← Her Style Podcast | Shopping, Color Palettes, Fashion, Wardrobe, Outfits, Clothing
Her Style Podcast | Shopping, Color Palettes, Fashion, Wardrobe, Outfits, Clothing
235 | Mastering a Transitional Wardrobe So You Can Go From Work to Weekends with Ease
00:19:59
A common obstacle I see in our community is the struggle to bridge the gap between your 9-5 wardrobe and what you wear outside the office. But friend, you don’t need to invest in two separate wardrobes to feel stylish every day of the week. ...
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- [00:00]
Isabel
A common obstacle I see in our community is the struggle to bridge the gap between your 9 to 5 wardrobe and what you wear outside the office. But friend, you don't need to invest in two separate wardrobes to feel stylish every day of the week. Today on Her Style podcast we're talking about how to build a transitional wardrobe. One that can take you from work to weekend without needing an entire outfit overhaul or expensive shopping spree. I'll walk you through the mindset, shifts and practical strategies to help you mix, match and and reimagine the pieces you already own in new wear anywhere ways. If you've ever stood in front of your closet thinking I have nothing casual enough for brunch or this is too dressy to wear to the park, this episode is for you. Let's simplify, stretch your style and make your wardrobe work harder for you.
- [00:55]
Heather Riggs
Welcome to Her Style Podcast where we're all about empowering you to show up and get dressed every day with confidence. I'm your host Heather Riggs, a 15 year and counting certified image consultant and color specialist ready to build a wardrobe and a personal style you love. Let's get started.
- [01:21]
Isabel
Oh my goodness. I hear this challenge all the time friend. It's either I have my work wardrobe dialed in, but then I have nothing to wear on the weekend when it's time to go out for a date night or to my kids sporting event or for coffee with a friend. Or maybe you have your weekend and at home wardrobe really dialed in and then you're struggling to use those pieces when you go into the office. Or maybe you've retired recently or started working from home and your wardrobe is feeling very corporate and stuffy and not at all suitable for your more casual day to day life. I actually thought of this really weird analogy, but I feel like it's kind of perfect and I'm excited to share it with you because I've never thought of this before, but I really want want to encourage you to start treating your wardrobe like a game of Tetris. I know I said it was weird, but think about it. When you play Tetris, there are only five pieces, but they can connect to each other and stack up in an endless number of ways. I mean, I don't think I have ever played a game of Tetris and put the pieces together in the same way every time, but we so often default to doing that with our wardrobes and when you're playing Tetris, the pieces can really start piling up on you so fast. You have to be able to be creative and experiment and try things and think on your feet. And obviously sometimes it works out and other times it doesn't. Right? They don't quite fit together, but either way, you are using all of those pieces with the goal of making one very cohesive puzzle. So maybe you start to see that cute little L shaped piece coming down the pipeline and you have some choices to make. You could slide it in under the Z piece, you know, like it drops to the bottom and then you immediately have to scooch it over to fit in place. Or maybe you want to stack it up neatly on top of the four block cube. Or you could saddle it up alongside the vertical eyepiece. If you joined me for the Shop your Closet challenge last month, you know that one of the winning factors in the game of building a fully functional wardrobe that you love is getting yourselves to simply think about what you own in different ways and seizing the opportunity to be more creative with your outfit combinations. During the challenge, I shared the example of her Style Collective member, Isabel, who had this really classic black linen blazer, and she was struggling to style it. It didn't fit in with her natural feminine and alluring aesthetic, and she was seriously debating letting it go during the closet audit phase of the program. But together, during one of our weekly group coaching calls, we were able to put together a handful of really cute casual looks using this blazer that felt totally in alignment for her. She ended up really excited about using this amazing staple piece all over again. And in fact, just last week, she posted another new outfit in the group that she styled all on her own using this key piece. So the floodgates really opened up for her in just thinking about how she could style it up in some different ways for her everyday life, and I want to encourage you to start doing the same. If you've been trying to build a wardrobe that works for your lifestyle, then versatility really is key. When your clothing can pull double duty, taking you from client meetings to coffee runs and from date nights to target trips, then, first of all, you're going to spend a lot less money because you're going to need to buy far fewer clothing items than you might think you