel or in the comfort of our pyjamas, many of us wonder: “Why don’t I have anything to wear?”
It’s a universal problem that fashion brands have taken upon themselves to solve, namely by producing more variations of the same things. We’re intrigued — perhaps we would find it easier to get dressed if we had denim in a darker shade? Each time, we think a new purchase will be different from the last and that it will draw us one step closer to finding our personal style.
But if that really were true, wouldn’t we have stopped spending money and feeling dissatisfied by now? So, what is the real reason we have a chair in the corner of our room heaving with clothes, a full load in the washing machine and a stuffed closet, yet we still feel as if we have nothing to wear? The answers are hung up on rails and folded in the drawers of our homes right now. As the creator of the Mindful Monday Method and the author of Why Don’t I Have Anything to Wear?, I’d suggest you ask yourself these questions to help you shop smarter and spend less.
WHAT DO I ALREADY OWN?
Fling open your closet doors and take a look at what’s there. Are all of your garments packed together and barely discernible? A highly underrated but integral part of feeling confident about the contents of your wardrobe is actually auditing it. Take everything out and separate what you want to keep from what you don’t. You need to be able to see what you’ll be wearing for that season. Everything else can be packed away and out of sight. Immediately, this reduces decision fatigue and you’ll be able to see what you own, which reduces the risk of buying duplicates.
DOES IT PASS THE EVERYDAY TEST?
Sometimes when we struggle to get dressed it’s because we feel pressure to wear something that we don’t feel comfortable in. This is normal when thinking about an outfit for something extraordinary, such as a black-tie event, but it doesn’t need to be the case every time we’re picking out a simple look for drinks with friends. What we want to reach for each day is what we call “wardrobe staples.” Your basics may be different from someone else’s, depending on your style, but your everyday items should make up about 70 per cent of your clothes and be trans-seasonal. If you find that you have far less than this and mostly own garments that don’t support your everyday life, this is a clear sign of what’s missing in your wardrobe.
DOES IT FIT?
One of the most practical answers to why we feel we have nothing to wear is because many clothes don’t fit us properly. Make a pile of all the clothes in your wardrobe that you feel don’t fit you well (or need some repair). Then, every time you are tempted to buy something new, turn to this pile and choose one thing to alter. The cost is usually less than shopping new.
IS THIS GOOD QUALITY?
No one wants to waste their money on clothes that won’t last a few washes, or that pill and fade. Check the composition label (natural fabrics typically last longer than synthetics), and examine the garment for snags, stitching coming undone and variations of colour across the fabric. Also turn it inside out. If it’s as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside, this is a positive sign that it’s made to last.
DO I REALLY WANT THIS?
Do you shop when you’re feeling bored or stressed? Self-soothing behaviour leads to impulse purchases, which results in a wardrobe full of clothes (maybe some still have tags on) that we really don’t know how to work with. On your next shopping expedition, go with a goal and look for one thing at a time — for example, one trip for one search for summer sandals. Can’t find the ones you like? Another common pitfall is attempting to find “the next best thing” because you can’t find what you were looking for on the first attempt, or going for the alternative that you like less just because it’s on sale. Being focused will help you to resist browsing and buying things that you really don’t need and maybe don’t even want.