Nothing to Wear! Really Now?

By Ursila Ali 

These are your peak years ladies! College/student life is never coming back. Yet each morning as you set yourself to open your dresser, you feel that horrid twist in the pit of your stomach. The hundred garments strewn in all corners of the cupboard fail to satisfy you. You have a major cloth famine…YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!

Full time college students that we are; girls consider us an authority in this subject. Follow the 3Rs of smart dressing: repeat, reinvent and refurbish.

REPEATING:

Remember you are not a big shot celeb or a pop star. Your purse is filled once a month and you are on a tight budget. You can afford to repeat! Nobody judges you by what you wear (at least in the real world). Repeating clothes as long as they are clean and fit you is fine. You are not committing a felony.

REINVENT:

My favorite form of dressing up, it is the smallest pieces that make the biggest impact! Just clothes never made a statement. Even the biggest fashion houses had to expand to jewellry, shoes, and bags. Some accessories become even bigger than the clothes. Chanel’s No.5 perfume is an example.

An entire look can be changed depending on your taste for accessorizing. Buy lots of neckpieces, bracelets and head bands. Flea markets offer the widest range in the most affordable prices. Buying a dozen different laces for my converse is one way in which I can reinvent my look each day.

The size of your accessories and their different colors distract attention from your original wardrobe. This is handy while repeating clothes but still maintaining a fresh look! Different hairstyles and nail paint just add an additional panache.

 

REFURBISH

The one thing that can be refurbished easily is denims. Depending on the color, the type, and washing requirements, your denims can change faces like the moon.

Your oldest pair of jeans could just be cut short and worn to beat the heat also adding to your sexiness. The creative some may also convert them into a bag or simply add patchworks for a more grunge look.

Color your tees again. Just splash some fabric paint and they are ready!

Wear two T-shirts of contrasting colors and create the layering effect! (Note: please avoid looking like a Bella Swan though)

Love the same LBD much? Wear it with different patterned tights. Experiment with shoes or ask mummy to add a little sequin here and there. (Remember Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink?)

 

Additional Tips:

Prepare the entire week’s wardrobe well in advance; say at the weekend, in your mind. This not only avoids the daily struggle with you and your wardrobe, but also saves precious time when you are in a rush.

Divide your clothes according to the different events. Wear only basic clothes to college, keep the uberchic and ultra cool for a special occasion. For home adopt tracks, comfortable tees, and old jeans. Do not confuse your daily wear with clothes you wear at home, such confusion leads to wearing out of the novelty of your clothes and very soon they start boring you too.

Girls bear in mind that this works as long as you work and wear smart. The latest trends and even the most expensive pieces in your collection will fail to turn you into a true fashionista until you carve your own niche and adopt an individual style.

Every Cinderella story is a success!