Why you feel like you have nothing to wear, scientifically explained + life-changing fixes

Here's some fashionable math for you. Woman A has 20 pieces of clothing: 8 skirts and 12 tee shirts. That equals 8x12 = 96 outfits. Woman B has less - 15 pieces of clothing: 2 skirts, 3 pairs of pants, 3 blazers, 3 blouses, 2 tee shirts, and 2 cardigans. That equals 2x3x3x3x2x2 = 216 outfits. Who's the smarter woman? 

Anyone who knows me could have guessed I was probably a shopaholic, and I was. But even though I bought so many clothes, I would find myself thinking “I have nothing to wear” too frequently. A combination of self-realization and research made me realize why, and I’m going to share that with you. Following are reasons why you feel like you have nothing to wear, tackled from psychological, sociological and practical perspectives.

When buying more stuff is NOT the answer:

In the example I gave at the beginning of the article, Woman B can create many more outfits out of her wardrobe than Woman A - even though she has less items! So of course she is much less likely to be frustrated with her wardrobe. Let's explore the mistakes Woman A may be making.

1.  Because you can't find anything! Organization, organization, organization  

"I have nothing to wear" often boils down to clutter. Always remember our golden rule: if a clothing item is out of sight, then it's out of mind. How are you gonna create an outfit out of a piece if you a) forgot it exists, or b) are too lazy to look for it in the tornado that is your closet?

One of my number one tips: avoid drawers like the plague. My closet organization has levelled up tenfold after I got rid of most of my drawers. Why should you eliminate them? Because they make you much more likely to violate our golden rule. With drawers, you a) forget what's at the very end, or at the bottom, of the pile, b) you're afraid of messing up the pile so you avoid taking out certain items altogether, and c) every time you take something out you're probably making your drawer a bit more messy.

The solution: hang as much of your clothes as possible. If you can't hang them and must fold them, make use of custom shelves. You can get a bunch of closet templates from your local furniture store, or shelves to drill into your wall to customize your closet. The biggest shout out to my angel of a father for customizing my entire closet  - by making use of every bit of empty space with hanger racks or shelves, we've managed to optimize the heck out of every inch of it! And it is so easy to find what I need because I can see everything clearly - I don't have to go digging inside drawers and piles of clothes, saving me lots of time and energy.

Above is a part of my closet - you can see at the bottom right that we inserted two shelves to make the most of that space. With two shelves I can fit many more bags than one. I don't use a wardrobe at all - they are the main culprit of all the drawer-related issues I discussed earlier. So instead, notice how my drawers are practically see-through, making it very easy for me to find what I need. I only use them for small items such as socks and gloves, or oddly shaped items that are hard to fit in other areas cohesively, such as fedoras and berets.   

Above is another snippet of my closet. Imagine if all these clothes were folded into piles on shelves, or stuffed into drawers. I probably would have forgotten half of them existed, or would be too lazy to go digging into my drawers to find them. By hanging all my clothes, I can see exactly what I have, and I don't run the risk of messing up any piles or ruining my colour coordination by taking something out.

Another tip I have for you: accessories can make you love your outfit that much more - especially those of you who stick to simpler outfits. Every girl has made the mistake of piling her jewelry in random boxes, and being too scared to go digging in them because her necklaces and bracelets are tangled together and she has no idea where her other earring is.

Solution: make use of jewelry stands instead of boxes, and ring holders for rings. Below is an example of how I organize my longer earrings. Imagine if these were stuffed in a box... (or worse, my worst enemy, drawers!)

Let me know if you'd like a more detailed article on organizing clothes, jewelry and makeup!

Shoutout to my beloved friend Rumaisa for this earring holder! I've been using it for 10 years now - can you believe how useful these things are? 

2. The paradox of choice 

This is a very interesting subject studied in sociology and psychology. Ever since I read The Paradox of Choice - Why More Is Less, by American psychologist Barry Schwartz,  I've come to understand my fashion faux pas are largely due to too much choice.... go figure! The theory is heavily researched and basically states that the more options you have, the poorer you feel after making your selection, no matter what your selection is. Schwartz discusses ideas of psychologist Herbert A. Simon relating to the terms Simon coined: maximizers and satisficers. A maximizer needs to know for certain that their choice was the best, and they consider every other alternative they can imagine in order to conclude that. This is a daunting task that becomes more so as the number of choices increases. In contrast, a satisficer goes in with specific criteria and is much less concerned that there are better alternatives. Be a satisficer, not a maximizer, when it comes to clothes.

So how do you become a satisficer? This may be harder if you're a perfectionist. My best tip is follow as many of the rules in this article as you can. I'm a big perfectionist, and at times shopping really did make me anxious 'cause I was obsessed with finding the right piece! Who knew something that made me so happy, could also make me so stressed? As time went on and I started formulating these rules for myself that you're reading, I developed a much happier and easier relationship with my closet. Additionally, maintaining rules or criteria eliminates the likelihood that you'll have to make a troublesome choice - this is the "second-order decision" principle coined by law professor Cass Sunstein. How can we apply this to shopping? Practice intentional shopping - I talk more about this in #6.

