Building Your Wardrobe on a Small Income

Hi every1 and happy new month....*smiles*. I have been thinking about writing an article on this topic for a while now, but somehow I have been procrastinating. I must warn you that I'm not a great writer, but working on that part for now and I promise to try and break it down as easily as possible. Also, to those wandering 'why is she writing on this topic', to be honest I don’t think I am an expert on this issue, but from what I have seen, with my little experiences and my profession as an upcoming designer, you might like to take some of my advice. So here it goes.....

Defining Who You Are

Considering your gender, occupation, social status, relationship status(very important), religion, etc, which are factors that define who you are, they all have an effect on the way you dress. The most important of them all is the question of 'who you are'.

To answer this, your wardrobe has to depict your person. By doing so you need to define your style, know your likes and dislikes (not forgetting that you should have an open mind). Questions like; are you conservative? Do you like to make a statement yet not look too flashy? Where do you go often? Are you a party freak? An introvert or extrovert? A low medium or high income earner? (Learn to cut your coat according to your fabric), are you mobile? (Ladies very important oh, if you are not, please respect yourself and wear flats and comfortable outfits). Let me discuss on the most important thing which are:

1. Defining your style: you should be able to tell what you are comfortable wearing, what kind of figure you have (especially for the ladies; fat, slim, medium, hour glass, pear shaped, tall or short, blah blah..). Note, you should be able to balance what you are comfortable wearing with what your kind of figure should wear. Also how you want people to perceive you is very key; do want to look like a million bucks even with a low income, or decent, or classy, successful, mother of 5(just kidding), etc. All these factors will have a role to play in what you buy for your wardrobe. Remember to play with prints and colors (they help describe your mood), you can have a mix of conventional and contemporary garments, it all depends on how you choose to style them at different occasions, just make sure you are doing it right.

2. Know your income: there's nothing stopping you from having nice things even with a low income, trust me there are many options like the 2nd hand market which hasn’t closed down and never will, you can make use of that and if you are too pompous to do that, be like me and learn how to cut and sew (just for the purpose of your wardrobe), you will be amazed at how that will turn out for you. Another option is to work harder or find a better paying job, if you are too lazy to do any of this, then you can as well steal or be an aristo (have it at the back of your mind that it won't end well....just saying, no beef).

Taking all these into consideration, you can start by making sure you have at least 2 styles of jackets, 3 skirts, 2 corporate shirts, 2 pant trousers, tank tops(have has many as you can afford), 2 pairs of denim (you can never go wrong with those), 2 gowns,3 foot wears (1 heel, 1 flat and a sandal),1 bag (no 1 will kill you if you have a bag).

Additional Tips:

• Be open-minded and ask for people's opinion on what to buy or how you dress.
• Don't ever play with your shoes and bags section (a lady is most times judged by the kind of shoe she is wearing and what bag she carries).
• For people with low income, have that very good friend that has a good sense of style and is willing to be your personal stylist. And if you've got lots of money just hire one.

I hope you all had a good read and love it. I will attach some pictures to guide you and also expatiate on this write up. Please feel free to drop your comments, I will really love to know what you guys feel about this....have a great week!!! #muahhh