Brand New Wardrobe!

[Aceonthedraw]

Hello people,

I'm in a massive conundrum. At the beginning of the year I got told I was pre-diabetic. Given my addiction to fried pizza and cream doughnuts, this wasn't entirely surprising. So I went on a diet and I lost tonne of weight. I'm now 10 and a half stone, and I've got a bit of six pack coming on.

The thing is though, I haven't changed my wardrobe at all, and I look like a bit of a tramp. It seems I've got a connection with my big old self, and I get into fits of panic whenever I dare to try on something nice. So I've decided to update everything in one foul swoop. Since this will be damn expensive, I need some tips on getting it right.

I'm 28, 5"11, and I usually go with conservative styles.

Paul

[WILD9]

I've only recently started trying to put together a smarter more stylish and better fitted wardrobe so I'm in much the same boat as you, the most helpful thing for me so far has been crawling through the clothing label lookbooks here and the fashion basics here. I'd have thought you'd be better putting together an outfit at a time as you sort your wardrobe out. If you buy everything in one shot your bound to have a lot of regrets as you learn more about fashion and your personal style.

[Pin Money]

Just start by buying a load of plain t-shirts from somewhere like topman / zara and some decent slim fit or skinny jeans. Also a good pair of smart shoes and a good pair of trainers.

From there you can add items such as jackets, knitwear as you go along and develop more of a personal style.

As mentioned above, look at lookbooks etc for inspiration - there is so much online.

Ask a stylish friend (preferably female) to go shopping with you to help you choose.

[William Colman]

agree with above. Don't go for one massive, drastic change, it will be a very, very expensive mistake. Gradually start replacing the stuff that doesn't fit (and throw that stuff out), follow Pin's advice and get plenty of plain tees and a couple of pairs of well fitting jeans, then get yourself a pair of desert boots and sensible trainers, its getting colder so think about a winter coat as well. Build things up slowly.