I was recently contacted by Most Wanted, the lifestyle magazine from VoucherCodes.co.uk who kindly asked me if I wanted to be part of their research challenge, ‘Wear Your Wardrobe’. The Wear Your Wardrobe challenge came about as part of a report they commissioned to see how people are spending their money in these cash strapped times. The report found that the average person in the UK has at least three unworn items in their wardrobe, usually totalling around £80 – enough for a whole new outfit. The challenge was to pick out three unworn items from my wardrobe and, using a budget of £80, re-style them to give them a new lease of life and bring them out from where they’ve been hiding.
I’m embarrassed to say that I have a lot more than three unworn or barely worn items in my wardrobe. The first item that came to mind was an H&M maxi dress I bought last summer and have never worn. I didn’t try it on and the halter-neck is just a little too low cut for me for to feel entirely comfortable. Alongside this, I’ve always fancied trying the cropped top trend, but I really don’t have the flat stomach to go with it. This cropped top (£4, Primark) has meant my maxi dress has made its first outing from the wardrobe, and the straw hat (£4, Primark), gives it a festival-y feel.
 |
| Outfit additions: Salut t-shirt [£4] and straw hat [£4], both Primark = £8 |
I have a lot of dresses in my wardrobe, many of which I haven’t worn for at least six months. The reason for several of these being pushed to the back of the wardrobe is that I just don’t have the right thing to wear over the top of them. There’s nothing worse than getting dolled up, putting on a pretty dress and then having a black cardigan step in and steal all the pretty away! I knew a coloured blazer would solve this problem so I picked up this bargainous beauty from H&M for £19.99. It looks perfect with my Missguided Aldara dress [£24.99] and I know it’ll mean several more dresses can come out from their hiding place too.
 |
| Blazer: H&M – £19.99 = £19.99 |
Excited after my new coral blazer rode into my wardrobe on a proverbial white horse and relinquished an unloved dress from its slumber, I started to see the potential in other coloured blazers and picked up this cream blazer from Missguided to go with a dress I’d bought last year. I bought this dress from boohoo.com last year for a wedding and ended up wearing something else and it’s been sat in the wardrobe with the tags on ever since. I love it with this blazer!
 |
| Blazer: Missguided – £24.99 = £24.99 |
Although I enjoy the feeling of buying something new I rarely get a burst of excitement about a new item of clothing or pair of shoes. However, I must admit that when I spotted these wedges in H&M I actually ran towards them. I’d been after a pair of lace front wedges for such a long time and even as I sprinted towards them I was picturing how cute they’d look with this playsuit, bought from ASOS a few months ago and still bearing its price tags.
 |
| Wedges: H&M – £24.99 = £24.99 |
So there you have it, a grand total of £78 spent and rather than blowing it on a new outfit I’ve actually released four long forgotten items of clothing from the wardrobe. Plus, my new blazers, wedges and cropped top will actually go with a whole host more items and mean I can bring more things out into circulation.
How many items do you have hanging in your wardrobe because you just don’t have the right thing to wear with them? Or what have you bought recently that’s meant you can now wear lots of long forgotten outfits?
Finally, watch out on Twitter for the hashtag – #vcukwearyourwardrobe – that’s what other bloggers will be using to post their restyled looks. And if you want to have a wardobe audit and breathe new life into some of your old outfits you can use it too 🙂
