Do you ever stand in front of the clothes in your closet saying “I don’t have a thing to wear” while looking through hangers full of clothes. I spent many hours this way. It is frustrating and at the same time it is obvious that there are a lot of clothes in that closet.
?And like a lot of women I had my fat clothes and the clothes I could only wear after dieting. And of course there were also the clothes that I will never ever be able to squeeze into again.

This is typical. Women do this to themselves all the time.
So I decided to stop it. What could I do to simplify my life and make looking into my closet fun again? There were already some lessons learned over the years about color. I knew what colors looked good on me and those are the colors I wear. I am a winter, according to the color charts. Stark white, pure black and jewel tones are best for me. And for the most part I had already culled my wardrobe of colors that were not flattering. Plus, ease of wear and comfort make a huge difference. Years ago I lived in Europe and sometimes some of my clothes had zippers on the side. I would put them on over my head and scrunch down over my hips and then have to reach under my arms to bring up the zipper. It was awkward and difficult to simply dress in the morning. Some clothes were scratchy. Lace has always seemed pretty to look at but uncomfortable to wear. Enough of that. I quit. In a fit of hope and fury I purged my closet of anything that was difficult to get into. Everything scratchy or tangly or uncomfortable in design was tossed out. It I needed help zipping it up or even needed to twist my neck it went out. Finally I was left with a lot of soft stretchy items which were easy to wear.

There was more work to do though. Sometimes colors did not match or they faded. Any color made me look fatter than when I was wearing black. This is almost magic. I made some experiments. I would put on a top of a pretty color and then put on a black top while looking in a long mirror. It was astounding how much of an optical illusion wearing black made in the way I looked. Imagine a woman with some fat and rolls of flesh around the middle dressed in pink and then imagine what she looks like dressed in black. Black is a very forgiving color for most women.I realized that it was often when wearing a black top and black pants that I received compliments on my outfit. Well, why not wear it all the time, I thought. Of course black all the time can be dreary so I thought of a solution. I picked a color to use as an accent. Turquoise. I began to thin the number of clothes i had that were not turquoise. And I stopped buying any other color. Now I dress almost exclusively in black top and black pants every day. On top of that column of black I wear a variety of ponchos and scarves and jackets and shawls of bright colors of turquoise. Sometimes there are many colors in these outer garments and sometimes only one. there are pashminas of varying shades of turquoise, some hombre and some brightly hued, others pastel and muted.Dressing is easy and satisfying. I always look pulled together because my things always match or blend or go together. My hand bags are mostly turquoise. So are my wallet, my phone and my reading glasses which are often purched on my head. People often say “Oh you match!!! Everything is just right, you look perfectly coordinated.” And then I show them my fingernails which are painted turquoise, too. They often gasp and then smile with appreciation. But I quickly confess that the reason everything matches is because I only buy one color.In the summer I vary the routine by wearing a column of white with the turquoise summer weight poncho or scarves or jacket. It works the same way except the black is more flattering because it hides the extra weight more than white.

This method of dressing works well for my closets. Storing the many tops is easy. I roll them up and put them in drawers or on shelves. Many of them are made from long scarves or pashminas. I have them put together with 3 buttons in the front and three in back to hold two narrow 12” or 14” wide scarves together. Or with a wider rectangle scarf there is a neck hole made by doubling the scarf over and sewing the top of the two sides together from the ends going toward the center. Practice first to be sure you have enough room to put your head through without difficulty.

I can dress quickly and have learned which of my tops works best with the weather and my activity that day. It is easy to dress up or down by simply changing the cover-up over my black turtle neck and black yoga pants. Black is chic. And a pop of color against that stark black background is dramatic. So sometimes I just decorate a total black outfit with turquoise necklace and earrings.

My change of wardrobe has simplified my life. It makes me happy. It takes all the guesswork out of knowing what to wear. I never spend any time worrying and only a very few minutes selecting the outfit for the day. Try it, you might like it.

Copyright©. 2020 Bonnie B. Matheson