How to Style Clothing You Never Wear Using One Easy Trick

We all have those items in our wardrobe that we just never wear and I wanted to give you a really useful styling strategy that you can apply when you're trying to integrate that item into your wardrobe and get it on regular rotation. Now it goes without saying that the best way to understand how to make an item work for you is to explore the different styling possibilities using a bit of wardrobe playtime but hopefully this technique will give you an instant way to integrate these items into your wardrobe so you can actually start wearing it as that's half the battle. I have some items from my own wardrobe which based on my closet analysis have gone unworn over the last kind of eight months or so. I have been tracking what I wear for the past decade but more recently I started tracking this in index which gives me a real visual on what I am and am not wearing which side note I am a stylist on index so you can book a lookbook with me if you feel like you need a little bit more one-on-one guidance. So we're going to start with the very first item which is this beautiful silk and cotton blend top from Mal. Every time I have shared this across any of my socials I always get asked where it is from. It is ethereal, it's floaty, it's semi sheer and it just has this really elegant quality to it which is down to the silk cotton blend. Part of the reason why I don't wear this very often is because it comes across as quite bohemian to me when I play around with the styling. I'm usually in a rush so I'm not putting too much time into carefully considering how I could integrate this in a way that feels more me and this might be a common thread with your own wardrobe and the things that you just aren't reaching for. So my trick is to style it back with your wardrobe heroes, the items that you reach for the most and that feel most like you. The ones that you put them on and basically every outfit that you style them with you feel amazing and that's just a starting point because we can make modifications from there to build on that outfit and create more looks that we will love. So I decided to style it with my favorite wide leg jeans from Alpha 60. They're in a black and one thing I like to do when I am kind of breaking up my outfit in a high contrast moment like this is to match my shoes to my trousers so that I can increase that vertical and kind of give the illusion of longer legs. So I have gone for a black ballerina here and I've tucked the blouse in. It does feel nice, it feels very safe but I think you can see what I mean here by that bohemian influence especially just pairing the white blouse with denim and it's actually enhanced even more so when I wear it with a light blue wash of denim. So I thought let's switch out the denim for a different silhouette, something that has a little bit of chill and ease in it which kind of reflects a bit of that bohemian essence but how can we switch up the shoes kind of add in a little bit more of that polish, that smart elegant feeling that I quite often like to have in my outfits. I've gone for a flat here but with similar qualities to the first way that I styled this blouse but what I have done is worn the blouse loose and this kind of really changes the vibe, it changes the feel of this blouse but not only that, having the white on white, having that really long extension through the body to increase the vertical, I feel like that completely changes the overall intention of this piece. Also we're mixing sheer with opaque and kind of feels a little more subtle in this outfit so I definitely really love the second iteration. The first version I think is good and I could wear it like that but I would always feel like there was just something missing. So here what we've done is we've drawn on qualities that we like in our base outfit and then we've dialled those up, dialled up the intensity to come out with a final look that we absolutely love. Next item that I have basically never worn is this knitted bomber jacket from Philippa K and I bought this back in 2022 and the number of wardrobe edits that this has survived countless at this point, I have just continued to be drawn to it and every time I put it on I felt amazing but it was the proportions and the vibe of the outfit that often felt incongruous. Now with jackets like this it can be very simple to figure out the ways you like to wear it, just try it on every day with your outfit and see how that makes you feel, if there's any little tweaks that you would make. During my trials I discovered that I like this most for the trouser that does not hit the floor and that has a little bit of structure to it. It doesn't have to be fully structured, a really stiff fabric, but there just has to be a little bit of hold to the shape. So we did actually end up wearing this last week and I'm going to draw on that particular silhouette for look one and then we'll do a completely different outfit for look two. So I've gone for that long column of color again, a white t-shirt, my favorite from Uniqlo, these are truly the best and then also a pair of white high-waisted jeans. I've not worn a belt because I didn't want to break up that vertical, I wanted to keep it really long and lean through the body. So what I have done to kind of draw the eye downwards and really increase that impact is wear a necklace that does have a long pendant to it and that helps to kind of enhance that effect. I also wore a white shoe as well that ties into that whole theme. This then acts as a contrast piece and I like the fact that it is knitted, it is a little bit softer and so it does have that contrast when it comes to the more structured denim. Also don't mind the fact that there are tags on here, I did just throw it on with the intention of not wearing it and then I went