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I haven’t made a secret of my being a huge New Look fan, seriously, they can do no wrong!
Of the stores on the high street, sure they do play it pretty safe in terms of trends – erring on the side of caution whist creating stand-out fashions, but they also carry a larger than normal size range and; my favourite thing – stock products in a wide shade range. When you’re a larger and awkwardly shaped gal, finding the perfect trousers can seem like an impossibility, so having the ability to pick up another colour and know it’s going to look good is *chefs kiss*.
Given the current economic and environmental crises happening concurrently, everyone is reigning it in a little, so as much as people still want to dress up and get out of the house, most of us don’t have the same budget we did only a year ago.
Having the opportunity to work with New Look (I know!) meant that I was able to have a think about how a selection of products would be most useful to customers, and realised that actually, it begins with what you have at home. So, as a little post-Black Friday cleanse; join me in sorting through what I already have, to allow me to make space for some newness!
1. Look at what you have
If you’re anything like me, you’ll have a small number of items you’ll rotate through pretty often and then a huge pile that never see the light of day. I’m a bit of a hoarder too, at the moment this works in my favour as it acts as some free loft insulation, but I digress.
When I say ‘Look at what you have’, I mean it. I’m not talking about flicking through your clothes rail, physically pull the items out, try them on. The item might fit, but doesn’t flatter you or you don’t see how you’d ever wear it, put it straight into the chuck pile. It’s brutal, I know, but it’s how I ended up with 12 bin bags of clothing last year. If you have something you love and it’s a little snug, or holds sentimental value, by all means bag it up to store, but don’t fall into this trap too much, or it’ll defeat the purpose of what we’re doing. This may take a bit of time, and may require a glass of wine to get through – trying on clothes is my least favourite thing to do.
Once you’ve finished this – I’d also say to do your chest of drawers at the same time, your grubby t-shirts that have migrated into your pyjama drawer? Adios. Tights with a hole in the toe that you manage to accidently wear once a week? Au revoir. Now, look at what you have. Everything you have in front of you is something that can be worn at any time as it fits and flatters you. You’ve done the hardest part, honest!
2. Split it up
Of everything you have in front of you, it’s either going to be a statement piece, or a neutral; I use this term loosely – it’s not going to be beige trousers and white t-shirts, but whilst a sequin midi dress is going to be a statement piece, a plain pink jumpsuit could be either, but I’d pop into the neutral camp given the potential to jazz it up. I’m sure that someone, somewhere will tell you there’s a particular number of items you should whittle this all down to, I’m not that cruel. Also, did I mention that I hoard clothing?
By doing this, you should be able to start mentally matching items up, and seeing where the potential of some of your more forgotten pieces is. For example, if I was to put a leopard print midi skirt into my statement cluster, I can then have a browse through the tops and jumpers in my neutrals section to give myself an easier way of viewing my items.
This might be common sense to many, but it’s taken me a long time to be able to look at my clothes in this way. I also find I need to have my shoes on display otherwise I find it difficult to visualise them – I tried labelling their shoeboxes, but actually having everything available at a glance and sorted by type (i.e trainer, heel, loafer) I can build my outfits far more quickly.
3. What do you need
My favourite part. You’ve thinned your wardrobe down and reacquainted yourself with those forgotten flares you found lurking between a faux fur coat and lurex midi dress: now it’s time to identify what you need to maximise the remaining items’ potential.
Given the nature of this, it may be that these fall primarily into the camp of neutral in order to maximise your statement items, however, for me I found that it was a pretty even split in what I was looking for. I love an eye catching slip dress, but as I’m pretty self-conscious about my arms and being large on top, I have a long sleeved mesh body suit I wear underneath, so it’s my neutral and then I can switch the statement to match.
Think practically too, as much as you have all these newly rediscovered things, are you going to realistically get this put together to dash to Asda when you finish working from home in your joggers and realise you’ve nothing in for tea? Simple, plain t-shirts are essential – mine always migrate from daily use to nighttime use when they begin to get a bit grubby, and then these blitzes allow me to get rid entirely and try to keep my pyjama drawer matching (it never does).
So, what items did I pick up?
Remember when I mentioned buying things in every colour I could?
I already had these in green after buying burgundy last year and I totally didn’t anticipate how much these would become a real staple in my day to day dressing.
Black really does go with everything, so this was an obvious purchase as it transcends the neutral/statement split, it can dress up a plain t-shirt, or also go with a sequin top for a night out.
Given that I also work in a park, during the winter, it’s only a benefit that muddy splashes wipe off! With a fleece lining, these are super cozy, but they’re also not too hot when on, they really are the perfect pair of trousers!
Since 2020, I’ve pretty much phased out my wearing heels. I have one pair of heeled boots I can manage and one pair of black heels – most of the others are listed on my Vinted account! I needed something gold to brighten up my outfit options, plus it’s pretty festive – and these were very similar (but half the price) of a pair I’d seen from Monsoon.
I don’t say this in terms of a comparison, but more of an encouragement to shop around, in this case I knew that the quality would be really high coming from New Look, but if you’re doing a cold search for something on Google please be careful!
I just love how supportive these are at the ankle – Jesus, what age am I?! And with them having a block heel, they’ll have less chance of falling down between a cobblestone on Ashton Lane and causing a sensation.
I’m a sucker for sequins, and I actually bought this dress in – probably – 2019 in a champagne/gold colour, but given that I mostly wear black this ‘screamed’ to me through the screen.
I love the versatility of this, yeah, it’s sequin and lends itself to a glam look, but a white t-shirt and a pair of black Dr Martens with this gives a real glam-grunge look that I think could look very cool paired with some chunky jewellery and a leather jacket.
I think I’ll probably wear this with the aforementioned mesh bodysuit, gold sandals shown above, lilac headband and clutch I already have.
This was a wildcard for me, I’ll be honest.
The colours and cut of this dress didn’t scream that they’d suit me initially, but I was pleasantly surprised when I tried it on – it’s so important to always try on items when you can!
The cut was actually really flattering across the bust, because it’s a cowl neck I didn’t feel that it pulled, or really accentuated the size of my chest.
I think the only thing I didn’t anticipate was the difference in length given that it’s an asymmetric style. Regardless, I rarely wear anything without shorts or tights under so it won’t make too much of a difference to me.
What's my verdict?
Each of these items is super versatile and works well alongside the existing items in my wardrobe in order to increase wearability.
Have you shopped in New Look recently? Be sure to let me know if you've picked up anything new!