The paradox of choice also dictates that the more clothes you're looking at, the less likely it is that you'll be satisfied with what you end up wearing. This means you won't necessarily be happy by buying more! So don't tell yourself you need to go shopping again the next time you don't like your outfit. Quality over quantity is very important when it comes to your closet - the 6 rules in this article help you get there.

3. You buy things just because they're on sale  

I was guilty of this - I would settle for something just because I think I'm getting a good deal, making me feel like I one-upped the world or something. But the thing I bought would half-rot in my closet. DON'T settle - don't buy something just because it's a good deal. You're going to end up with a closet full of things you half-like - surefire way to bore you of your closet. If you can't make at least three outfits off the top of your head with the item you're about to buy plus what you already have in your closet, don't buy it.

4. Bad fits 

You may be holding on to pieces from another lifetime - a time when you were a different weight. If this is the case, give these pieces away instantly. No wonder you look at your closet and think you have nothing to wear - because you legitimately can't wear what doesn't fit you at the moment! If you really can't make yourself donate them or give them away, then stuff the clothes that don't fit you right now in a bag and keep it AWAY from your closet. That way, you're looking at a more accurate representation of what you can actually use in your closet.

Or maybe your clothes just aren't well tailored. Obviously you don't have to wear super form-fitting clothes - just make sure you like the way your clothes fit. Going back to my third point, if you buy something just because it's pretty or on sale, but it doesn't fit you well, you're going to end up not wearing it - because you won't feel happy in it. If you find your closet is full of bad fits, invest in a tailor, or shop at different stores than you shop at right now. Also, if you do a lot of online shopping and you find your closet's full of bad fits, you're obviously shopping the wrong size! This is a problem our online shopping-obsessed generation runs into a lot. Make sure you measure yourself properly with a measuring tape to ensure you're getting the right size - every online shopping platform that's half decent provides VERY detailed measurements for its clothes. You have to ensure these measurements match you. There's no point in "saving time" by online shopping if the clothes that arrive don't even fit you well...

When buying more stuff IS the answer:

5.  You need more of the basic, boring stuff

This is a very important realization to make: it’s not necessarily buying more that you need to do - you need to buy the right things. #5 is a rule I learned the very way. You see, I love buying fancy clothes. I really did love the pieces I was buying - the colours, the fits, the styles - it seemed I was following all the rules above. So why did I still look in my closet and feel like I had nothing to wear sometimes? It's because I was missing the basics! You see, it's very easy to create outfits with basics. And no matter how much I loved my fancy and extra clothes, with the lace and the bell sleeves and the pearls and the off-the-shoulder cuts, I had to realize I'm not always in the mood to wear them just because I love them. This was especially true when I started my internship - I was just not as comfortable wearing certain clothes in the office that I would not have thought twice about at university. Additionally, some days I was just too stressed to be in the mood to wear "pretty" clothes at uni. I know the basics aren't fun to shop for, but it's really important to invest in a good quality white tee, white button-down, simple dark denim jeans, a simple crew-neck, etc. Even though I love wearing my whites, beiges and pinks (as you can tell from my closet photos), I realized -shocker- that I did need some black in my closet! It's just easier to create an outfit with a black piece. After investing in the basic, boring stuff, I found it much easier to create outfits for everyday life.

6. You don't practice intentional shopping 

In #3, I talked about American psychologist Herbert A. Simon's maximizer vs. satisficer theory, and Sunstein's "second-order decision" principle. Let's apply them a bit more here by practicing intentional shopping. Decisions made by following a rule are more likely to eliminate the need to make random or troublesome decisions, as well as minimize the chance of feeling regret later. How do we apply this to shopping? Have. a. list. If you're someone who just goes into the store when you've had a rough day to get some retail therapy in, you're going to end up with items you don't make much use of. Go shopping with a specific idea of what you want. But let's face it, we're not always going to have a list with us while shopping for clothes. I'm very guilty of randomly ending up in clothing stores... so what I started to do, and I recommend you do too, is keep a photo album on my phone of items or outfits that I saw on Pinterest or Insta that I want to recreate. This way, I can make sure that when I buy clothes or shoes or makeup or whatever, it's going to be something I saw before and thought "I wish I had that." This is a totally foolproof way to avoid buying something because you're excited in the moment!

I've talked about settling already - I'm bringing it up again to address the last-minute shoppers. If you're shopping for something last minute - say you really need a dress for your party, or your sister's baby shower, or the vacation you're going to tomorrow, you're going to end up settling.  I repeat - if you engage in last-minute shopping, you WILL end up settling. Even if the colour or fit isn't the best, you're tired, you can only go through a limited number of stores in one day...so you settle. The photo album trick I mentioned above is very useful in eliminating the chance that you'll end up last-minute shopping.

Every rule I discussed here I've realized the hard way and thus actively implement in my fashion habits. They have truly made a difference in how easy it is for me to get dressed up and actually feel quite good in what I'm wearing every day. Now it's your turn to give us some tips!

Sincerely,

Annesa