out and about so really I need to remove these. So that is the first outfit and I really do like this and I know it's something I will wear. I figured out a formula and I'm going to replicate that using different iterations of items from my wardrobe. For the second outfit I wanted to push the look a little bit and I decided to opt for a little mini dress. I wanted something that would allow me to play with the lengths in terms of proportions and this particular one from Faithful, I like that it cinches in a little bit at the waist to give me some shape. I kept the necklace on which has the organic shape which I felt really gelled well with the bag which has a woven quality and also feels a little bit more chill from that regard. Then I decided to go with a pointed toe flat so adding in that polish, that sophistication that I really like in my outfits and I also am really intrigued by this kind of color palette, the oat, the navy and the burgundy. Here I'm playing with the idea of friction using my wardrobe heroes to really apply that and I thought a way that I could lean into adding more of a preppiness which is something that I think bomber jacket stands for is to swap out the ballerinas for a loafer and you could also do a little sock though for me I know that's going to cut my leg off a little bit because it's going to add another visual break of my outfit so I tend to be quite conservative about when I do apply that little styling flourish. I do think for me the first version was probably my preferred but I do like that I've got options and really I can only go forward from here with more ways to wear it so this is really giving me a good starting point. Next let's go a pair of boots and these ones are from Ikea. You can't buy them anymore which is a real shame. They have this kind of chunky block heel and more of a squared off toe. I've barely worn these and I think maybe in the last year I've worn them once which is a bit of a travesty because they are gorgeous, they're very very comfortable as well. Now I was thinking about the way that I want to wear these and I knew that it was going to be with some sort of a longer skirt. This has definitely become a really true staple in my wardrobe particularly my gowellia trouser skirt and I've got a few other options which kind of give me different fabrications to play with so I decided to do that because this will give me the coverage on the leg and make sure I don't have any gaps, any skin showing so you also have that nice long vertical and you do have to forgive all the monochromatic outfits. It's just my style but you can apply these rules regardless of what your wardrobe looks like. So I've gone for a navy skirt in a nylon from Sophie Dore which I've paired with this Everlane alpaca knit and I have added a brooch for a bit of visual interest just so the outfit doesn't come off feeling flat despite the fact that there are lots of textures. While overall I was happy with the silhouette I felt like there wasn't a sense of harmony with the fabrication so this is something to keep in mind. The nylon is quite thin and I wouldn't use the word flimsy but it has kind of this really soft scrunchy quality to it and it just felt like it didn't stand up to the heavier nature of the leather and then the alpaca knit so I decided to swap that out for a skirt that has a little bit more structure. This one is in a really thick boucle and so it gives some really nice shape. You can see it's pretty much the same silhouette but because of the structure of the skirt it kind of changes the whole mood of the outfit. You have that real sense of harmony that was lacking before and also because now I've gone all black rather than breaking up the look with navy and kind of sandwiching my skirt in the middle I have this consistent through line and then I thought we could enhance that further by adding a really long coat that feels dramatic and also works to increase that vertical in the outfit. So overall love the way that this turned out. I'm really excited to style these and also it just reignited this excitement for that particular skirt which is one of my favorites in my wardrobe. I feel like me and navy britain striped tops have a bit of a history. I've always struggled to integrate these in a really meaningful way in my wardrobe. Essentially it's something that I add in that feels like it could be classic. I feel like it should be something that does reflect my style but I never reach for it and I'm not sure if it's the real contrast element the fact that it is navy with the white stripe rather than the reverse but it is a common thread for me and I know now moving forward just not to buy this sort of item as it keeps coming up consistently over time. But I do want to make the most of the navy striped knit that I do have. Now this one is from Alex Mill. I bought this one two years ago. It's 100% cotton. I did size up so it would be a little bit more slouchy and from the front it looks like a basic britain stripe. Turn it around you have this beautiful button back detail. So there are a few different ways you can wear which was the appeal and I was limited in terms of the color that I could choose because I bought this on sale. I think I got it 50% off for context so I feel like if I'd had my time over I'd love the style of this. I probably would have bought a different color but that said let's rework this. The first way I'm going to pair it feels very Parisian in a way very in line with our idea of classic straight leg blue wash jeans with a high rise which is my preference. My legs look long, I look balanced and then I've also added one of my favorite pairs of shoes. These kind of strappy pointed toe sandals with a little heel. I know many people are going to think that it's an oxymoron to be wearing a sweater with sandals but trust me in Sydney