You get dressed the same way every day, right?  Find a top, pick a pair of pants, figure out which shoes to wear and grab a jacket on the way out the door – that’s status quo for a lot of people.  But did you know that you’re probably missing out on wearing some of your favorite things with this outfit formula?

We all have unique and fun items in our wardrobe – an amazing printed jacket, attention-getting beaded flats, multicolor jewelry that always gets noticed – but sometimes, these pieces can be a little harder to wear.  They’re definitely not the easiest to throw on when you’re already two-thirds dressed, so these stellar styles may rarely see the light of day.

I have two pieces of advice if you want to wear the ‘stars’ of your wardrobe a bit more: 

• Firstly, pull them out of the closet!  Put them somewhere highly visible: at the very front of your closet, on a valet hook or coatrack, or another location that you can’t miss.
• Secondly, you’ll need to learn how to get dressed backwards.  And what I mean by that is starting with these special pieces as the first thing you grab, and then building an outfit around them.  And believe me – once you get the hang of it, it’s not as hard as you think.

Get inspired to get dressed backwards from these looks I created for various clients during their styling sessions.  And if you want to schedule a styling session of your own, click here to contact me.

THE FUN BLAZER

A great jacket or blazer can easily be the showpiece of your look, so it usually needs minimal support – but in no way does minimal mean boring.  Echo a color from the print with your top, or stick with neutrals, but add metallic heels for a hit of shine.

THE PRINTED CARDIGAN

Wearing a printed cardigan is an easy peasy way to make your casual outfit stand out, but you need to start with the cardigan first.  Use it as your color ‘blueprint’ and pull the rest of your palette from there.

THE ATTENTION-GETTING BOTTOM

When what you’re wearing on the bottom half is a bold print or a daring hit of color, what you’re wearing on the top can be a bit more sedate.  But never ever forget the joy of a pop color shoe!

THE PATTERNED SCARF

My client had this scarf in her closet before we met, but she rarely wore it because it never seemed to work with her outfits as she headed out the door.  So I started with the scarf and built the outfits around it – one look to wear to the office, and another for weekend brunch.

THE OUTSTANDING SHOES

One of my favorite items to start with when getting dressed backwards is an outstanding pair of shoes.  Whether it’s a fun beaded flat or a salmon-colored snakeskin heel, this is the time to let your shoes do the talking.

AND MORE

Even a distinct piece of jewelry can be an item that you seldom wear because it doesn’t seem to pair with your everyday outfits.  I actually built this date night look around the necklace – the blouse plays off the turquoise in the necklace, while the heels reiterate the red accents.

My client asked me what she could do with this fuzzy vest, and she also told me she was going out with friends that night – so I used the vest as an unexpected outer layer over a denim jacket, and then played with black through a textured blouse and sleek pants.  And depending on her mood, she can wear her cool color block heels or a stacked heel black bootie.

So, will you get dressed backwards tomorrow?