ST. LOUIS — One of the most stressful parts of the morning routine can be deciding what you’ll wear when you walk out the door.
It turns out, choosing your clothes wisely could make more of an impact on your day than you think.
“The foundation of my business is that we should all put a little more thought and intentionality into our wardrobes,” said Dacy Gillespie, the founder and stylist behind Mindful Closet.
Gillespie said putting an effort into how you look can make you feel better—and it doesn’t require a big budget.
Her tips for clients, and anyone else who needs a wardrobe refresh, is to begin with deciding the look you’re going for and the image you want to project.
Here are the top five tips from the stylist to help manage your look:
1. Get rid of anything that makes you feel bad or that just isn’t an option.
“I tell clients to keep a basket in the bottom of their closet. When you put something on and, for whatever reason—you don't have to be able to articulate it—but you don't want to wear it, you take it off instead of putting it back in your closet. Just put it in that little basket and donate it.
“Even if you're not at the point where you're ready to get rid of stuff, make a section of your closet where you put the things that you can wear today. So, set aside anything that doesn't fit, set aside the special occasion stuff, set aside the office wear if you're on maternity leave.
“Have a section of your closet where everything in that closet is something you can wear and look good in and you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to get dressed.”
2. See an empty closet as room to breathe.
In this case, less is more.
“[Clients] feel better with fewer options. When they have cleared out all the stuff that’s making them feel bad, then all they’re left with is the stuff that they know they like, they know they can wear.
“When you have a lot of choices, you use up energy. And that energy could be used later in the day for something more important. So, the fewer choices you have when you're getting dressed, the better for the rest of your day.”
3. Rethink your basics.
A black blazer or a white button-up blouse aren’t actually necessary if they’re just not something you’d wear.
“A lot of that comes from messages that we've been getting throughout our lives. Ultimately, you're going to be the most happy and comfortable if you feel best.”
4. Look for items that coordinate, and let your accessories go wild.
“Buy pieces that can go with multiple different bottoms or tops that can mix with different cardigans and jackets and things like that.”
This also means you should avoid impulse-buying “statement pieces.”
“The majority of your wardrobe needs to be those workhorses that can be dressed up, dressed down, accessorized in different ways.
“When you're finished building that basic wardrobe, you can add those pieces of sparkle here and there.”
5. Know the image you want to project with your look. It’ll help you go shopping—which is the fun part.
But make sure when you do go shopping to make a list and stick to it.
“You need to know what your goal is and what you're aiming for, the look that you're aiming for. Once you nail down those little details of what you do and don't like, then you're able to be more mindful when you go shopping.”
Gillespie said all of these tips can help keep your look—and life—managed.
“You get dressed really quickly, really easily and then you go about your day knowing that you're wearing something that you spent time and intention curating.”