Today I want to talk about where to start if you are in a style rut. I know some of you are ready for this!

I know this because several months ago, in May, I quietly started a monthly style membership behind the scenes called the PMT Style Club and invited a small group of women to become early members. For the last 5+ months, we’ve been experimenting with it to develop it into a place for women to figure out their style in an ongoing way, to learn, and to interact with me and other PMTers who also want to feel good in their clothes. Heads up that this is coming soon, and I’ll talk more about it at the end.

Anyway, in it, I asked women to share why they became members, and so many of them said they had a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear; had been through several life changes, work changes, and baby stages; and found themselves in major style ruts. And they joined the PMT Style Club because they’re ready to get out of that rut, and I know many of you can relate.

If you’re ready for a fresh start, there is no better time to get out of a style rut than today.

(BTW, we are finally opening up enrollment to the PMT Style Club publicly in just a few weeks. See the bottom of the post for more info!)

 

Why Do You Get Into Style Ruts?

There are many reasons we get into style ruts, and as we talk through them you’ll see why it’s actually totally understandable to get into one. We just don’t want you to stay there.

Hopefully talking through some of the main culprits for why we get into style ruts will help you pinpoint how to get out of it.

Life Stage Changes
I say this a lot: Our lifestyles change constantly. We experience so many transitions, like starting a new job, shifting to working from home, going back to the office, having a baby, breastfeeding, and many more. We don’t acknowledge enough how frequent and normal transitions can be!

Well, each of these transitions also requires different types of clothes, don’t they? What once worked for your schnazzy office job is no longer right for working from home. What worked for a couple of years of working from home doesn’t work for going back to the office. What worked pre-baby might not work post-baby. So, we need to allow our wardrobes to keep up with the changes. (And stop buying all of those cute blouses that we never wear because they’re too fancy for our real lives! I’ve been guilty of it too. 😂) Otherwise, we end up with a closet full of clothes that we simply can’t wear, and it can feel like a drag to get dressed. Hello, style rut.

Body Changes
Whether we like it or not, we’ve all experienced body changes, especially as women. And that means your clothes may no longer fit your new size or shape. If you haven’t caught your wardrobe up to your body’s changes, then you’ll have nothing to wear—because nothing fits! And we all know how impossible it is to put yourself together when nothing fits. 😫

Style Changes
Maybe your life and body haven’t changed, but your tastes have. As people, we grow and develop. The things we like to do and what we’re interested in evolve over time—and that includes your taste in style! Your style is a reflection of who you are, so if you’re growing, it’s no surprise that your tastes in clothes would change. But if you haven’t updated your wardrobe to your new tastes, your clothes will not feel like (the new) you, and you won’t feel your best in them.

Shopping Issues – Not Knowing What to Buy or Not Having Time
While the previous three items were about reassessing your wardrobe, it’s a whole other issue to actually have the right clothes. You might have no clue what to buy, or you might not be able to invest the time to shop. Shopping is legitimately cumbersome, and it’s why I provide shopping recs, checklists, style guides, and other resources here. But even with those to help shortcut the process, you still have to commit to shopping on some level. Otherwise, you won’t have enough good clothes and will revert back to the same favorite shirt and pants every time.

Needing Outside Motivation and Coaching 
Sometimes you just need an external factor to give you a boost and help you figure it all out. We are quick to do this with other things, like seeking a teacher to learn how to play the piano or buying a gym membership to give us the accountability and extra push with our health. Why not do this with style? You could have all the style assessments, checklists, and shopping recs in the world, but you might still need someone outside of yourself to motivate you, give you confidence, and help you put it all together.

 

Shop the Outfits:

Where to Start if You Are In a Style Rut

1. Evaluate your current stages for your life, body, and style
Like we said, it’s really important to evaluate these, and in an ongoing way! These can change more frequently than we expect, so I love the practice of reevaluating my wardrobe each season.

