The Everyday Icon Style Podcast
Welcome to the Everyday Icon Style Podcast, the ultimate resource for executive assistants and corporate professionals looking to elevate their personal style and career. Hosted by a seasoned style coach specializing in executive presence, this podcast is your go-to guide for breaking out of style ruts and curating a wardrobe that reflects confidence, authority, and ambition.
Discover actionable tips on wardrobe edits, corporate capsule wardrobes, and styling secrets tailored to administrative assistants, executive assistants, and mid-career professionals. Whether you're preparing for a big meeting, looking to refresh your workwear, or simply want to feel your best every day, this podcast has you covered.
Tune in for practical advice, insider strategies, and inspiring conversations designed to help you look the part and achieve your professional goals. Let’s elevate your style and your career—one outfit at a time!"
The Everyday Icon Style Podcast
Episode 177: Breaking the Shopping Cycle
Most of us have fallen into the trap: feeling uninspired by our closet, we rush to buy something new, convinced it's the missing piece that will transform everything. But as I reveal from both professional expertise and personal experience (yes, I once hit the mall every payday!), this approach only leads back to the dreaded "I have nothing to wear" cycle.
The real issue isn't a lack of clothing – it's a lack of direction. Your wardrobe likely contains disconnected elements that individually appeal to you but don't work cohesively. The solution? Strategy, not shopping. I share how building a foundation of basics (just 15% of your wardrobe) creates the framework everything else can hang on. These quality essentials become the connective tissue that transforms frustrated mornings into effortless style.
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This is the Everyday Icon Style Podcast the space for style-conscious, career-driven women who are ready to look like the next-level version of themselves. Each episode helps you build a wardrobe that reflects not only your executive presence but your real life. With a little bit of guidance, intentional edits and no full-blown transformation required, let's elevate your style and your authenticity, one outfit at a time. I'm Tiffany, your style coach. Let's elevate your style and your authenticity one outfit at a time. I'm Tiffany, your style coach. Let's get started. Hey everyone, and welcome back to the Everyday Icon Podcast.
Speaker 1:As always, I'm your host, tiffany, and today we're going to have a real conversation about something that I've known you. I know that you've probably done, and I've done it too. So let's talk about this trap that we always seem to fall into. I'm going to give you a hint. It's using shopping as a fix for our wardrobe struggles. Here's what I mean your closet. It feels uninspired, so you'll hop online or head to the closest mall or outlet, hoping that if you buy just one thing, or maybe two or three, that it will actually fix your problem, or finally fix this ever-ending problem that you always have with your wardrobe. But here's the real deal wardrobe. But here's the real deal it's not going to help. So today I want to break it down why buying more clothes isn't helping and what you can do instead to finally feel confident and clear about your wardrobe. Because, let's face it, all of us have done this and, to be honest, I used to be in the mall every other week. This was many moons ago. I used to be in the mall every other week. This was many moons ago. I used to be in the mall probably every payday, buying stuff, thinking this is going to be the thing that brings everything together, but I'm here to tell you it doesn't.
Speaker 1:So first, let's discuss the shopping trap. So you'll see something cute on Instagram or Pinterest or you'll catch a sale at whatever store. That's your favorite, one of your favorite stores, and you think you know what this dress. It's going to fix my problems. It's going to solve everything. This is what I have actually been missing. So you buy it, either take it home or it arrives in the mail and it's okay. But in a couple of weeks, you'll be right back where you started and guess where that dress is going to end up? Somewhere in your ever-growing mound and pile of clothes that you already have, it is going to be in the abyss of your closet, forgotten, and then you have to start the cycle all over again and that would be the I have nothing to wear cycle.
Speaker 1:But here's the thing right. We tend to shop more emotionally and we shop out of frustration, out of boredom or just out of the urge to feel put together. But when we decide to do something like this, we're adding just random pieces and outfits and colors to a closet that is already confused. Because if you listen to my prior episode the prior episode I talked about how your closet is a mirror of who you are and how you have about 50, 11 different versions of yourself currently, right now in your closet. So adding these random pieces, it's going to make your closet feel more confusing than it actually should be. And it's no fault of our own, I think. Sometimes I think that we've been trained or to feel that we need to dress a certain way and to kind of blend in and to stand out in personal style isn't really a thing, like at one time, I know, growing up, back in the day, it was a thing, and it didn't have to be like this bright colors or a whole wardrobe, it could be something as simple as a hairstyle, jewelry, handbags, shoes, whatever that could be that made it signature and special to you. So the other thing with shopping is and I can definitely attest to this is that it gives you a temporary high and it never solves the problem, which now leads me to my next point.
