Learning from my sartorial mishaps

The older I get, the less I want to think about clothes. I don’t mean I no longer enjoy fashion, and using it as a means to express myself. Rather I mean I want to fill my wardrobe with clothes that are easy to wear, and I don’t have to ‘try’ to get use out of. Standing in the way of this are some simple mistakes that are easy to fall into. As I move ahead on my wardrobe ‘journey’ I’m trying to fix and preempt these problems, and ultimately build a wardrobe that is a pleasure to wear. In new series, we’ll take a look at some of the top errors I’m trying to banish from my wardrobe.

In today’s post, it’s ribbed clothing, and why I need to rethink it.

Buying ribbed tops and expecting them to sit right

A short and simple one here. Ribbed and knitted tops will always ride up and shrink in on themselves – they’re essentially a stretched web of material trying to return to their original shape. But somehow I’m still surprised when a knit rides up, revealing a cold gap between my jeans and my top. The comfort of the material is cancelled out by the experience of actually wearing it.

For instance, in the photo below I’m wearing a knitted, button-up polo shirt. This is one of my favourite tops in some ways: it’s got a lovely vintage feel and potentially pairs well with lots of things. But the combination of it being slightly cropped and in a knitted material means that it is constantly trying to ride up, and it actually isn’t that comfortable to wear (especially in winter!).

So, a simple rule of thumb: when it comes to these materials, go for something longer and larger than you think you’ll need, or avoid it altogether. Contrast the above top with that below. This is on the face of it very similar. It’s a green polo-type top from Princess Highway, in a really soft knitted material. However, unlike the white top, it’s really long, meaning it comfortably tucks in and even when it’s not shoved down a pair of jeans it still sits really nicely. Going for something that little bit longer, which perhaps seemed too long on the face of it, actually made it far more comfortable, and means this top get a lot more wear than the white. An easy solution, one you realise what the problem is!

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I think these mistakes are so easy to make, but once you start thinking about why you’re making them, they’re also pretty easy to fix. I’d love to hear what mistakes and solutions you’ve made in the past – what are your tired and trusted wardrobe rules? Please do share them in a comment below!