Building a new wardrobe

A lot of women have a few garments reserved for "fat days", the days when you're bloated and your regular clothes don't help you to look your best.  Then there are the times when you lose or gain so much weight that NONE of your regular clothes fit.  So where do you start when you truly don't have anything to wear?   You start with basics - pants, tops, skirts, dresses and jackets in neutral colors that you can wear frequently.  Ideally basics should be just that - solid colors, classic cuts and nothing that makes them so unique that people can tell if you wear them twice in one week.

Once you have your basics, you can use accessories to add style and make it look like you have more clothes than you really do.  One of my favorite ways to dress up my basics is with jackets and sweaters.  I have several in black (probably more than I need) and a few in grey.  These will go with most any other color that I wear.  Aside from classic long-sleeved suit jackets for work, I have some with unique buttons, sleeves, and patterns  that let me express my unique style.

Here are few of my favorite jackets:

This one is basic black, but it has a subtle polka dot pattern, and some big gold buttons that give it extra polish. I can wear this over a dress, a skirt and top, or pants and top.  If the dress or skirt are basic, this jacket, some jewelry and some sharp looking shoes will dress it up to look the way I like it.

This jacket from Inc. (from Macy's) is meant for outdoor wear.  But if you live in a cold climate like I do, some days your outerwear never gets taken off.  If that happens, I'm still going to look good!  I love the extra wide lapels and the bell sleeves.  Add a pair of boots and a maxi or mini and the look is nothing plain.

Here's an example of one of the skirts that I plan to wear with these.  It's a super comfortable maxi skirt from Max Studio..  I have a knee length black skirt that I'll wear with these as well.

And next, here's a few grey jackets that I can wear with the same skirts and dresses.

I LOVE this jacket that I got at Marshall's.  The cut is very flattering to my present-size body (larger than it used to be).  And the pattern gives it that extra style that will make me feel confident wearing it.  I see this one with a pair of black dress pants and heels for work.

This jacket is quite different compared to most, and that's why I like it.  It's a medium weight fabric with a satin finish.  Perfect to wear over a plain t-shirt or blouse.  Since it is loose, I would wear it with form-fitting bottoms (pants or jeans) so I don't look like I'm wear big baggy things on top and bottom.  Doing that can make you look larger than you are because you lose the shape of your body altogether.  You always want to emphasize the parts of you that you're happy with.

Last, I have 2 outerwear jackets that I love wearing with leggings or skinny jeans and boots.  These are more casual looks rather than a work wardrobe.  They're funky and different and that makes me happy.  That's something I think absolutely must be included in a new wardrobe - some things that make you happy. Make sure that you have some pieces that make you feel confident, gorgeous, and capable of handling anything.  Those are a basic necessity.