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Naked Beauty
Stop Buying Things You Don’t Need: Develop a True Sense of Style and Better Closet in the Process
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A tornado flew around my room before you came. Excuse the mess.
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Hello? Hello. This is Brooke Devard, and you're listening to the Naked Beauty Podcast. This episode is for anyone who's ever said I have nothing to wear while simultaneously looking at a closet full of clothes. For those of us, like me, who crave space between their hangers, for anyone who wants to make their personal style better, save money, be more sustainable, this episode is for you. I'm currently on day 59 of my 75 hard style challenge, and it has honestly changed my life. Now. It's changed my life in the sense that I now have incredible clarity around what I actually want to wear in this lifetime, how I want to show up as my best self. Let's start with the rules of this challenge. An incredible fashion creator, Mandy Lee. Her TikTok handle is old Loser in Brooklyn. I love her. I followed her for a long time. She. She started this in 2024. It's basically a take on the classic 75 hard fitness challenge. But for style, these are the rules. Number one, get dressed every day for 75 days. Quite honestly, the challenge could begin and end there. Putting on an intentional outfit, like putting together a look every day for 75 days. Especially for those of us who work from home, that is a challenge like, that's not nothing. Every day, two and a half months, even if it's casual, you put together a look. That's important. Now, number two, this is the crux of the challenge. Do not buy anything new. Get creative with what you have. Use your brain, not your wallet. Number three, document your daily outfits. Now, I will admit I didn't do this part consistently, but the idea is that taking a photo every day for 75 days gives you clarity on what actually looks good. Good. And what your patterns are. And then number four, set your own goals or intentions throughout the 75 days. Your intention might be, I want to wear more color. I want to create a better closet system, or I want to put together outfits that feel more polished. It's a brilliant challenge. I started on January 1st of this year, and I saw benefits within the first week, and every week since there has gotten better and better. In today's episode, I'm going to be taking you all through everything that I learned. We're going to start with the first rule. Get dressed every day. I once read that most of us only wear 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time. After doing this challenge, I fully understand why we reach for the same items over and over again, because we know they Fit and we know how we feel in them. But forcing myself to get dressed every day and really reach into the depths of my closet, pieces that I had basically forgotten, this was a game changer. One week, I told myself, for example, every single day this week for the full seven days, I'm going to wear a different pair of pants. Trousers for my friends in the uk. And guess what? The reason why I wasn't wearing so many of these pants that I have hanging in my closet every day were fit issues. Too long, too tight, too big, missing a button. I have gone to the tailor three times during this challenge. In two months, I've gone to the tailor three, three times. That's maybe more than I went all of last year. And this was a big unlock. The biggest reason I don't wear a lot of the clothes in my closet is actually fit. It's not that I don't like them or they're not my taste or my style. It is that they don't fit. There's a zipper that's a little bit broken. There's a button that's missing. These are simple fixes. Now, the RealReal, my friends at the RealReal, they've also come to my house twice during this challenge. I have sent away six bags of clothes for consignment. And selling with the RealReal is also my reminder of why I invest in designer clothes in the first place. Because of the resale value. I've racked up so much credit. I'm so excited to use when this no buy ban I'm on is over. But I've gotten rid of a lot. I've put a bag of things to go to Goodwill. I've been reselling things on the RealReal, really culling through and assessing what I want to wear. Because it's not until you're, like, forced to actually look at each garment you have and hanging up and try to style an outfit around it that you realize some pieces you have, one either just need to be tailored or two just do not work for you. This was my other big realization. I buy too many beautiful, delicate things that require dry cleaning. And in my real life, that is just not who I am. I so wish I was that girl. But I have kids. On top of that, I'm a messy eater. I'm clumsy. I wear makeup most days. So that pale silk chiffon dress that has to go over my head to put on, that is a nightmare. That is a nightmare. The clothes that I actually return to again and again are made of durable materials. Denim, wool, cotton. Still beautifully tailored. Interesting cuts, but sturdy. I like wearing sturdy clothes. I might not always buy sturdy clothes, but the pieces that I actually live in and wear day to day are durable. One of my goals during this challenge was that I wanted everything in my closet to be something I could take off the hanger and wear that that day. Not something I'm saving, not something sentimental, just something wearable. And I had too many things that I was hanging on to for sentimental reasons, which is fine. I'm not saying have no, you know, sentimental attachment to your clothes, but now those things are just labeled. They're in a clear bin that lives in my garage. It's labeled sentimental items, Brooke. And