Creative clothing tips

In May I converted from local guru to personal style blogger, and although my interviews with awesome Oxfordshire women will be back on the blog soon I thought I might strut further along the style street this month.

If, like some Fe-liners of late, you are trying to cut back on fashion spending then here are some helpful tips to make your current wardrobe take you that bit further and advice on how to handle any splurges you do make so they don’t go to waste.

Try Clothes On

In vintage or charity shops, don’t look at the size on the label look at the shape, feel the texture and pop the garment on. I’m a 12-14 in most current UK sizing, but I have size 8 tops and size 16 skirts that look fantastic when worn – or at least can do so with a few well placed safety pins. It’s good to get to know what your shape actually looks and feels like rather than thinking of it as a number. Clothing construction has evolved over time so a dress in a different size to what you think you should wear can look much better than you’d expect. Even if a piece of clothing is the ‘right size’ for you, smaller or bigger sizes might actually look a whole lot better. Obviously sometimes bigger or smaller sizes don’t look so good, but the point is you should give things a go and not get blocked by an insignificant number.

Layering

You don’t have to reserve some clothes for the summer and others for the winter. If you have a lovely summery top, why not find a good base layer to wear underneath it, so you can wear it all year round. I generally wear very summery looking clothes no matter what the season and just wear tights, vests and tops underneath and adorn with cardigans and scarves. The more layers you wear the more clothes you can fit into an outfit – layer under and layer over!

Play with your clothes

Have you ever worn a skirt as a top with a belt to define your waist? Used a hairpiece as a brooch, or to jazz up a bag? Wrapped a headscarf around your waist as a belt, or around your wrist as a bracelet? Just because an item might be labelled or considered to be one thing doesn’t mean it can’t have plenty of other creative uses – experiment with what you’ve got and you might surprise yourself.

Buy what feels comfortable

If you are going to buy an item of clothing, you want it to last and you want to make sure you’ll get good wear out of it. I ask myself “will this feel as comfortable after a big meal?” as I want to enjoy plenty of big meals and wear clothes than can accommodate a healthy, happy food-baby. If a piece of clothing can’t adjust according to my enjoyment of big social meals, then there’s no point in me buying it to then either not wear it, or wear it and feel uncomfortable.

These are just a few of the things I consider when buying clothes or putting together an outfit – leave a comment if you’ve got other tips or advice on resourceful and creative shopping and styling.