THE JOURNAL
We’ve all been there. Maybe not Punxsutawney itself, the town in Pennsylvania, US, at the centre of Groundhog Day. More the metaphorical malaise. That sense of being stuck in a rut, like Bill Murray in the 1993 film of the same name. Reliving the same day over and over again. Or at least wearing the same clothes, in the same colours. Having a curated wardrobe that you can rely on is one thing. But a rotation of clothing should never feel like a treadmill.
“It’s like when you open the fridge, but there’s nothing you feel like eating,” says the menswear enthusiast and critic Henry Duffield (@henrythekidd_). “Sometimes, the fridge is empty, but more often, there’s too much choice and you don’t know what you want. When it feels like we can’t pull together an outfit, we probably lack direction just as much as we lack clothing.”
Do you rip it up and start again? “A style reinvention is best approached piece by piece,” says Rachel O-Williams, a Personal Shopper at MR PORTER. “Introduce new elements gradually and wear them alongside the staples already in your wardrobe. This softens the transition while helping you refine your direction as you go. The goal isn’t to wake up one morning with a completely foreign closet – it’s to evolve your style with intention, confidence and a sense of continuity.”
OK campers, rise and shine. Seize this Groundhog Day. We remedied ours by heading to Oaxaca in Mexico – some 2,500 miles from Punxsutawney – to shoot our favourite new clothes, as worn by charros (that’s Mexican cowboys). And here’s how to vibe shift your own daily grind, starting with the way you dress.
01. Ask yourself why
To understand your wardrobe, you must first understand yourself. Begin with these questions: “Why do you want to break out of your rotation?” the fashion journalist Ashley Ogawa Clarke says. And “How do you want to present yourself to the world? What do you want to communicate?”
There might also be a reason why you find yourself distracted by shiny new things. “Our brains are hardwired to be attracted to novelty, so changing up your look is going to satisfy this desire and make you feel good,” says the fashion psychologist Shakaila Forbes-Bell.
02. Make an audit
A stock check of your wardrobe is also a good place to start. “Look at what you wear all the time and the things you are particularly tired of,” says Lauren Cochrane, senior fashion writer for The Guardian and author of The Ten. “This way, you can identify the categories that are most in need of a shake-up.”
Ogawa Clarke suggests focusing on “the pieces in your rotation that you actually enjoy wearing. Figure out how they might fit into what your ideal version of yourself would dress like,” he says. “It’s unlikely you’ll need to swap everything out. You’ll have more success if you introduce a couple of new things and then find new ways to style what you already have.”
“Your wardrobe hasn’t done anything wrong, and there’s probably a lot of great pieces in there,” Duffield says. “Before throwing everything out, see if a garment can be dressed down or dressed up in a new way.”
03. Bored? Try a mood board
“It sounds a bit adolescent, but a Pinterest board or inspiration folder on your phone wouldn’t be a terrible idea,” Cochrane says. “Fill it with pics of anyone you think looks good – be it men on the red carpet, runway references or people you know. You don’t need to take their look wholesale either. Think about the details.”
Ogawa Clarke also endorses this approach. “It helps you recognise patterns in your own taste,” he says. “You might realise you gravitate towards oval-shaped sunglasses, Armani suiting and MA-1 bomber jackets. At the very least, it gives you a jumping-off point – and a vocabulary you can use to search out things in the real world.”
“Find a clear direction by stepping away from algorithms that overwhelm us with hundreds of celebrity outfits every day and watch a movie that embodies a style you appreciate,” Duffield says. (That could even be Groundhog Day.) “A wardrobe Groundhog Day is ultimately a lack of inspiration, so seek out clarity from the best.”
“I’d also suggest finding a brand you can get obsessed with and whose aesthetic or philosophy resonates with you,” Ogawa Clarke adds. “It’s hard to go wrong if you do that, because the designer has already done all the work for you, and it’ll usually feel pretty cohesive however you style it.”
04. Play dress up
“If you adopt one resolution this year, make it this: dress up, even if there’s no occasion,” Derek Guy recently wrote for MR PORTER about style changes for the new year. “Perhaps make a new tradition by going out for dinner once every week or two.”
And the science backs this up. “A paper found that people dressing outside of their norm experience escapism, which adds excitement and a departure from their typical routine,” Forbes-Bell says. She calls this approach “Alice in Wonderland” dressing. “It should be reserved for when you need a boost. We’re habitual creatures, so it will require too much mental effort to change up your style every single day.
“Playing dress up should be something we all engage with more often because it’s good for you,” Forbes-Bell adds. “Researchers have identified that adults with higher playfulness scores tend to have a stronger sense of hope and higher level of creativity and are more likely to approach life with excitement and energy. Play has also been associated with lower stress levels and the adoption of healthier coping mechanisms.”
“The act of dressing with intention can make a night feel special,” Guy says.
