How to Expand Your Wardrobe Without Spending Any Money

With lockdown keeping us at home, and non-essential businesses closed down, we have limited access to go out and by new clothes (or even online), or perhaps financially revamping your wardrobe is simply not a priority right now. Below, I have complied a few steps that may help you expand your wardrobe without any money and identify the potential that lies with what you have. A closet cleanout may also be a fun project, if you have nothing to do during these times. 

Identify clothes that you actually wear

Even though I have a closet full of clothes, it can often feel like I have nothing to wear, or I lose a motivation to dress-up because most of the clothes in my wardrobe are either old, outdated or perhaps they just do not match the current image I want to set out to the world. For me, it is highly important that I not only look good in what I wear, but that I also feel confident in what I am wearing. I suggest going through every single clothing item in your wardrobe (yes, every single piece!) and critically evaluating whether you’ve worn it in the past 6 months and if you will continue to wear it in the future. If the answer is ‘no’, either add it to your donation pile or sell it. If you think that the quality of the piece is really low you could throw it out, but please please try to minimize waste. Another tip for this step it to actually take everything out of your wardrobe, rather than just going through your clothes while they are still on the rack or shelves. Mentally, it will be more difficult to part with clothes as they are physically still in your wardrobe. 

Identify holes

Once you have completed the curation step you may identify holes in your wardrobe. You might be missing a good pair of jeans or a basic white shirt. If you do wish to fill any holes, this step may require money, but with the national lockdown in place it is difficult to go out and buy new clothes. I therefore encourage you to maybe take up a thrift-flip project where you upcycle your existing clothes. Or, if you have fabric lying around at home, perhaps make a new garment from scratch. Ashley, from bestdressed on YouTube, has a thrift-flip series on her channel and some of her projects do not require a sewing machine. Wendy from withwendy is also incredible and her YouTube channel has tonnes of tutorials on garment making and upcycling old pieces. By upcycling your existing pieces, you are also being more sustainable and saving money.

Change the organization of your wardrobe for maximum accessibility 

Now, what used to happen in the past is that I would get caught up in wearing a small subset of my wardrobe. The items of this subset would then get washed and end up back on top of my clean pile of clothes and, since it’s on top, I’ll most likely reach for those because I have immediate access to them. The whole cycle then repeats itself. You’ll find that because you’re always wearing that subset of clothes, they will deteriorate more quickly than the rest of your wardrobe, because you are constantly washing them. Recently, I have found that if I hang up most of my clothes, I have easier access to most of my wardrobe and this has helped me avoid outfit repeating when I have a plethora of other items in my wardrobe. Now, I do understand that usually wardrobe space is an issue, especially if you live in residence. What I recommend is that you store clothes that perhaps aren’t appropriate for the season we are in. For example, you won’t be wearing your winter coats during the summer/early autumn months. I recognize that Cape Town for the most part has a mild climate (and we tend to have four seasons in one day), but what goes into storage you’ll use to your own discretion. Furthermore, if you have more shelves ensure that your clothes are actually folded and organized in a way that you can see all your items. It can be very tempting to stuff everything in your wardrobe, but for your own creativity and longevity of your clothing pieces, it’s always best to fold them. 

Be proactive in coming up with outfits 

Around the beginning of every season I like to take the pieces from my wardrobe and come up with a bunch of outfits on the spot. To keep track of my creations I’ll take photos of them and save it on my phone so that I can access them anytime, especially on days I feel uninspired or in a rush. In the past, at night, before bed, I’d think about what I’d wear the next day. However, sometimes the outfit just would not work out as planned or the pieces just weren’t flattering together. By actively coming up with outfits you’ll quickly find out how versatile your pieces are and that you don’t have to style them in the same 2 ways you’ve been doing in the past. 

I hope these tips were somewhat helpful in cleaning up your wardrobe space and perhaps inspires you to be creative with what you have. Please be mindful that I am not encouraging you to be productive at all times during this lockdown period, and do not feel obligated to be productive 24/7. Be sure to prioritize your mental health above all and continue to social distance as much as possible.