5 Easy Steps to Maximize Your Wardrobe

By Abby and Elle

Now that fall is here, it’s easier to make your wardrobe work harder for you. Cooler temperatures allow you to layer clothing and experiment with textures. The beauty of this is that you can assemble several outfits from just a few select pieces.

We challenged ourselves to do just that. We came up with some terrific fall fashions, and we tell you how you can do it, too.

Use these steps to maximize your wardrobe, no matter the season:

1. Determine a color palette. For our fall challenge, we focused on brown, tan and taupe.
2. Choose your staple pieces. Our staples were a solid brown skirt, pair of jeans and tan top.
3. Find a few pieces from your closet that you can use to mix and match. Stick to your color palette at first, and gradually introduce other items that complement those colors.
4. Pick your accessories: tights, scarves, jewelry and belts.
5. Spread everything out on your bed to see what works together.

You’ll be amazed at some of the new combos you’ll come up with. Heck, it’s like getting a new wardrobe!

Wore this the other day and loved how the scarf laid, mimicking the cut and flow of the skirt. (Skirt from Juma Gallery, top from Lands End, scarf from Goodwill, boots from Eddie Bauer.)

Added a belt, and changed to a lighter-weight scarf with pops of orange. (Belt from The Limited.)

Traded the belt for a brown fleece vest for chilly fall afternoons. (Vest from Goodwill.)

Paired the lighter scarf with an orange sweater, whose bell-shaped sleeves and bottom neatly follow the flow of the skirt. (Sweater from Macy’s.)

Paired the same tan blouse with a felted wool jacket in chocolate. (Jacket from Marshall’s)

This trio of brown, taupe and copper jewelry looks just right for October. (Necklace from It’s So You! boutique.)

We layered this handmade sweater (bought at a fashion show) over the tan blouse and then added round metallic jewelry (next photo) to mirror the tin-covered buttons on the sweater.

The rings in this earrings/necklace set are a versatile combo of silver, gold and copper.

Don’t forget the footwear! We love an occasional casual chic look achieved by pairing scrubby-bottomed jeans with dress shoes. (Shoes from JC Penney.)

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