need. You'll also be able to cut down on decision fatigue and organization overwhelm because you'll be able to do so much more with what you have, which will hopefully be a lot less than. And you're going to feel more confident because you know that you're making the most of what you already have. And you'll feel a lot more creative and place playful when you start thinking about other ways that you can utilize the pieces in your closet. A transitional wardrobe is going to help you do a lot more with a lot less. So let's set you up for success and talk today about a few simple ways that you can build a transitional wardrobe. Or maybe better utilize the one that might be hiding right under your nose. It's possible that you have a lot of pieces that you can transition from work to weekend that you haven't been using. So one of the biggest mindset shifts that I like to coach my clients through is to stop putting your clothes in boxes. And I don't mean literal boxes. Although there is a chance maybe you're packing up your pieces too soon. You might be able to use them for transitional weather or different functions in your day. But what I'm really talking about here are the mental boxes that we can put our clothing in. I feel like we often assign categories to our clothes, so you might be looking at pieces and saying, okay, this is my work dress. These are my weekend jeans. That top is for date nights. But I want to ask you why? And who says. Who says that your structured pants can't be worn with sneakers on a Saturday when you're out running errands? Or that your cozy knit dress is only for casual days? So here's a question that I want you to start asking yourself more often. How else could I wear this item? That one prompt alone can completely reframe the way that you see your wardrobe. I want you to go ahead and write that question down. Ask yourself this one the next time you notice that you're defaulting to the same combination again, or struggling with what to wear again, or feeling limited by what you have yet again, ask yourself, how else could I wear this item? A promise that I had everyone make at the shop. Your closet challenge was to shift their mindset from this won't work to what if it can? Your brain really does love to be creative and find solutions to problems and questions that you ask. So just stopping and getting out of your normal rut of wearing the same things on repeat in the same ways and asking, how else could I wear this item? Or what if it could work for the office or for brunch or for my kids soccer game this Saturday, just asking yourself that question and giving that pattern interrupt to your default can truly change everything. So of course not all of the pieces are going to work in all of the ways every time. But just having a willingness to Experiment and play is going to serve you so well when it comes to mixing and matching your pieces and taking things from work to weekend and anywhere in between. Honestly, I feel like we get to stop this episode right there. I would love to hear what comes up for you in implementing that one exercise alone, but of course I do want to talk through some of the key players that you might want to consider for creating a really transitional wardrobe. These are going to be pieces that will mix and match really effortlessly across your work and weekend looks. But please remember I always want you to keep your personal style and your features and preferences in mind, so be discerning about what works for you and what doesn't work for you. This is not a checklist of items that you must have. They are just items that historically are very easy to combine in various high low combinations. So again, just points to consider, not necessarily points that you need to go out and buy today. So the first transitional piece that is really great to consider, as I already mentioned, is a good blazer. You can toss one over a T shirt and jeans or wear it with a flowy dress and boots. As I mentioned, my client Isabel has been styling hers in a number of ways with shorts and a baseball hat or a mini skirt and her Converse sneakers. Personally, I love wearing a cute oversized blazer with some skinny jeans and heels for a date night. There are so many cute possibilities that you can use to take a blazer from the office into your nights and weekends, so that's definitely one to consider if it feels right for you. The next type of transitional piece that I really love is trousers or tailored pants because you can pair them obviously with a professional looking blouse for work, but you could also swap in a cute graphic tee or pair of sneakers as I mentioned earlier for a really fun off duty outfit as well. So tons of inspiration that you can find on wearing trousers beyond your nine to five the next one on the list is knit or sweater dresses. Maybe not this time of year if it's warming up where you live, but in general I think these are really great options for belting, for layering a jacket over top, or throwing on with sandals or ankle boots depending on the temperature and the vibe that you're going for. Honestly, any basic dress can be very easily dressed up or down just by swapping out your footwear and your accessories and calling it a day. I love the comfort and versatility of a good stable