I have arrived late to work seventeen times in the last year. It’s not because I’m disorganised or dreadful with time-keeping – well, perhaps I am dreadful with timekeeping – but because I spent too long staring stupidly at my wardrobe every morning willing an outfit into existence. I’ve suffered from decision paralysis before.
You know the feeling. You’re stood half-naked in your bedroom at 7: 46am when you need to leave at 8:00am, trying to decide what to wear. You try three different combinations, hate how they all look and end up wearing whatever shirt or trousers are closest, all the while mumbling dark threats about how you really need to sort your shit out.
Except in this scenario, I write about womenswear for a living. Most people assume I’ve got this sussed.
I receive messages from friends every other day asking ‘what should I wear to this interview?’ or ‘does this jacket go with these trousers?’ Meanwhile I’m sobbing into my warhgile on a Tuesday morning because nothing in my wardrobe makes me feel good.
Last November I skipped an entire meeting because I’d changed my outfit five times and still felt so uneasy about what I was wearing that I didn’t want to leave the house at all. My boss kindly told me not to worry about it – but I worried. A lot.
I knew I had to find a solution. That night I had a glass of wine ( OK, two) and dumped every single item I owned onto my bed. It was… unpleasant.
Lonely jeans I’d totally forgot I owned. Tops with the security tags still on. That dress I wore once to a party and decided I hated but was too lazy to return.
The cardi my ex told me made me look ‘frumpy’ three years ago that I never wore again but kept out of spite. The issue wasn’t that I didn’t have enough clothes to wear each morning, it was that I had too many clothes that didn’t really suit me. Too many items that weren’t ‘me’.
Too many trend pieces I never actually wore; clothes bought from sale rails because they were cheap; well-meaning gifts from friends and family that I felt obliged to wear; clothes I bought to dress a version of myself that didn’t actually exist. I started trawling through blogs about capsule wardrobes and creating-your-minimalist-wear-for-all-seasons-a-guide etc etc but nothing really resonated with me. I’ll never be a minimalist; I love colour and fabrics and having options.
All of the capsule wardrobe guides I read wanted me to own no more than 33 items of clothing and majority of them were monochrome. Blah. But one phrase kept popping up in nearly every article I read.
Personal Style Formulas. A style formula, in essence, is a wardrobe equation that works for you. It doesn’t matter how many clothes you own or how colourful/bold your palette is.
When you know what works for you, you can create outfit formulas that can be mixed-and-matched to your heart’s content. Instead of thinking about my favourite dress or shirt, I started thinking about what outfits made me feel good. I looked in my wardrobe at the garments I actually reached for on days when I felt totally pulled together.
I realised I had about five tried and tested outfit formulas that I loved wearing. Work: high-waisted, wide-leg trousers + fitted crop top or bodysuit + tailored blazer or cardigan Casual: straight-leg jeans + oversized shirt or jumper + ankle boots Night out: midi skirt + tucked in blouse + statement earrings/jewellery. Basic formulas that I could replicate using different colours, textures and silhouettes but that overall maintained the same ratios.
It wasn’t about restricting myself to specific garments, it was knowing that certain outfit formulas looked good on me every time. No more forcing myself to wear boxy crop tops that ONLY looked good on Chelsea from Tess Holliday. No more buying ‘funtime’ dresses with unnecessary cutouts that gave me VPL and required me to wear three layers of underwear.
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I spent hours going through my mound of clothes and curating. If it didn’t fit into one of my formulas – unless I genuinely loved it and could wear for special occasions – it went into a donation bag. I was left with around a third of what I’d started with, but what I had left worked with everything.
When I went clothes shopping afterwards, I stopped looking at individual pieces. “Does this fit into one of my formulas?” became my shopping mantra. If the answer was no, I put it back – no matter how gorgeous it was or how much of a bargain. Asking myself that one question stopped me from frivolously buying clothes I didn’t need – I’ve probably saved myself hundreds just by doing this!
My coworker Emma complimented me after about a week. “You seem… more you?” She sipped at her flat white. “I know you’ve been making lots of changes but I didn’t realise you’d changed your style up too.” I hadn’t mentioned my epic wardrobe clear-out to anyone at work, but Emma could see the confidence wasn. What’s great about using formulas is that you never feel like you’re wearing the same thing twice. Sure I might wear my navy wide-leg trousers with a cream bodysuit and camel coloured blazer one day, but then switch that up and wear a burgundy top and grey cardigan the next.
Same outfit formula, completely different look. Another unexpected bonus? Now I have so much less stress in the mornings.
I literally throw on an outfit formula without having to think about it too much. Gets me dressed in under five minutes some mornings. Plus, who knows, maybe subconsciously I appear more confident because I actually know and like what I’m wearing every day.
Outside of being ultra-fast, there’s something incredibly satisfying about knowing yourself well enough to have style formulas. “I’d never be able to limit myself like that.” My friend Sasha told me when I first started using formulas. “It sounds boring. I like switching up my outfits!” Three months later she begged me for help on what to wear for a job interview. Between panicked phone calls we compared wardrobe staples and came up with an easy formula for Sasha to rock professional outfits with what she already had.
She text me after to thank me and said she’d gotten the job. “And by the way? You might be onto something with this whole formula thing.” Style formulas are highly personal to each individual. What works for me probably won’t work for you.
Our bodies are different, we like different colours and proportions and I live my life in jeans and t-shirts whereas you might work at an art gallery wearing Chanel suits. That’s the beauty of formulas! Take notes on what you own that you LOVE wearing.
Photograph outfits on yourself that you feel REALLY love, not outfits you think you should love wearing.
What do these outfits have in common? Is it silhouette?
Colour pairing? Are they more fitted or more loose? Personally I love high waist on my bottoms and something fitted up top.
Try taking that formula and applying it to a different outfit. Does a high-waisted skirt with a fitted blouse give you that same confidence? Or maybe high-waisted jeans?
Build your style around formulas that you know work, rather than wasting time trying things on and praying it fits your style. Nothing against uniformity if thats your jam but these formulas are anything but uniform. Try it out.
What do you have to lose?
