Shopping for new clothes should be an enjoyable experience, not a stressful one. With so many options and styles to choose from, it can be overwhelming trying to update your wardrobe. Use these 10 essential tips as your guide to make your next trip shopping for women’s clothing a breeze.
Define Your Personal Style
Before shopping, take some time to identify the clothing styles and pieces that you are naturally drawn to. What colors, patterns, silhouettes, and fabrics do you love? Make a detailed list of words that define your fashion sense – preppy, romantic, classic, boho, minimalist, edgy, retro, sophisticated, artsy, sporty, etc. Know the precise necklines, cuts, materials, and colors you feel most confident and comfortable in. This will help you zero in on pieces that match your personal aesthetic and bypass the ones that don’t.
When navigating the world of women’s clothing, pay special attention to the quality, fit, and versatility of women’s dresses to ensure they complement your style and suit various occasions.
Outline Your Closet Essentials
Every woman needs a selection of fundamental closet basics that can be mixed, matched, and styled in endless ways. Start by outlining the essential clothing items you wear most frequently. These likely include pieces like dark wash jeans, Little Black Dresses, blazers, slacks, button-up blouses, cardigans, basic tees, tank tops, and neutral-colored bottoms. Invest in high-quality, long-lasting versions of your most needed basics upfront. You’ll get the cost per wear down by purchasing classic pieces you’ll return to season after season.
Know Your Exact Measurements
Do not rely on the listed size on a clothing tag to determine fit and purchase items. Women’s sizes fluctuate widely between designers, brands, and styles. To ensure a proper and comfortable fit, know your precise measurements for the bust, waist, hips, inseam length, sleeve length, and bra band and cup. Professionally measured at a department store is most accurate. Keep a list of your measurements handy on your phone to reference when shopping. Finding pieces tailored to your unique figure avoids the guesswork.
Allot a Realistic Clothing Budget
Review your finances and set a reasonable dollar amount you can allot towards building your dream wardrobe over time. Be realistic about your clothing budget for the season based on your existing expenses. Factor in costs for seasonal essentials like coats, swimsuits, jeans, work clothes, and shoes. Avoid going over budget on impulse purchases by plotting out your key pieces and average costs ahead of time. Sign up for store loyalty programs and newsletters and look for sales, discounts, and coupon codes to get the most out of your budget.
Assess Fabrics and Care Instructions
When evaluating quality, the fabric content makes a big impact on the look, feel, and longevity of clothing. Natural fibers like 100% cotton, silk, and linen offer breathability and comfort for most women. Synthetics like polyester and rayon add durability, shape retention, and wrinkle resistance. Watch out for fabrics with high percentages of acrylics, nylon, and wool, which often pill and degrade more quickly. Also, check the care label – dry clean only garments tend to be more delicately constructed. Opt for quality fabrics tailored to your lifestyle and washing habits.
Fit Comes First – Try Everything On!
The number one rule when clothes shopping is to try everything on before buying, even familiar styles and brands. Do not rely on sizes alone to make clothing choices. Different designers, rising and falling trends, and fabric patterns mean everything fits differently. To ensure ideal fit and comfort, thoroughly try on every garment. Evaluate fit standing straight, sitting, bending, walking, and reaching. Ensure garments are not pulling, gaping, or constricting at the bust, waist, hips, or shoulders. Trying on is a must, not just a suggestion!
Seek Out Versatile, Mix-and-Match Pieces
Build your dream wardrobe around classic clothing staples designed to be mixed and matched in countless ways. When shopping, look for versatile basics in neutral, solid colors that will pair effortlessly with prints, patterns, and statement pieces you already own. Items like blazers, cardigans, tanks, t-shirts, button-ups, and leggings easily pair together to create fresh new outfits. Building a capsule wardrobe of coordinating essentials streamlines getting dressed.
Focus on Flattering Styles for Your Body Shape
Wearing silhouettes and styles tailored to your specific body shape helps highlight your best assets. Determine if you have an oval, hourglass, pear, inverted triangle, petite or plus-sized figure. Select necklines, seam placements, hemlines, and fits that balance and complement your proportions. The right fits provide both comfort and confidence. Seek out your most flattering sleeve lengths, rises, jewelry, and accessories to highlight your shape.
Inspect Quality and Durability
Inspect the materials and stitching for signs of quality and durability when trying on clothing. High-end pieces should have sturdy, close-spaced stitching with no loose threads or gaps. Check that tops, dresses, and pants lie smoothly against the body with no pulling across buttons or gaping along zippers. Fabrics should have a body and structure that retains their shape through repeated wear without sagging, bagging or stretching out. When ordering clothes online, ensure you read the description of the product and check the About section of the company you are ordering from. For example, Dan Bilzerian of Ignite have a section on their About page discussing their apparel which gives you reassurance that you are going to get good quality and durability.
Express Your Personality Through Your Style
Above all else, wear clothing that aligns with your personality and makes you feel happy, confident and comfortable. Do not just blindly follow trends – choose pieces you genuinely love. Mix and match beloved wardrobe basics with new seasonal accent pieces that let your inner spirit shine through. Curate a functional closet that allows you to update your look while still maintaining and expressing your personal style.
Keeping these top tips in mind makes shopping for women’s clothing a fun and rewarding process. Take time to discover and re-discover your style, find the proper fit, invest in quality, and seek out pieces that reflect the real you—approach building your dream wardrobe as a journey, not a race. Thoughtfully curated closets stand the test of time and trends.
When you’re ready to explore stunning new clothing collections, be sure to check out Grace and Lace. Their catalog of women’s fashion offers gorgeous options for dresses, jeans, tops, and more to suit any personal style. Fabrics have stretch for incredible comfort, while trendy details keep each piece feeling modern. In particular, their collection of distressed jeggings combines fashionably ripped knees and vintage washes with unbeatable softness and flexibility. Grace and Lace has all the necessary clothing pieces to build a wardrobe you love wearing.
