How to Redo Your Wardrobe Part 3 – Increasing Inventory and Developing a Unique Style Niche

This is the 3^rd and final installment of the How to Redo Your Wardrobe series. In the previous two articles we systematically removed clothes you no longer wear and then preceded with a plan to kick start your new wardrobe with a small amount of money. In this part of the series, I will talk about how to constantly increase your wardrobe at a moderate pace so you don’t go broke and how to “peacock” (stand out) with items no matter what your age or profession.

Systems and Schedules

The easiest way to keep a nice wardrobe going is to build it in baby steps, adding new items one at a time. Most men will go shopping for clothes every once in a while and just buy a few things that look good, then they typically go home and realize that these new items don’t fit in to well with their current wardrobe and get frustrated. You have to keep that food shopping mentality I talked about in the previous article of the series.

When you are out shopping, keep mental notes of what you already have in your closet. Just because an item of clothing is nice and looks good in the store isn’t enough to buy it. It has to mesh well with what you already have for you to get the most value out if it. As your wardrobe gets bigger you will be able to throw in more “loud” items, but in the beginning keep thinks basic using solid colors and common styles.

Let’s say you are willing to spend $100 a month to finance your wardrobe (which is not a lot). With this $100 I would be looking to buy 3 to 4 new items a month. This means you have to go shopping 3-4 times a month. Split up the money so you spend around $25 a week on say a new shirt or pair of pants. You can up the monthly allowance if you like, but I would still suggest only buying 1-2 items at a time.

“Pea cocking” without looking like an idiot

Pea cocking is a term that has become associated with men adding certain items to their wardrobe to stand out. The problem with this concept is that everyone is different and therefore has to “peacock” in a different way. I feel most of the problem centers around age difference and profession and I will illustrate how you can “peacock” no matter who or where you are in life.

Age 17-21

This is the age range where you are probably all over the place with finding yourself and an image. You may be wearing a lot of different styles, stuck in one style because if the people you hang with or just lost altogether and are still wearing the clothes your parents bought you for birthdays.

Wherever you are in this phase it doesn’t matter. This is the time where you are going to be experimenting with a lot of things in life so why not your wardrobe too. Styles with young adults change so quickly that I suggest keeping things simple and looking for some trendy items. You don’t want to be the person wearing all the different trends because you will look like you are trying too hard. On the other hand, you have to go with the trend at times to “peacock” and demonstrate that you know what’s up…

When you buy trendy items, make sure that they can fit in with what you currently have and aren’t so crazy that when they fade out, you can’t even wear it anymore. Great examples of this were certain brands and t-shits when I was young. BUM Equipment was huge when I was in HS and that sh*t is UGLY! Then there were those heat activated fabrics that changed colors when you touched it, great for Kino now that I think of it, but still ugly as sh*t. If you are constantly buying this trendy crap then soon you will have a wardrobe like a clown, if you don’t already.. he he

What I am basically saying is that as a young person with no job, the playing field is open to almost anything in the style department. Just remember that “staple” items are needed no matter what. Have plenty of solid shirts and pants that you can use when wearing your “trendy” item(s). Having these “staple” items will allow you to evolve with the trends while maintaining a nice foundation for your entire wardrobe.

As for the young professionals out there, I will break this down in 2 separate categories.