Fashion Tips from Style Experts

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If, when getting ready for the day, you spend a lot of time rummaging around, mumbling that you can’t find anything to wear, consider taking the time to map out a more functional wardrobe strategy. It will save you time and streamline your expression.

To help you get started, here are some pointers from six local style experts. They'll teach you how to detox your wardrobe by evaluating what to keep, what to ditch, what to add, what to mix, and what to fix. Just in time for a fresh start, too – as we prepare to bid farewell to short sleeves and hello to shorter days. And though we dread the incipient chill in the air, our closets will be ready for fall.

Rebecca Tay
Editor, Fashion

TIPS FOR MEN

1. Does your suit fit?

Try on all of your winter suits to ensure they still fit properly. A finely-tailored jacket, no matter how expensive, won’t look right if it isn’t nipped in just so, and the same goes with pants — have the waistband taken in or let out if you’ve gained or lost a few pounds since last fall. This is also a great way to update your wardrobe without spending a lot of cash: most good seamstresses can alter the shape of a pant leg to make them slimmer, according to the season’s trends.

2. Are your shoes scuffed?

Invest in a few good pairs of untreated cedar shoe trees, and you’ll soon forget the last time you had to buy a new, expensive pair of dress shoes. By slipping trees into your dress shoes at the end of each day, the leather will last longer (they absorb moisture) and your shoes won’t lose their shape. If you get stuck in a rainstorm on the way home, don’t dry out your shoes too quickly by placing them over a vent—this can crack the leather. Instead, stuff them with newspaper and let them dry naturally before inserting your trees.

3. Will your shirts last?

Preserve your dress shirts by laundering them in cold water (and ask your cleaner to do the same) and, when ironing, lay off the starch if possible (again, ask your cleaner to do the same). We all like the look of a stiff collar or cuff, but the chemicals will reduce the lifetime of your shirts, as will subjecting them to too much steam.

Tips for Women

1. Get them cleaned

If you haven’t already, get your fall jackets and coats professionally cleaned. After months of storage, musty odours and moth-eaten holes can appear—and besides, there’s no better way to welcome the chillier season than to fall back in love with a freshly-laundered favourite sweater.

2. Get them organized

Pack away all of your summer flip flops and get out your winter shoes and boots. Seeing them all lined up will help you evaluate what holes in your closet need filling (did you forget that you threw out those black suede knee-highs after last year’s snowstorm?) or what trends you’d like to spend a few dollars on. Then, have your cobbler re-heel any dressy shoes or stilettos—you’ll be amazed at the difference this can make on your step.

Back: The 2009 BCBusiness Style Guide
Photos: The 2009 BCBusiness Fashion Shoot
Video: Behind the Scenes at the 2009 Shoot
More: All the September 2009 Contents

3. Get them trimmed 

Try on every single pair of jeans in your closet. After throwing out the ones that no longer fit, consider having pant legs altered to be more in line with this season’s trends. Slim legs and skinny jeans don’t appear to be going anywhere this fall; consider having those ultra-flares taken in through the leg and ankle for a cheaper alternative to splurging on a new pair of Sevens.

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