6 ways to break out of a style rut that don't involve buying new clothes

New clothes? In this economy? Before taking the "easy" way out, try these tips first.

Many of us have been conditioned to buy new pieces whenever we feel bored or uninspired with what we have (guiltyyy).

But before you think about adding newness to your closet, I want to encourage you to really survey all that you own. You might not actually *need* a new outfit from Anthropologie. Instead, you might need to change your current styling habits and lines of thinking.

Challenging your usual go-to pairings and exploring your accessory collection might make all the difference. Here are 6 ideas for breaking out of a styling rut that don’t involve a #haul.

1. Try new color combos

This tip is for you if you’re always pairing your colorful pieces with black, navy, white, or tan. Try stepping out of your comfort zone a little bit by pairing colors that you wouldn’t *normally* pair together.

For example, if you have a pair of tan trousers that you typically pair with a black or white button-down, see what happens when you pair them with your pink Chappell Roan Midwest Princess tour tee that’s crumpled up in your drawer instead. Just saying. Here are some unexpected color combos I’ve been loving lately:

• Chocolate, magenta, and butter yellow

• Royal blue and cream

• Forest green, yellow, and baby pink

• Teal, red, and royal blue

• Brat green, purple, and red

2. Pair opposite aesthetics together

We often fall into the trap of pairing the same things together over and over because it feels safe or “right.” But what if I told you that pairing “wrong” things together is where the magic happens?

One of my favorite outfit formulas is: wearing pieces from completely different aesthetics. The resulting outfit turns out so cool every time. The opposites I pair together most often are sporty and feminine. I loveeee wearing my white lace skirt with my NBA rugby shirts and baseball jerseys.

Some aesthetics you can try pairing are:

• Cottage core and soft grunge

• Mob wife and balletcore

• Y2K and minimalism

• Dark academia and cyberpunk

3. Explore your jewelry collection

I recently reorganized my entire jewelry collection and lemme tell you—life-changing. Every day, I open my jewelry organizer and challenge myself to wear a new combination of necklaces and bracelets. This has been a great way for me to a) stay creative, b) wear what I already have, and c) avoid buying new clothes—because who cares if the base outfit is the same when the ~accessory combo~ can be different?

4. Play with makeup

I can’t tell you how many people commend me on my colorful eyeliner. I get more compliments on my makeup than on my outfits tbh. I’ve been called “brave,” “bold,” and a slew of similar adjectives. What disheartens me, though, is that through these conversations, many people have told me that they don’t have the confidence to rock electric blue like I do.

And to that I say: f*ck it!!! Experimenting with NYX’s epic liner (paid link) or About Face’s matte eye paints (paid link) is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to invigorate your ootd. And trust me—the compliments you will get when you coordinate your eyeliner to your fit will be WORTH it!!! It’s liberating and transformative.

And if eyeliner isn’t your thing, you could do the same with lipstick, blush, or colored mascara.

5. Make your socks an intentional part of your outfit

Have you ever received a pair of funny novelty socks as a gift? I know that we often default to hiding our puppy/kitty/bunny socks behind our Chelsea boots and jeans, but hear me out: make them an intentional part of the fit. It’s FUN!

Even if you’re an all-black or all-neutrals girlie, showing off a patterned sock can bring such a refreshing and joyful touch to your ensemble. I recommend pairing them with flats or loafers and a cropped pant for delightful and intentional styling.

6. Charmify everything

By now, you’ve probably heard that keychains have been rebranded to “bag charms.” And, don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a blast putting keychains all over my most-used bags to give them a new look and feel. But bags aren’t the only thing you can charmify.

In addition to or instead of decorating your bags, you can:

• Add pins and brooches to your cardigans or denim jackets (easy to remove if you change your mind later).

• Put charms on your shoelaces.

• Clip keychains to the belt loops of your jeans (I proudly did this in middle school and I’m delighted to see that it’s made a comeback).

What did you think of these tips? Lemme know if this has you feeling inspired!

And…this seems like a good time to announce that I’m now offering personal styling sessions 🎉 If you want to unlock your full style potential, let’s chat.

Why book with me? I’ll be taking a secondhand-first approach, meaning that if we uncover any wardrobe gaps during our session, I’ll comb through secondhand sites FIRST before looking elsewhere.

You can fill out my Google form if you’re interested.

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Thanks so much for reading (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

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