Ever looked at your wardrobe and thought: “what the hell was I thinking?” I had this, and actually I still have this. I’ll share you my experiences on aspiring a perfect (and sustainable) wardrobe and how to fix & prevent wardrobe mistakes.

It’s okay to take it slow

Since I discovered the world of slow fashion, I took a critical look on the items in my wardrobe. Conclusion: almost everything I had was crap. From shoes, to jeans, to blouses and even sweaters, nothing was really pretty or of really good quality. Most items I bought, were cheap, because I compromised on spending less money and therefore having a medium satisfied feeling about the clothes I bought. Now I know: DO NOT COMPROMISE. When you choose for plan B, you will always think back to the item you actually wanted to have. And spending more money on better quality is much more sustainable in the long run; you don’t have to replace it, because you’re still satisfied with it and it still looks like new.

I will share two of my biggest mistakes I made in building my wardrobe and how I’m trying to fix them in a sustainable way. Getting the perfect and sustainable wardrobe is a very slow process.

Let’s start with shoes.

Because this is seriously the basis of my outfit. For all of you who don’t know me: I LOVE to walk long distances. I never use the bus. So my shoes need to be walking-approved, but they weren’t. I had maybe 20 pairs of shoes, but only two pairs were fitting perfectly. All the others hurt when walking long distances. They were either too small or too tight, or the heel was too high for me. I’m a European size 41, so I always felt Miss Big Foot next to my friends, and you know what I did? I bought shoes in a size smaller. I know, I’m stupid, very stupid.

Now that I’m aware of this and now that I’m minimising my wardrobe to only pieces I get a lot of wears out, I decided to sell all the shoes that do not fit well. That was 70% of all my shoes. After I did, I allowed myself to replace all of them with one pair of perfectly fitting shoes I could wear on every occasions. So that’s why I bought the red boots. They have a block heel, so they great to walk on, but they also look classy. They are a little higher than the standard ankle boots, so I can easily wear them under cropped trousers on colder days, without freezing. And they are size 41! Now I bought these, I can close a chapter in my wardrobe process. The shoe section is finally perfect.

⊕ So my tip here: buy something that fits your needs. Do not compromise on fit. Shoes should be comfortable and easy to combine. You don’t need 20 pairs, when you have a few perfect ones.

So let’s move over to my second biggest struggle in building a wardrobe: blouses and tops.

I’ve counted my tops and blouses and they were hanging in my closet as a big group of 34. I asked myself: “Do I seriously need so much blouses?” Obviously the answer is “no”. But why do I have so much, and why am I still not satisfied? It’s because they’re not representing me, they’re not the perfect fit and I don’t feel comfortable wearing them.

This process is for me maybe the hardest of all, because since I decided to stop wearing a bra, I suddenly noticed that I cannot wear everything every time anymore. Almost everything I had and still have, makes me a little insecure. I love the feeling of not wearing a bra, but I also don’t want others to notice that I’m not wearing one. I took a critical look on all the tops and decided to store 60% away and see whether I miss them or not. 20% I decided to sell immediately and the other 20% I’m still wearing (un)comfortably. I’m still finding out how I can close this chapter too, but I haven’t found the perfect top yet. So when you have any recommendations, please let me know.

⊕ My tip here: Ask yourself to what occasions you’re wearing your clothes and how they should represent you. What do you want to show and what not? Do not buy for the sake of buying. Only buy something what makes you feel comfortable in every occasion.

How are you building a perfect wardrobe? What were your biggest wardrobe mistakes? Love to hear your tips & tricks!