I can bet you’ve experienced that feeling as well or you might even be going through the rut right now!

Let’s talk about what got you there and most importantly, how to jazz things up and shake that rut feeling off.

If you manage your wardrobe well, you might experience the feeling of being stuck in a rut only once in a rare while. For example, at the end of the autumn/winter season (which lasts way longer than the summer season) when you feel like you’ve been wearing the same clothes for months on end. That feeling is quite normal and is nothing to be alarmed by.

However, if you don’t manage your wardrove properly, when you only wear a fraction of it because the rest doesn’t seem to work well, ruts can get very deep even if you are shopping regularly.

I had clients who were buried in a rut for years and were not even aware it’s a rut they are stuck in, they just constantly felt unhappy with their look. THAT scenario is probably the worst of the ruts and has painful consequences for your style, self-esteem and budget.

Just think about it: every day you dread getting dressed because nothing or almost nothing in your wardrobe feels great. You end up settling for looks that ‘will do’, you avoid looking in the mirror because you know what you see won’t impress you.

You end up looking at women who look great and can’t help but feel self-consious. You might even get totally stressed out if an invitation comes in, be it for a simple dinner or an important meeting, because instead of getting excited, you get stressed out about what to wear.

Just imagine the long-term effects of feeling this way day in, day out! You wake up one day, look at yourself in the mirror and wonder who is this woman and what happened to that cool, stylish chick you used to be once upon a time.

DON’T EVER IGNORE THAT FEELING OF BEING STUCK IN A RUT!!

It’s a minor problem when you address it early on but an absolute pain in the derriere when you ignore the issue for seasons or years.

It’s pointless talking about how to get out of a style rut without understanding what got you there. You need to know the cause of your problems so you don’t fall into another rut a short while later. 

There are 2 major scenarios that throw your wardrobe off balance:

1. You go for tried-and-tested combinations over and over again.

You’ve discovered outfit formulas that work well for you (e.g. jeans + jumper, dress + cardigan) and you are doing them on repeat with minor variations. There are subtle changes in colour, fabric, details, but the concept remains the same.

Over a period of time, you simply grow tired of seeing the same looks and start feeling like none of them are working anymore.

This is also a very common scenario in wardrobes where only a fraction of clothes are being worn. Either because the rest of the wardrobe has ‘nothing to go with it’ or the wardrobe doesn’t cater for your lifestyle.

2. Your style aesthetic has changed but your wardrobe doesn’t reflect it.

You are now longing for a different look but none of those styles are to be found in the wardrobe.

For example, you might crave simple clean lines, muted colours, and a more minimalistic vibe but your wardrobe is full of bright colours, strong prints, and heavily detailed items.

It’s impossible to like the same stuff for years on end. Just think about it – you probably like different food, music, and films than what you preferred 5 years ago. It’s totally normal to like a different style of clothes as well after a certain period of time.

I’ll give you my own example – there are 3 years in between the 2 photos on the left below and the 2 on the right.

I’m the opposite of the example I’ve just given you – I used to love clean lines, neutral colours, trousers/jeans and wasn’t a fan of prints. Fast forward to 3 years later and I was loving anything that had bold prints, vibrant colours and started living in skirts and dresses.

Have I not addressed my cravings for something different, I would have eventually found myself in a rut, totally not loving my wardrobe, my style and my reflection in the mirror. Instead I made a plan for transitioning from my current-at-the-time wardrobe into the new aesthetic and found ways how to style most of my old things as part of the new look. 

Let’s now talk about possible solutions if you feel that you are currently stuck in a style rut.

The very first thing you need to do is STOP SHOPPING. If you are unhappy with your style and wardrobe at the moment, shopping is not going to resolve any of it. In fact, more likely than not anything you buy now is going to be just a waste of money because you are shopping without a strategy and have no constructive plans for anything you are buying.

IF YOUR RUT HAS BEEN CAUSED BY WEARING THE SAME OUTFITS ON REPEAT: 

• Prep your wardrobe with a quick audit: remove anything you won’t be wearing over the next few months (like clothes from the previous season) and anything that currently doesn’t fit. You should only have pieces that can be worn right now.

• Take out your most worn outfits. Start with each individual item and look for other combinations with it within what’s left after the audit. Take pictures to remember the looks and only move on to the next item when you have exhausted all the options within your wardrobe.

• Use Pinterest to help you with style ideas. For example, you might have a red skirt that you only wear with a black top. Search for ‘red skirt outfit’ and see what other combinations you can come across. Then simply see if you have something similar in your own wardrobe.

• Put all your accessories to good use, especially jewellery. I see this all the time in my clients’ wardrobes: they have great options for accessorizing but stick to either one or two regular pieces or everything is sitting somewhere deep in the wardrobe and they don’t get around to it in the morning when getting ready. Put all your accessories where you can easily access them when getting dressed and START WEARING THEM.

• THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS PROCESS: don’t wear the same combination again until the rest of your wardrobe has been worn. Rotate your outfits instead of playing favorites!

IF YOUR RUT HAS BEEN CAUSED BY A CHANGE IN STYLE AESTHETIC:

• Create a board on Pinterest and collect looks/details/accessories that excite you. This collection will be your moodboard – your inspirational point of reference.

• Compare individual pieces/outfits/accessories from your moodboard to your current wardrobe. Can you see similar styles? Can pieces that you already own be styled slightly differently to bring in the new vibe that you’re craving?

• Make a list of key pieces from your moodboard that set the mood and create the aesthetic that you aspire to have. If your current wardrobe doesn’t have anything like that, make a shopping list. But don’t get more than 3-5 pieces at a time to update your wardrobe. Go slowly and validate your ideas to make sure this is exactly what you want and start getting used to the new look.

• This is the only scenario in which shopping makes sense: after you’ve done your research online to find the exact vibe you are looking for, after you study your current wardrobe to see if that vibe can be incorporated with what you already have, after you work out the specific pieces that will set the tone for the aesthetic you want. This is what I call a style strategy and having a constructive plan for your wardrobe!

Unfortunately, there is no magic pill that will get your rut sorted out overnight. Simply because that rut didn’t happen in one day. It requires commitment, planning and discipline to get your wardrobe back on track. But it is sooooo worth the effort!!

At the end of the journey you’ll be looking at your wardrobe and getting excited to get dressed, you’ll love your reflection in the mirror and will surely enjoy the compliments.

If you want a helping hand in finding the right track for your style & wardrobe, my Wardrobe Audit Formula program is the perfect solution – it takes you through every step of revamping your wardrobe with no mistakes or second-guessing.