This afternoon I am doing one of my absolute favorite things: wardrobe planning.
I do this every season (Fall & Spring) and it’s not because I have all this luxury time to spend browsing Pinterest, or all of this expendable income to shop till I drop – nope, I do it because just like exercising, eating and every other routine in my life, I have to get dressed – EVERY day.
Anything that I have to do every day I have to plan and simplify so that I can do it well. Sound crazy? Just stick with me for a second.
Two years ago I was about to give birth to my third baby with a 1 year old and a 3 year old that I still needed to take care of. I realized right then and there that I needed to simplify EVERY daily routine or be ok with eating fast food, never reading my bible or another book again, walking around with an extra 50lbs of baby weight, and staying in yoga pants and old t-shirts all day.
This is what led me to get plugged in with Beachbody’s 21 Day Fix program – it was a system that was simple and told me EXACTLY what to do!
This is why I have created a routine to my early morning hours – I sit in the same spot at 5:30am every morning and I read.
This is why I plan and prep my meals every weekend.
This is why every season I plan my wardrobe.
You can either simplify and make a plan so that your daily activities are automatic and easy to accomplish, or you can try to re-create the wheel every day, find it to be too difficult (especially when life is super busy) and never make progress in any area of your life and be frustrated all the time. (In all honesty, I’m still frustrated sometimes, but WAY less than before!).
So – onto my fall wardrobe! (the good stuff!)
I stumbled upon Into Mind a few years ago – it is a minimalistic blog written by a fashion blogger in Berlin and I just love it. Even if your style profile isn’t minimalistic you will still benefit from her principals and guidance.
Based on her recommendations I have come up with the following steps when I am ready to re-vamp and plan my wardrobe for the next season. 
1) Use Pinterest to re-define your style.
This is pretty self explanatory. You can search for something as simple as “fall fashion” or as detailed as “minimalistic fall looks in Bordeaux”. If you want to check out my Pinterest board for this Fall you are welcome to! Click Here
2) Choose your color palette.
This is my best kept secret! Each season I decide on one (maybe two) colors that I will be wearing – the rest of my wardrobe is all neutrals. This allows me much more flexibility in mixing and matching pieces. For this fall I am choosing Navy and Bordeaux.
3) Choose your proportions and uniform.
In order to do this you will need to go to your closet and find the outfit that you love the best! Put it on. What proportions does it have? For me and my body type I love wearing skinny jeans and loose fitting tops, I have an easy going, minimalistic style so that guides my wardrobe. Other women may enjoy a more fitted and tailored look, while still others go even more loose fitting and bohemian. Knowing your “uniform” is a great starting point to structure your wardrobe. (If you are looking for some proportion and uniform examples, Click Here)
4) Inventory and detox your close.
This isn’t as big a project as it was the first time I did this, because now I do this every season and it keeps my close paired down, containing ONLY what I love to wear. I like to take a Sunday afternoon to do this and I literally lay out on the floor all of my tops, pants, skirts, dresses and shoes so I can see them all in a group. Anything that stands out that doesn’t seem to fit with the general look of my wardrobe, I pull aside. Anything I don’t love wearing, or haven’t worn in awhile – I LET IT GO! (I know, it’s hard, but you HAVE to do it!).
Here is Into Mind’s quick guide to wardrobe editing.
This is probably the MOST important part of the entire process (and the most time consuming) but it is VITAL! Also, when you do this, your favorite outfits and pieces will start to show you what your uniform and color pallet should be!
5) Identify gaps and make shopping list.
Once I’ve paired down my wardrobe to ONLY what I love and fits, and isn’t stained, or needing a repair, then I take a look at what’s left and compare it to a basic list of “must haves” for the season. (My favorite list, of course from Into Mind, can be found HERE)
So, there you have it, my 5 steps for wardrobe planning. Of course, if you REALLY dive into the blog and all that she has to offer (which you totally should) you will find ENDLESS resources for how to define your style, how to create a mood board and shop for quality pieces. I highly recommend you do so! It may seem like something trivial and a waste of time, but I can’t tell you how great it feels (and how much less stress I have) to be able to quickly and easily get dressed, EVERY DAY and LOVE the way I look and the outfits I have.
Vanessa Fernandez Fitness 