One of the traditions I love at Canvas is making a set of yearly style resolutions. As a personal stylist, my closet often serves as a test kitchen for reviewing new brands, styles, and trends. It is easy to lose a sense of style and continuity with these rotating pieces competing for space in my small San Francisco apartment.

While everyone seems to have an opinion on the practice of making resolutions—I find them helpful to encourage a self-check-in. By evaluating what is important to me (and what is not) I can plan out how I want to use my time and resources to reinforce my values. While I help clients with goals similar to those listed below I still have to be mindful and work on them myself. Perhaps a few may resonate with you and inspire you to think differently the next time you peek into your closet. I’ve also listed a few closet symptoms that may signal your closet is ready for a change.

Cheers to a new year and finding more of yourself in your style!

~Kimberly

CANVAS - 2020 Style Goals

1: Be Intentional and Enjoy What I Have

My personal style consistently shifts between classic, modern/minimal, and feminine. Knowing my style “strong suits” has helped direct me over the past three years as I have negotiated stronger purges in my wardrobe. Marie Kondo, certainly has been inspirational in this commitment to paring down, along with the freedom I have found when traveling with small capsule wardrobes (see the story here).

It is easy to become fixated on what is missing from your wardrobe, especially if you are in a season of clearing out well-loved items. Instead of quickly filling the gaps, enjoy what you do have and get creative with your outfit pairings. As you start to disrupt your “go to looks” you may realize you are missing key outfitting pieces you never considered. If you do need to replace a basic item consider upgrading the quality so it lasts longer.

2: Let Go of the Straggling Fear Items

There are a few items I’ve had in my wardrobe for the last 10+ years and I’ll admit I take a little pride in that. However, I’m finding that in actuality I rarely wear them. This year I’ll be packing away a few nostalgia pieces and letting the rest go. Many pieces have been worn to the point they no longer wash up well or have lost their shape over time.

Some of these pieces include items I’ve held on to for those “what if” occasions or out of fear that I will have nothing to wear in its place. In reality, I am not wearing them anyway. It’s time to be free of the stragglers, so I can focus on what I need.

3: Make Strides to Take Care of What I Have

When I first get a new piece, I am hyper-viligent over how I wash it and wear it. Over time, as a piece ages, I become more lax with care especially when dry cleaning is involved. This year my sweater drawer became so unruly (see below cue) that the plastic bags I store cashmere sweaters in were cast away. I found myself not wanting to wear sweaters because they were so difficult to access. What I did wear was relocated (aka stuffed in) to other drawers.

Wardrobe Cues - When It is Time to Reconfigure

• You frequently misplace or can’t find what you need in your closet.

• “Uniform” is an alternative word for your wardrobe. You only wear 20% of what you have.

• Your clothing doesn’t seem fresh after laundering or many items are stained or torn.

• You do not use your closet because you cannot access part or all of it.

• You shop often but don’t feel like you have anything to wear.

New Year Outfit Inspiration

This year I am craving a sleek, simple, and clean wardrobe with a little style and not a lot of fuss. Having an outfit that can transition between client fittings, driving to client’s homes, and setting up heavy rolling racks at stores is what I need. Throughout 2019 I experimented with wearing more day dresses and found freedom in forgiving yet professional outfits. Finding the right shoe wear that was comfortable and looked good made all the difference.

To spark a little more variety in my basics options and balance out my dress looks, I purchased a few fresh pieces this fall to wear year-round. The first piece I picked up was an oversized white shirt. I love that I feel a little like Audrey Hepburn in this blouse. The style details of this shirt pair well with both high-waisted jeans and more tailored pieces like these slacks from Theory. A feminine take on menswear, these wool pants are warm and also offer variety. They look great with pumps or, for days on the go, white sneakers. To balance out the oversized blouse I added my fitted denim jacket to give structure and soften the formality for Bay Area style.

Theory Glen Plaid Trousers ($207) reg. $345, French Connection Rhodes Oversized Shirt $78, Pilcro Denim Jacket ($79.97) reg. $130, Sam Edelman Red Mary Jane Pumps $120 (similar), Tory Burch Kira Chevron Clutch $328 (similar).