I recently watched a fashion video on YouTube about the rule of 3 which I fell in love with. It basically said that before you buy something you should think of three different ways you’ll wear it. If you can’t think of three different ways to style it then you shouldn’t buy it.
Then I got an ad / mini catalog in the mail from a store that actually showed a single piece they were advertising styled three ways! It was perfect! I thought to myself, “What a brilliant marketing technique.” You see the item styled three ways and you not only feel compelled to buy that piece, but you’re likely compelled to buy one or more of the other pieces it is styled with in the ad.
I have this simple rule of three on my mind all the time now. I even think about it when I look in my own closet. How can I style this (fill in clothing item) three different ways? Now I need to go one step further and say if I can’t figure out how to style it 3 ways I need to get rid of it. I have so many clothes and many I don’t wear for one reason or another. I have a lot of graphic T’s. I love them, but really how many does one person need? My styling of said T’s is usually with jeans and my black leather jacket. Or I have a graphic T to go with one particular skirt or pair of shorts. I fall into that trap a lot!
I make an outfit I really like and I stick to that outfit and always only wear those pieces together. I think I learned that from my mom. I remember as a teenager going shopping with my mom and she would always have me buy a full outfit. If I was buying a shirt I needed to find a bottom to go with it. Then that outfit would be stuck in my head so I would feel like I had to always wear those two pieces together because I bought them to go together. My mom has always shopped in outfits for herself too.
Now that I’ve learned the rule of 3 I will shop with that in mind from here on out as opposed to shopping in outfits. Imagine how much more I will get out of my wardrobe.