dress and that it's kind of a built in outfit from head to toe. You don't have to Think about combining a top and bottoms. It's just one good key piece that you can easily throw on and go about your day and the options truly are endless. Okay, the next one to consider are some good button down shirts. I already mentioned these, but you can wear them tucked into slacks or worn open over a tank top with denim shorts or trouser shorts if you want a dressier daytime look. I have been living in button down shirts this season and I'm even planning to use a couple of lightweight linen options that I picked up as easy cover ups for pool and beach days this summer. I think that's such a nice piece to kind of make your look feel really pulled together and elegant but also easy breezy at the same time. And I also think they can look a little bit sexy. If you wanted to wear one kind of loosely buttoned at the top with a cute skirt for your date night, I think that's another fun option for a button down shirt. Okay, the next one on the list is Some simple skirts. While we're talking about skirts, a slip skirt or an A line midi skirt can work especially well with both blouses and even with sweatshirts if you want a more casual look for your weekend. I love looking at high low outfit inspiration that incorporates a pretty satin or silk slip skirt. Just make sure that you're choosing the right length and color for you. But skirts are such versatile pieces. I will even wear a few of my basic mini skirts or pencil skirts with a simple white fashion sneaker or even sandals this time of year. That can be such a fun look. The last transitional piece that you might want to consider is kind of a broad category, but I want to talk about basic layering pieces like simple tank tops, T shirts, cardigans, even a good crew neck sweater. These easy staples can seriously fill in the gaps and help your star pieces or statement items really flex between looks. I don't want you to feel like you have to limit yourself to neutral colors or styles here either. You can definitely infuse your personality even to some of the basic building blocks of your wardrobe, like these basic layering pieces. Now I'm again not saying these are the only pieces that you need and they might not all be the right choices for you. It's very possible that you're someone who loves wearing dresses and skirts, or you might be somebody who only feels like yourself in a good pair of pants. Either way, I just wanted to give you this quick general list to consider because they truly are easy to style in so many different ways and I would also challenge you to look at what's in your current collection and do some research. What ideas can you find online? You might want to search for blazer outfits for the weekend or dress pant outfits for date night and just see where inspiration strikes. Because remember, we want to think about how else can you wear these pieces. And remember that styling is where the real magic happens. It's all about how you bring everything together. Sometimes it's not the piece that makes it deemed work wear or weekend wear, but it's what you put with it. So I want to give you a couple of simple styling swaps that you can try as well just to transition your outfits a little bit better between work and play. The first thing you can do, we already hinted at this, is switching up your shoes. As I said, a dress is going to look totally different with heels versus a pair of clean white sneakers. You can also try switching out your handbag, for example, if you use a structured tote for the office, maybe you could try a slouchy crossbody bag for an instant tone shift after hours. You can also think about layering creatively. A denim jacket can dress anything down, and maybe a cardigan sweater in one of your best colors can add some softness to an otherwise really sharp outfit. And then of course, you can also play with tucks and tailoring if you want to try to kind of loosen things up a little bit. Outside of the office, you could do a casual front tuck. You could try rolling up the sleeves of your button down shirt or maybe belting the waist of your dress just to transform the feel of your outfit. So try some little elements. It can really make such a big difference in the overall presentation and vibe of your look. Even the tiniest tweak can really help to cross your outfit over the line from professional to playful or the other way around. And finally, if you are shopping for new pieces and if your goal is to create a transitional wardrobe that you can wear anywhere, then versatility, as I said before, should be top of mind. So don't forget about this and I want to give you a couple of quick shopping tips when you're bringing in new things. The first one and you know I'm not one to give you hard and fast rules, but I do embrace the rule of three. And this is where before you buy something, you ask yourself, can I wear this in at least three different ways with pieces that I already own? This is going to help you to think about your wardrobe as more of a cohesive collection and thinking about how a new piece is going to integrate with what you already have. So ideally you'll be able to pinpoint at least three different ways or occasions that you can wear that piece before you