Take the time to evaluate these areas. Some starting questions:

• What types of clothes do I need for my current life stage? I want clothes that are mostly casual with some elevated casual, which means jeans, cool sneakers, sweatshirts, and relaxed sweaters, with just a few nicer tops and nice flats.
• What sizes and clothing shapes do I need to look for to dress for my current body? My sizing hasn’t changed, but I’m looking for different clothing shapes to accommodate my hourglass body with the updated cuts of jeans.
• What styles of clothes will I go for? My style is Relaxed/Natural with Edgy and Boho*, so I focus on clothes with those features, and I know that if something is too Romantic, Glam, Whimsical, etc., that even if it looks really cute on someone else, I will not wear them. And I have a better sense of what I DO want to add. (*These are terms we coach women to use in Simply Put Together and the PMT Style Club to define their styles.)

These are the details that we encourage PMT Style Club members to focus on each season, and I want you to do the same. This helps you craft a wardrobe that you actually WANT to wear.

2. Edit your wardrobe based on fit, style type, and lifestyle
After evaluating your needs, it’s time to edit your wardrobe. Remove the things that no longer fit your current body, style, or life stage. You don’t have to get rid of them completely yet if that feels scary! Instead, at least put them in a separate space or just move them all to the back of your closet. You will then have all of your good options bunched together and be able to see what you’re actually working with.

Do it! It’ll feel like you’re getting a great haircut and cutting off dead weight!

 

3. Identify holes
Now you can identify the true holes in your wardrobe.

My approach to wardrobes is having a good mixture of foundations vs. fillers. Fillers are the statement pieces that make your outfits interesting while foundations are the glue pieces that tie everything together so that your wardrobe is fun but easy to use.

To get started with the foundations, use my free Wardrobe Staples Mini Guide checklist! You’ll see 16 wardrobe essentials that will make your wardrobe much easier to use. You can then add fillers to spice up your wardrobe as needed. The free guide also shows you 6 outfit combos that you can wear with the staples, allowing you to insert your own “fillers” into the combos to make the outfits your own.

4. Shop!
I know, know. But, how will you get dressed if you don’t have clothes? You can shortcut the process a bit with a) a wardrobe strategy and checklist like my free Wardrobe Staples Mini Guide or my Starter Kit Wardrobe Guides, b) resources that help you shop, like recs here on my blog, or c) services that literally shop for you.

Using the free Wardrobe Staples Mini Guide or Starter Kit Wardrobe Guides will allow you to do a lot more with less clothes, so you won’t have to buy a whole lot to start getting out of the rut!

Those are four steps you can take to start to get out of a style rut. Truly, being able to love your style starts with having the right pieces—ones that fit your lifestyle, your body, and your style. When your wardrobe is full of clothes that you love and is built cohesively thanks to a strategy, you will enjoy getting dressed much, much more. These four steps help you with that!

 

---

If you are interested in the PMT Style Club, we are opening enrollment in a few weeks!

The PMT Style Club is a welcoming membership community where you can figure out and develop your style in an ongoing way, learn, and interact with a warm group of women who also want to feel good in their clothes.

You’ll find your style, feel more confident in your clothes, have a place to get all of your style questions answered, and get dressed with more confidence and ease. When you become a member, you get access to exclusive resources, workshops, and more so that you can feel your absolute best in your clothes!

I love that in this membership, I can go deeper with you.

We have so many good resources waiting for you to help you figure out style, become a smarter and savvier shopper, put yourself together more easily, and gain motivation and confidence so that you stop spinning your wheels trying to get out of a style rut, waste less money on clothes that you don’t love, and wear clothes that make you feel good!

Plus, you won’t just find your style. This membership will help you keep up with your style through all of life’s changes, provide accountability, and help you figure out how to dress for new stages of life, body shape and size, and current styles.

CLICK HERE to join the waiting list to be the first know when it opens and get all the info.