they're not taking up prime real estate in my closet. Just the process of trying to build a new outfit every day really forced me to look at everything that I own, and I've gotten rid of a lot because you can't buy anything new. This challenge really forces me to use my brain instead of my wallet. And this is the part of the challenge that's been fun because I've leaned into the power of beauty heavily. I've been doing clip ins with my hair. I use these clip ins from Bellamy. I will link to them in the show notes. And yes, I've even added clip ins to my boho braids to get that extra boho look. I did a whole reel on this. I will link to that as well in the show notes. Changing up my hair, doing an entirely different makeup look. A different makeup look. And suddenly the same dress feels entirely different. And accessories also became really big for me. I have this incredible scarf collection that I had basically abandoned. Brooches, which are very back, by the way. I have a great collection of brooches. Things from my mother, from my grandmother. I was dipping into all of my mom's clip in earrings from the 90s, a great statement necklace. Those family pieces, those are the things that really make my looks feel like me. I love my grandmother's Karine Simpson black cameos, which I've just cherished for years and years and years, and I'm excited to pass down to jade. But all of those things are coming into my outfits and making them feel like me. And once you stop buying clothes, you start styling again, you start playing, you start getting creative. And again, having to get dressed every day reveals what you actually reach for. What I reach for. As I think about my outfits, the ones that I love and feel good in, they're well tailored. They're classic silhouettes. They're not overly trendy. They're materials that feel good on my skin. I've realized that I'm very sensitive to things that make me feel too hot or itch in any way, like the actual fabrication needs to feel great on my skin. These are now my absolute standards. The brands I've worn over and over again during this challenge. Levi's jeans, which I've brought lots of jeans to get tailored, believe it or not. And honestly, I think it is so worth the investment to get your jeans tailored. Cashmere sweaters. I'm dipping a lot into my Ralph Lauren archives leather jackets. Nanushka has been a brand that just. I have these beautiful leather blazers from them that I just wear over and over again. My shoes from Kate. I just love my. My clothes from Kate. They're so expensive, even on the secondhand market, which is where I buy them. Expensive, but worth it when you think about the cost per wear. So when you really live in your clothes for 75 days, this is where patterns start to emerge. When. Which brings us to part two of this challenge. Do not buy anything new. We all fall into this trap of, I have this event to go to. I've got this really special brunch, whatever the thing is. And you think I need to go online or go out to the shops and buy a new outfit, when really you have something great hanging in your closet. You know you do. But there is this psychological effect of having something new, right? Like popping tags. It's that dopamine hit, and it's actually called the. The novelty effect. So people experience a temporary boost in excitement or satisfaction simply because something is new, not because it's better, but simply because it is new. New purchases create a short dopamine spike, and that satisfaction fades quickly once the item becomes familiar. This concept ties into a broader concept of hedonic adaptation. It's basically the fact that humans quickly get used to things that once felt special. Another startling stat that I ran into doing research for this episode. Consumer research suggests that 60% of what people buy are impulse purchases. That's scary. Like, that is really showing how much of what we buy is tied to this emotional state that we're trying to reach versus what we actually need. The other thing that I've been really paying attention to is the reemergence of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. Being a style icon now. I've always loved Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, but the renaissance she's having now because of her relationship with JFK Jr. It's being portrayed in this new FX series Love Story. I've been watching it, I've been loving it. And she's this very extremely minimal style icon from the 90s. She famously worked for Calvin Klein and she really embodied that 90s minimal style. That perfectly cut skirt, a crisp button down gown, a cool little jacket. Now, I saw a girl on TikTok say, and you know these, the tiktokers really like our philosopher kings of our time. She said, you all will never be Carolyn Bessette Kennedy because y' all aren't strict enough. Okay? She said you aren't strict enough to have her style. Did she lie? That was a bar. The way I'm about to be so strict about which piece of clothing enters the threshold of my closet after this challenge is insane. Okay? But this challenge, notice it says don't buy anything new. It does not mean don't shop, because I shopped all the time. I looked, I tried on. I have a full list of all of the things I want to buy after these 75 days. Every ad I saw, every thought I had of, like, oh, I actually need like a little brown belt because I'm finding with my brown shoes I don't have quite the right color belt. It immediately goes onto this list in my notes app. And after these 75 days, I'm going to look and determine what. What I actually want to invest in exercising. This level of self restraint is powerful in itself, not to mention the money saved. Because here's the thing, we all have so much stuff. The chances that you don't have something to wear are actually