decide to buy it. Now you also know One of the things I will always shout from the rooftops is to buy your best colors. It's a million times easier to mix and match what you own when you're sticking with a harmonious assortment of your most flattering hues. If you are unsure what colors to wear, or if you need more support with curating a cohesive palette of colors in your closet, I would love to team up with you on this Inside Her Style Collective. And I do also have quite a few episodes about color to help get you started, so I'll link up everything for you right in the show notes if you want to dive deeper and explore more options around discovering your best colors. And then of course you want to watch out for single use items when you're shopping. This is sort of the reverse of the first rule of three that we talked about. If you find that something only works for one type of event, or if you're starting to fall into that mindset as you go shopping that you are isolating your pieces to workwear or weekend, I want you to pause for a minute and make sure that it's really worth the investment and the closet space before you buy it. You could just take a minute to do a quick online search, get some ideas of how you could stretch what's possible for that piece before you decide to bring it home. So just take an extra step to figure out how you can make it work for other ways. Or if you determine that it's really just a one time wear, you might want to consider renting something similar instead or just just letting it go and make do with what you have. And the last shopping tip that I have is to focus on your lifestyle. If you are rarely in a corporate setting these days, then you really don't need to invest too much in traditional suits or more high end office attire like I learned the hard way. You definitely don't need more than 30 cocktail dresses unless you are frequenting gala events or you're walking the red carpet every weekend. Your wardrobe really should be an accurate reflection of how you are spending your time. So when you're shopping, try not to get distracted by the pieces that you love but will rarely have an occasion to wear. Just like we said, you wanna watch out for those single use items. Not to say it's never worth doing a little splurge or treating yourself to something pretty or fun or exciting. I still want your base wardrobe to also really light you up, but you've gotta be a little bit more discerning about what's actually gonna work for your day to day. Okay friend, I wanna leave you with a quick little style challenge for the week. I think it's a fun one. You're gonna enjoy this. What I want you to do is pull out three work items from your closet and challenge yourself to style them casually try to wear them maybe this weekend coming up. Then I want you to do the reverse and take three weekend pieces or off duty pieces and try dressing them up and maybe wear them to work this week. If you feel brave and so willing to play along with this challenge, I want you to try some unexpected combinations, take lots of photos, and be willing to make a fashion faux pas until you figure out what actually works together. You don't have to leave the house in this combination if it doesn't actually work for you, but you might be surprised how fresh your wardrobe feels when you stop drawing hard and fast lines between work and play. So let's recap really quick. A transitional wardrobe does not mean that your closet is boring or basic. It just means that it is intentional and even more importantly, that you are being intentional about how you put it all together. This means choosing pieces you love, finding creative ways to wear them again and again across all areas of your life. You do not need to have a separate closet for every activity on your calendar or each facet of your personality. You really just need the confidence and a willingness to play and try things and adapt your pieces to work for you wherever you go. If you decide to try my little challenge this week, I would love to see what you come up with. You can head into our free Facebook community and post a few of your favorite looks. You can join us over there@herstylellc.com community and if this episode gave you some good aha moments or food for thought, it would mean so much if you would take just a minute to share it with a friend or leave a written review to help more women discover us here at Herstyle Podcast. For now, keep shopping and styling your wardrobe with fun and intention and don't be afraid to mix it up.
- [19:12]
Heather Riggs
Thank you for listening to today's episode.
- [19:15]
Isabel
If you want to stop copying everyone.
- [19:17]
Heather Riggs
Else'S style and start dialing in your own swoon worthy signature look, head over to take my free 5 minute personal style quiz which you can find at the link in the show notes. If you've enjoyed our time together, please be sure to rate, review and subscribe to her style podcast so you never miss an episode. Finally, I invite you to make this.
- [19:38]
Isabel
A two way conversation and send me.
- [19:40]
Heather Riggs
A DM over on Instagram eatherigstyle to let me know how I can best support you on your style journey. I'm always here for you in style and service.
- [19:51]
Isabel
Until next time.