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How to Style Clothes You Already Have
Co-authored by wikiHow Staff | 17 References

Updated: September 28, 2019

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Mixing and Layering Outfits
Making Small Changes to Outfits
Modifying Your Clothes
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Next time you're staring at your closet, thinking, “There's nothing to wear,”
resist your urge to blow a bunch of money on a shopping spree. Instead, re-style
the clothes you already own. Mix and match outfits by layering in new ways and
switching your shoes. Freshen up your plain shirts and pants with some rolling,
cuffing, and tying and playing with accessories. You can also modify the clothes
you own by distressing, cutting, tailoring, or dying. Soon you'll feel like you
have a whole new wardrobe!
Method 1
Mixing and Layering Outfits

Image titled Style Clothes You Already Have Step 1

1
Wear pants under a dress. This look is coming back into style. You get the best
of both worlds: the feminine fun of a dress with the practicality and mobility of
pants. Choose fitted pants, like skinny or straight-leg jeans, and a flowy dress.
Keep the pants plain in color so that the dress is still the star of the show.[1]
If you want to ease into this look, start with a shirt-dress, which looks
sort of like a tunic. You'll get used to it and then go bold with a more feminine
dress.
2
Wear leggings with a plaid shirt. You might think that leggings are only good
for wearing to the gym, but you can make them into a cute, casual look by wearing a
plaid shirt on top. You can layer the look by wearing a fitted T-shirt or tank top
underneath, and then wearing the plaid shirt unbuttoned.[2]
This is a fun, casual look that's great for weekends.
3
Wear a T-shirt under a strappy dress. If you have to go somewhere a bit formal,
but you really want to wear your pretty, strappy dress, put on a T-shirt
underneath. It will give you the coverage you need to meet the dress code. It also
shows off more of your dress than if you had to wear a cardigan on top, and it's
cooler for the summer.[3]
Pick a color of shirt that goes well with your dress without distracting
too much from it. Black or white shirts go well with most colors of dress.
This is a great way to make your fun and skimpy bar-hopping dress day-
appropriate.
4
Match a blazer with jeans for date night. You don't have to only wear your work
blazer to the office. Wear it with jeans and a solid-colored T-shirt for a smart-
casual look perfect for date night or dinner. This works great for both men and
women. You can also pair a blazer with a short, flowy dress, for a cute mashup of
masculine and feminine styles.[4]
Wearing a blazer with a dress will give the ensemble a slightly tougher,
edgier look than if you wore a cardigan.
5
Switch out your shoes. If you normally wear your outfit with casual sneakers,
try it with a pair of heels or ankle boots. If you normally wear heels with it, try
flats. Simply switching out your shoes can freshen up a tired outfit.[5]
Try wearing your colorful fancy heels to spice up a gray outfit.
6
Repurpose scarves as headbands and hair ribbons. In the spring and summer, it
may be too warm for you to wear your favorite scarves around your neck, but you can
repurpose them as fashionable headbands or hair ribbons. Simply tie a scarf around
your head, for a headband, or put your hair up and tie the scarf in a bow around
your hairstyle.[6]
This works best for small thin scarves, not blanket scarves!