is something that you definitely can do in the autumn and winter time. Now I like the way that this comes off. We kind of have a tonal element going on here which is definitely one of my favorite ways to get dressed in the morning but I thought we could build on this and kind of try and see if we can dial up the intensity of the visual interest and so one thing that I did in that first outfit was I paired the soft with kind of that more structured component so I wanted to add even more structure in the trouser and I actually started with the pants I'm wearing right now. So these are really thick cotton and they really hold their own, they hold their shape nicely. I've decided to go with a double buckle belt so we have that visual element really highlighting the waist and then to create that lovely through line I've gone for a glove boot so that I'm not exposing any ankle at all so there are no vertical breaks in my outfit and this is a great tip to use if you are someone who is trying to visually increase or enhance their height. So here I've leaned in on two different silhouettes that I reach for on repeat and I'm absolutely thrilled with how both outfits look. They both have a different vibe, different feeling to them but they're approachable and realistic and in case you're curious I'm going to show you also how the cardigan looks worn as a v-neck instead of with the crew at the front but I think the crew neck at the front is definitely my preferred way to style it. Final item is a skirt from Tibi which I bought about three years ago so you can see there's a common theme here with all of these items. They're things I've owned for a while and I really just want to reintegrate them into my regular rotation. So this skirt, I love the color, it's an interesting neutral and it has this lovely wrap detail which ties and fastens in the front. I actually think Tibi had recut this and it's on sale so I will make sure I've linked everything I can below anyway. Now whenever I wear this I often feel a little bit too dolled up, I feel too feminine and I love to have a feminine energy in my outfits but I don't want it to be the overarching theme. I want it to feel balanced and I want there to be the sense of ease and chill in the overall look. I was thinking about how I'd wear this for work and instantly I gravitated towards this kind of knitted tee that I've got from Dish. I really like the slim fit of it and this is something that I've been reaching for a bit on repeat recently and I started with my favorite sandals with a little heel that I shared before. This feels very easy, very minimal, there's not a lot going on here and maybe a way to kind of style this up a little bit more would be to add a jacket especially as we head into the transitional season. But I decided I wanted to play around with color a bit more because that is something I love doing. There's kind of unexpected neutrals paired together that actually feel very harmonious and very easy on the eye. They feel relaxing to look at so I decided to style this with a light blue knit top that I've got from Basic and I actually instantly loved the impact of the more relaxed t-shirt with the skirt. Because the skirt is more structured in a way because it's a cotton poplin and it does have that more overtly feminine silhouette, bringing in an item that is the counterbalance to that, so juxtaposing it with something that has the opposite mood, the opposite vibe, can be a great way to tone it down and dial it down and this is something I'm often talking about with my styling clients. So that instantly changed the way this felt even with the pointed toe heeled sandal. But I wanted to take it one step further so I decided to bring in those burgundy ballerinas because I thought that would be a really interesting color combination. I really like how burgundy and baby blue pair, I think it's unexpected and feels modern and fresh and to me either way works and we love options, options are good. So in the end I feel like I came up with a few different ways that I would be quite happy to wear this and I think also maybe worn with a relaxed knit loose, especially as we get deeper into autumn, would be a great way to kind of style this up as well. So you can see how using that very simple technique of pairing it with an item that is a wardrobe hero, something that you feel really confident and comfortable styling, is a great starting point to build on that item and figure out the ways you truly love wearing it. At the end of the day, wardrobe play time is going to be the ultimate thing that kind of integrates an item into your regular rotation in a big way. But it's really that starting point that gives you solid ground, a foundation to work off so that you can find more ways that you enjoy wearing an item and actually just increase its rotation in your wardrobe. And I think that's one of the reasons why capsule wardrobes tend to be so impactful in terms of really maximizing your wardrobe, because you're forced to play with things, you've got a limited number of items, so you tend to be more encouraged to cycle through all your items and figure out all the different ways you enjoy wearing things, all the different little tweaks that you would apply. So I hope you found this video insightful, that it was helpful, and it gave you a little bit of inspiration to go and do something similar in your own closet. I can say I'm actually very excited to kind of get all these pieces into regular rotation as the weather starts to cool down here in Sydney. If you are new here and you'd like to subscribe, I'd love to have you back. And if you did enjoy this video and would like to give it a thumbs up, that'd be amazing as it does help me with the algorithm. Anyway, I will see you next week with a brand new one. See you soon and thanks for watching. Bye!