quite slim. You may not like what you have, but that's a different story. We often shop to fill this immediate need, which again, is this emotional need. Like, I'm going to this thing. Everyone's going to look cute. I need something to look cute and like, feel great about my outfit. Maybe what you need is to get your hair done or try a new lip color or get a fresh mani pedi. Nothing like that. Fresh manicure, pedicure feeling, Spray on a new fragrance that gives you that same feeling. And I've been learning to debunk my own weird psychology around new clothes. Like this idea that because it's new, it's better. I also want to share something I noticed about personal style. A lot of the fashion influencers that are popular to me do not have admirable style. And I realized why I don't personally admire their style. It's because a lot of their clothes look so new now. I used to love the New York Fashion Week street style photos in the mid 2010s. But now influencers wear a full look sent to them by the designer. And you just know 100% they have never worn that outfit before. Which, by the way, let me just say for the record, I would do the same thing if I get invited to the Bottega Veneta show. Yes. Send me a look from the collection to my hotel room in Milan. And I'm going to wear it top to bottom and I'll be happy to do so. But what I'm realizing is you have to domesticate your clothes. You have to spend time with your clothes to make them feel like you. So many people don't keep things long enough to make them feel like part of their signature style. The pieces that you wear over and over and over again become your signature. If you're always buying more and more, then you ro yourself of this opportunity. I also want to share for you a misperception I had going into this. So yes, of course I have saved a lot of money not buying anything for two months. It really makes me think about, could I do like 6 months? But baby steps, one thing at a time. I had this false assumption that I was going to save a lot of time not shopping because it does take a lot of time either to shop in person or to order online. You've got to send back what doesn't fit. It's just like a lot of time is spent browsing and shopping. I still spend time, but I spend time building outfits and reshopping my closet. So I carve out time in my calendar to do these little styling sessions. I look at what I have for the week ahead and then I get to work creating looks. And it is so satisfying. It feels really creative. Like painting or drawing or writing. Now I have read, like many of us have read the Marie Kondo Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. And there's this whole thing about doing dump everything in your closet on the bed and go through each thing and ask does it spark joy? That is my own personal worst nightmare. Like worst nightmare to take everything in my closet out and then start to put it back. If you can do that, that's amazing. I really needed these 75 days to get intimate and acquainted with, reacquainted with everything in my closet. But once I kind of started cooking and realizing what I like and again forcing myself to be creative. Cause I've had a lot of events in these past two months where I've been tempted to go out and get something. But having this time to really figure out, okay, what can I create with the ingredients I have has been really gratifying. I'm using my unique point of view, my own personal history and my own creativity to create a look. For me, the real takeaway from this challenge is that style isn't about having more clothes. It's about having a relationship with the clothes that you already own. Vivian Westwood has a great quote. She says, buy less, choose well, make it last. I'm taking better care of my clothes. I'm investing in tailoring my clothes so the fit is perfection. I have raised my standards so high for what new things I'm going to bring into my closet so that I can keep things to the pieces that I really love and adore and feel like me. I'm having fun. This has been a life changing challenge. If you feel like your personal style just, like, needs this, like, extra boost. If you want to give your wallet a break, if you want to develop your personal style more, I cannot recommend the 75 style hard challenge enough. If you all do the 75 style hard challenge, let me know if you've done it. How it's changed your life. It's certainly changed mine. Thank you for following the show, for being a part of the naked beauty community. Thank you so much for following the show, for being a part of the naked beauty community. If you're not subscribed to naked Beauty on YouTube, I will link to that in the show notes. You can shop all of the beauty products, things recommended from previous episodes in our archive, which I will link to as well. And I'll be back next week with a brand new episode. And this one is a really great founder story from the founder of Tower 28, who, against all odds, created an incredible beauty brand. And so excited for y' all to hear that one. Take good care of yourselves and we'll talk soon.
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Hey, it's Hannah Burner from Giggly Squad, and we're partnering with Abercrombie for the launch of their new spring collection. I need a wardrobe that can handle a busy week in the and go straight to a weekend getaway. Abercrombie's newest drop is full of dresses, sweaters, and layers that effortlessly do both. The piece that's stealing the show for me is the new reversible trench coat. It's a classic navy on one side and a coastal plaid on the other. The perfect spring staple. Get your closet ready for a full season of plans. Shop spring at Abercrombie and Fitch in the app, online and in stores
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