Method 2
Making Small Changes to Outfits

1
Roll up your sleeves and unbutton your shirt. If you're tired of your boring
old office-worthy button-down shirt, dress it up for a night on the town by rolling
up the sleeves and unbuttoning the top few buttons. This works for both men and
women. You'll show a little more skin, and feel like you're wearing a different
shirt entirely.[7]
Pair this with jeans for a casual look, or with a flowy skirt for date
night if that's your thing.
2
Cuff your pants. Change up the look of your jeans or other casual pants by
cuffing them. Roll the bottoms of the pants up once or twice. It will look more
casual than wearing them un-cuffed.[8]
Cuffing is a great way to show off stylish socks or ankle boots.
3
Cuff the sleeves of your T-shirt by rolling up the sleeves once or twice. This
is a really popular look right now, and a great way to make a plain T-shirt look
more put-together. Unfortunately, it's notoriously hard to get the rolled sleeves
to stay rolled. If you really want them to stay put all day, you can put a rubber
band around the base of each unrolled sleeve, and then roll them up.[9]
You could also just embrace the disheveled look of partially unrolled
sleeves.
Many people claim this look is inspired by movie star James Dean.
4
Knot the bottom of your shirt. Instead of tucking in your button-up shirt,
leave the last few buttons unbuttoned, and tie the two sides of the shirt in a
pretty overhand knot. You can tuck in the sides of the shirt for a neater look, or
leave them hanging for a more bohemian style.[10]
This also works for oversized T-shirts. You can gather together some of the
extra fabric at the bottom of the shirt and twist it into a knot. This will make
the T-shirt more fitted, and is a quick, casual look.
5
Elevate plain outfits with fun accessories. The plainer the outfit, the more
accessories you'll look good wearing. Try a colorful belt, fun socks, a scarf,
dangly earrings, a necklace, a cute watch, or a stack of bangle bracelets. Don't
wear all of these at once! Just try one or two staple accessories to dress up any
look.[11]
Wear a colorful belt with your black jeans and tuck in a white T-shirt.
Instantly your outfit looks more interesting!
Big dangly earrings can instantly make your outfit look more formal and
put-together. Wear your hair up if you really want to draw attention to your
earrings.
Accessories don't have to be jewelry! If jewelry isn't your thing, try
wearing a watch, a scarf, a belt, a headband, or some fun, colorful socks.

Method 3
Modifying Your Clothes

1
Distress your jeans. There's no need to go to the store and buy those expensive
distressed jeans. You can easily distress your own jeans at home. With scissors,
cut horizontal slits about .5 inches (1.3 cm) away from each other in the front of
your jeans. Use tweezers to pluck out the vertical blue threads between the two
slits. You'll be left with only the horizontal white threads, just like you see in
distressed jeans in the store.[12]
You can also rub your jeans with sandpaper to give them that soft, lived-in
feel.[13]
2
Turn your jeans into cut-off shorts. If you're really sick of one of your pairs
of jeans, you can transform it into a pair of shorts. First, put on your jeans and
look in the mirror. Mark with chalk where you want the shorts to get cut off. Then
take off your jeans and cut them with fabric scissors, about .5 inches (1.3 cm)
below where you marked, to leave enough room for error and fray.[14]
Lots of people like to cut their shorts at an angle, so that they are
longer by the inner thigh and shorter at the outer thigh.[15]
3
Tailor your old dress. If you have a favorite old dress that you used to wear
all the time, but doesn't fit anymore, you can tailor it so that it fits better.
Many big clothing stores, like Macys, offer tailoring, or you can go to an
independent tailor in your town. If you're skilled at sewing, you can tailor your
own clothes by taking in the hems with a sewing machine.[16]
Tailoring is a great way to still wear your favorite clothes if your body
has changed in shape or size over the years.
4
Dye your cotton or nylon shirts. Cotton and nylon are the easiest fabrics to
dye at home. First fill a bucket with hot water that's about 140 °F (60 °C). Follow
the mixing directions for the dye you're using and stir it into the hot water to
make a dye bath. Test the color of the dye-bath by dipping in a paper towel, and
modify it by adding more dye or more water until it reaches a good color. Wet your
shirt with water, and pop it into the dye bath. Stir continuously for up to 30
minutes, until it reaches the color you want.[17]
Once you've dyed your shirt, take it out of the dye-bath, rinse it well,
wash it in the washing machine, and hang it up to dry.

Community Q&A
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Tips
 You can also organize a clothing-swap with your friends to trade clothes. Have
each friend bring a couple items of clothes to trade. You can all take whichever
pieces you want, and donate the rest.

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References

↑ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/skirts-dresses-over-
pants_l_5c8fb238e4b071a25a84f1cf
↑ https://www.brightontheday.com/what-to-wear-with-leggings/
↑ https://stylecaster.com/how-to-layer-t-shirts-under-dresses/slide15
↑ https://www.thetrendspotter.net/how-to-wear-a-casual-blazer/
↑ https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/10/05/new-ways-to-style-old-
clothes_n_12235546.html
↑ https://youtu.be/u5QNfAtffqE?t=19
↑ https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/the-complete-guide-on-how-to-roll-up-
your-shirt-sleeves/
↑ https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/10/05/new-ways-to-style-old-
clothes_n_12235546.html
↑ https://www.thecut.com/2017/08/the-perfect-t-shirt-sleeve-roll-is-an-
impossible-dream.html

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This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who
validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. Together, they cited information
from 17 references.

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