Speaker 1:So what is the real problem Now? The issue is that you don't have enough clothes. It's that your wardrobe doesn't have direction. So this is kind of where strategy comes into play. So if you're feeling stuck, like we all do at different phases in our life, it's probably because your wardrobe it lacks cohesion in our life. It's probably because your wardrobe it lacks cohesion and you have pieces that you like individually, but they don't go with the entire wardrobe itself. So that means, no matter how much you shop, no matter how many Pinterest pictures you save, it's never going to solve your problem and you need a clear strategy.
Speaker 1:Think of it as this you need a roadmap, and when you're going on a trip, you might use a map. I mean, I know we use GPS, but still it's a map, right, and it points out, it plots out your destination from point A to point B. It is the exact same thing that you need to do with your wardrobe. You need to get from point A to where you currently are, to point B, which is your actual style. Here's what I'm going to give you as a little tip.
Speaker 1:When it comes to making your wardrobe a little more cohesive, you need the basics, so all of the wardrobe essentials and the basics. This does not have to be your whole entire wardrobe, it just needs to be 15% of your wardrobe. By laying a solid foundation, you will always have something to wear, because, one the basics, they tend to go together. It's that white button down blouse that you have that will bring an outfit together that can kind of mesh a pair of pants and a sweater or a blazer or a t-shirt together with your outfit. The button down blouse, this kind of, is the pulling everything together, and many times we have gotten away from just having the basics. So if you ever want to start anywhere when it comes to your style, always start with the basics. So next, so what is it now that you really have to do so you can kind of get everything together? I'm glad you asked so one, you need to review your closet and identify any gaps. What is really missing. If you're missing the basics, get them.
Speaker 1:You want to look for quality, not quantity when it comes to your basics Quality, not quantity when it comes to your basics. You also want to have statement pieces, and statement pieces don't have to be actual pieces of clothing. You have to get honest about what you have versus what you need. What you have is a disjointed closet. What you need is clarity, and the easiest way to do that is building the foundation through your basics. Now, as you're doing, and buying the basics and reviewing your closet and editing any and identifying the gaps. This is also where you define your core style. This is not going to be built overnight. This is a marathon and not a sprint. So I want you to look at what you save over and over again. What do you? What do they have in common? Is it a color palette? Is it a fit? Is it a silhouette? You want to start building your wardrobe around your real style, not what's trending, on sale or on sale, because these items that you have saved will provide you with a roadmap. So you already have a roadmap that you can now follow and bring everything together and begin to bring your wardrobe to life.
Speaker 1:You also need to become intentional about every purchase that you make. This is not going out and splurging all the time or buying just to be buying Now. Granted, sometimes, yes, you will do this, but this not does not need to be a habit. We need to break free of that. So, before you begin to buy anything, ask does this fit into my style plan? Will it work for what I already own?
Speaker 1:If the answer is no, put it back. Do not put it in your cart, because this is how you create a wardrobe that works for you and not against you, and we are at a point in time in our lives where we need our wardrobe to work for us. So, before you hit add to cart or swipe your cards I'm going to stop you now, and if you're in the process of doing that or you ever feel that you are, just remember what I just said I need you to pause and I need you to ask yourself does this fit into the style I am building? It's. If not, it's just more noise to your closet and we need to get rid of the noise. The noise can become overwhelming, it can cause anxiety, it can cause frustration. When we get dressed in the morning, it should be pleasant, it should be fun, it should be easy. It should be a great way to start your day.
Speaker 1:So, if this episode resonated with you, I'd love for you to follow me on Instagram at styled by Tiffany O, for more tips and, of course, inspiration, and for us to begin to build a community Now.
Speaker 1:If you are ready to finally take the guesswork out of your wardrobe, check out the description box below and schedule your free consultation. Call for my new style intensive program that I have. It's a two-hour program that will help you with building and laying the foundation for your wardrobe. The one thing that I've realized and learned is I've been researching and everything like that is that sometimes building your style can be overwhelming when you're working with a personal stylist, and that is what a style coach is here for, because I want to help you build a style and build something that you could always do on repeat, even if I'm not there and when I am not there, and to take the overwhelm out of it, and also to make you understand and feel that you do not need to have a full overhaul of your wardrobe. We are literally going to start with what you have. So thank you for tuning in and remember your style should support the woman you're becoming, not stress you out. Take care and I will talk to you in the next episode.