Finding a pair of jeans that fit? Forget it! Finding a dress that worked for me? Haha, no.
I vacillated between trying to look put together, and giving up and living in ill-fitting jeans and t-shirts, until finally, a year ago, I got desperate and bought a course on how to dress well.
Believe me, I felt silly spending good money on the hope of learning how to put the right clothes on, but I was 30 years old! Clearly, I wasn’t going to learn on my own. 😛
That course was unlike anything I’d ever been through before, and I can’t say that I had an overnight success – partly because I refused to simply throw away everything I had and buy all new clothes – but slowly, as I’ve transitioned my wardrobe, and learned more about what works for my specifically within my “type”, it has been life changing.
I’ve learned how to find the colors, cuts, and even textures that work for me, which has led to me being able to put outfits together that work for me.
Do you know what happens when your outfits work for you? You feel confidant, and sure of yourself, and almost as importantly, you don’t cringe every time you see yourself in the mirror.
My style still isn’t perfect, and since dressing well and aesthetics aren’t my natural giftings, I imagine it never will be (which is why I’ve had to work so long and hard on my photography skills as well), but that’s good news for you – because if these resources work for a wardrobe dunce like me, just think what they’ll do for you!
Odds are, if you’re reading this, you’ve already heard about Dressing Your Truth, but if you haven’t, go over there now, and get your type figured out. Just doing that will give you a lot of insight into yourself, and the kinds of clothes you should wear.
The way DYT works, is that you determine through a series of videos, where Carol explains the characteristics of each of the four “types”, and you determine which one is you. These types go far beyond your skin tone and hair color into personality, facial features, and more.
I have to admit that it took me a long time to decide for sure what my “type” was, but once I did, I was amazed by how much I learned about myself. So many lightbulb moments, and “oh, that’s why I do that!”s
After finally settling on being a type 3, with a type 4 secondary, and finally convinced myself to give up my beloved black clothes, I started to see progress in the way I looked, and the way that I felt about how I looked.
Amazing!
Now, instead of spending hours going through clothing racks, and trying them on, only to realize that they don’t work after all once I get them home, I can skim through the whole ladies section at Goodwill within minutes, ruling out 95% of it at a glance.
I still don’t take very much of what I try on home, but that’s mostly due to fit.
And speaking of fit, that leads me to the second “how to dress” course that finally solved my inability to find jeans and dresses – even shirts – that fit!
I met JoAnn through joining an amazing mastermind group late last year. In November, we were all planning to meet up in Seattle to be extras in our mentor Ruth’s new Elite Blog Academy course videos, and stressing a lot about what to wear.
JoAnn graciously gave us all access to her Outfit Mastery course, and I was blown away by everything I learned.
Joann’s method for finding your personal style is much different, and very open ended, which was great for me, because I’d already been through Dressing Your Truth, and knew my style.
There were a lot of things I learned about matching colors and patterns, but what was really amazing, was learning how to find clothes that fit.
What? Amazing!
Joann’s videos show you how to fit jeans and pants, dresses, and shirts. All of it!
Now I can go through my wardrobe and figure out why something doesn’t feel right, and I know exactly what to look for in the dressing room. It’s such a relief!
Resources for Finding Clothes
I will always be a fan of Goodwill, and their economical prices. If you see me, the odds are good that I’m wearing at least one thing that came from a thrift store.
But at the same time, now that we live in a place where the nearest Goodwill is at least an hour away, thrift shopping isn’t as practical, or economical as it used to be.
Fortunately, there are quite a few places to get clothes online – whether you’re looking for thrift shop deals, or style help!
Thrift Shopping
ThredUp. To begin with, they give you 40% off of your first order, which is AWESOME! It’s like an online thrift store. People send in clothes that they’re done with, and Thredup sells them. It’s a fabulous way to get expensive brands for a fraction of retail price!
Swap.com A lot like Thredup, it’s another online thrift shop. Their prices often seem to be lower than Thredup, and I can’t visit the site without almost begging them to take my money! The only downside with both of these thrift sites, is that you can’t try anything on, so you’re basically limited to brands and items where you’re already sure of the fit.
Style Help Shops
By far the most popular clothing subscription I know of. I love how detailed the Stitch Fix styling process is, but one of the things I like best, is that you can create a Pinterest board for outfits that catch your eye, and they can use that to influence the clothing they send. Cool, right?
When they send you your box of clothes, you get to try them on in the comfort of your own home, decide what you want to keep, and send the rest back. The small styling fee you pay for your box gets put toward any purchase you make, which can make a it a great deal!
That said, I don’t personally subscribe to Stitch fix (at the moment), because I simply don’t need more clothes right now!
LeTote works a little bit differently. They have a similar styling process, but the expectation is that they send you a box of clothes, you wear them for a while, and send them back. You can buy them if you want to, but they don’t really push it. It’s a great way to try on different styles and colors without the obligation to buy. When they get your returned tote, they’ll send out you next shipment unless you specify otherwise.
Basically, it’s a clothing rental with the option to buy.
I really enjoyed LeTote, and getting familiar with higher quality fabrics, since I’ve never really been a clothes person, before LeTote, I didn’t really have a concept of how different a better cut tank top feels than a $2 tank from Walmart, to say nothing of classier fabrics.
But again, I’m not a subscriber at the moment, partly because, as I said, I’m not really hunting for clothing right now, but also because, as much as I loved some of the clothes and jewelry I got, it’s pretty darn expensive.
If you ever stop by my house unexpectedly, I guarantee that you will still find me in my old jeans and t-shirts half the time, but these days, they’ll be jeans that I fit well, and t-shirts that I either adore, or don’t mind staining (depending on what I’m doing!), and most importantly, when I decide to get dressed nicely, I know how to do it!
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