“Spring” cleaning can help you rebrand your style

As the second month of the year begins and the idea of a false spring lingers in students’ minds, they are beginning to change up their wardrobes. That’s me. I like to use this period of “fake spring” to clean out old clothes and call it spring cleaning.

Many of my friends have been asking where to start for a new wardrobe for the new year, so I thought I would share tips and tricks for rebranding your style.

**Donate Old Clothes**

The easiest place to start is to get rid of clothes that no longer serve you. This includes the old sweaters with holes.

It’s painful to move on, but it’s time.

If the clothes can’t be repurposed, it’s best to donate them. If a piece of clothing no longer fits what makes you confident, that needs to go as well.

No need to keep anything that no longer serves you.

**Invest in the Basics**

To start with, you need basics. Basics are generally natural colors that are easy to build off. Think brown, black, white, tan and gray.

The basics can also include the pieces of your wardrobe that you wear often. That is just a baseline for clothing.

**Find an Aesthetic**

The next part involves learning what you love to wear. A certain aesthetic you want to have is a good start to building your personal style.

An aesthetic is generally used to find similar clothing styles to follow. Some examples are dark academia, streetwear, Y2K, cottage core, nature core and vintage.

There are a lot more; however, these are typically the most popular on both campuses. Not everyone needs a certain aesthetic, but it can help for a personal style.

**Imitate Others’ Style**

Find people whose style you like. This can be from social media apps, shows and movies.

If you are unsure what pieces would look like together, using images to piece together a general idea is always useful. Following the media is rather useful to find examples for a certain style.

Prime examples for, say, dark academia is the movie “Dead Poet Society” or cosydaerie on Instagram.

For streetwear that adds graphic tees would be danny.phantom.exe on Instagram.

Y2K fashion is seen all over in new TV shows. The main one at the moment would be “Euphoria”. Nature core includes hiking clothes, warm fleeces and leggings. You can easily find examples.

**Try Thrifting**

Specific clothing might be hard to find, but a great starting place would be thrifting and online forms of thrifting such as Etsy. It allows you to look for specific pieces that might not completely fit the trends.

This, of course, is just a baseline, and everyone’s style is different. Find pieces that make you feel comfortable and confident, not to mention warm since the weather will soon go back being cold. However, the cold shouldn’t stop you from changing up your style because it’s never too late to try a new look.