05. The right way to look younger
Maybe your ageing wardrobe is in turn making you feel old. In which case, you’ll want to dress younger. Which doesn’t mean “squeezing into trends meant for someone decades your junior,” O-Williams says. “It’s about injecting a sense of ease and modernity into what you already wear. The misstep often happens when someone tries too literally to mirror youth culture. The key is subtlety. Choose pieces that feel contemporary rather than overtly trendy and anchor them with items you already own.”
“Have a look at items you like that you see on younger people and think about ways you can do that,” Cochrane says. “A slightly more oversized fit rather than XXL, for example – without copying it wholesale and being ‘cringe’.”
06. Hit below the waist
“Nick Wakeman from Studio Nicholson once told me that she always builds her outfits around her trousers,” Ogawa Clarke says. “And I think that’s excellent advice.”
Big results call for big trousers. “If you still find big pants scary, then try out straight-leg trousers or jeans, which are easy to style with most things,” Ogawa Clarke says. “The second thing would be pleats – they look smarter than flat-front pants, and there are so many brands making great pairs now that they no longer feel granddad-ish.”
Cochrane also points to shoes for a dramatic restyle. “I know people who have bought a pair of Red Wings and they totally changed the game,” she says.
07. Set the tone with colour
“Colour is probably the easiest way to make a big impact on a wardrobe,” Cochrane says. “Brights work as a pop. A pair of socks or a scarf can be a good cheat code. They can do a lot of the work, even if you keep the rest of your outfit the same.”
“According to a 2014 report, outlandish clothes in bold prints and bright hues can provide an emotional release,” Forbes-Bell says. “Long-wavelength colours – reds, oranges and yellows – help us to feel more active during these dreary days by activating sympathetic neurons in our autonomic nervous system (ANS), triggering a get-up-and-go response.”
“There’s no need to dive in headfirst,” O-Williams says. “Pastels can be a subtle, elegant gateway. Another understated approach is to let colour appear through layering. A flash of something unexpected at the collar, a tonal belt peeking through or even a pair of frames in a rich hue can be enough to shift the overall mood without feeling like a full commitment.”
“Knitwear always looks great in bright colours,” Ogawa Clarke says. “The fuzzy texture helps give it some visual depth. If you’re afraid to commit to a bright red cashmere sweater right away, try a bold scarf to get used to it.”
“Start small, experiment with placement and intensity and let your eye adjust,” O-Williams says. “Over time, you’ll develop a natural instinct for how much colour feels right and when you’re ready.”
“Finding a new cut, colour or material of trousers gives a totally new piece to style around,” Duffield agrees.
08. Pattern recognition
“I firmly believe that there’s a pattern for everyone, no matter your style or sensibility,” O-Williams says. “The real challenge isn’t the pattern itself, but how it plays with colour and tone. That’s often where people hesitate. When starting out, I always recommend easing in with muted tones. Patterns aren’t the enemy – it’s the colour relationships that matter most.”
“Patterns are generally easier to work with the further a garment sits from your body,” Duffield says. “Mixing patterns is a fine art, but I think you can be just as interesting by contrasting a pattern with a solid colour in a different texture. Clashing is a risk, but the inspiration is out there – lookbooks and editorials from Ralph Lauren alone have ideas to last a lifetime.”
“Introducing bright colours and clashing prints via accessories is a more subtle way to pull it off without being too overwhelming,” Forbes-Bell says.
09. The power of accessories
“Hats, scarves, jewellery, shoes, watches – these smaller details are overlooked by a lot of guys,” Ogawa Clarke says. “But that’s how you really bring personality into your look. And these are things you can wear every day. If you like it, and like wearing it, eventually it’ll just become part of who you are.”
“Jewellery, in particular, deserves more attention than it’s typically given,” O-Williams agrees. “Don’t be afraid to layer pieces or even mix metals – the old rules don’t apply anymore. A slim silver chain necklace with a gold signet ring can create a subtle tension that feels modern rather than mismatched. And don’t stop at the watch. Consider how a stack of bracelets can soften a tailored look or how a single cuff can add a sense of intention to something as simple as a T-shirt.”
10. Start small, think big
Forbes-Bell cites a recent study, which asked participants to make tweaks to their wardrobes. “They were as simple as changing the colour of their socks,” she says. “The results revealed that those tweaks led to significant positive changes and mood improvements.”
“Get clear on your style by going to your most straight-forward outfit – a white tee and nice jeans or a simple shirt and well-fitting trousers, whatever feels right,” Duffield says. “Now, find one way you can make it more interesting, like a belt, hat or jacket. Chances are, you’ve probably been overthinking things, and you have to go back to basics.”
It might even be the smaller things that really count. “If you take the time to learn about what you’re buying and nerd out on the little details of what makes it special to you, then you can wear it with the confidence that you know why you chose it,” Ogawa Clarke says. “A good wardrobe is really just a sequence of well-informed decisions.”