The Budget Fashionista

One of my favorite fashion books is Nothing to Wear: a 5-Step Cure for the Common Closet by Jesse Garza and Joe Lupo. The advice given is fabulous, and I just wish that I could afford to hire them to help some people I know. There’s one point that stands out for me- demoting clothes.

When weeding out your wardrobe, you do need to remove anything that doesn’t work for you. However, if a piece is still wearable and can work in a different area of your life, you can demote it and get some more wear out of it before you have to get rid of it.

I was editing my wardrobe many months ago, and I found a bunch of tops and sweaters that were beautiful and in excellent condition, but they were large and too straight, so they drowned my figure. I decided to demote them and put them with my maternity clothes. Now, I’m wearing those tops and sweaters over my baby belly, and they’re great with my maternity skirts and jumpers. I’ve lost count of how many “new” outfits I have, and without spending any money at all.

The only problem is that I’m in the third trimester, and no matter how much I LOVE my maternity clothes (I really do), I’m sick and tired of them. Well, it’s a great incentive that’s keeping me doing my yoga so that I’ll fit back into my regular clothes ASAP.

My t-shirts regularly get demoted. I have some I sleep in, and more presentable, if worn, ones are worn for gardening or housework. :)

i have a billion tank tops, well almost.  when they get a little too worn to wear on top they are “demoted” to layering, which is great because i wear them year-round.  once they fade too much or shrink too short i donate or just throw them out.  with this method and the vast amount of tanks i own, they are usually in my active wardrobe for years.