A guide to curating your own style
Discover great fashion tips in How Not To Wear Black by Anna Murphy
The maxims about the power of black are well-known to fashion lovers — that it goes with anything, it’s the most flattering shade and is eternally chic are three of the reasons why it can dominate our wardrobes.
But, for many, all-black ensembles are an excuse to cover up and fade into the background.
That’s why Anna Murphy, fashion director at The Times, has put together How Not To Wear Black: a compendium of indispensable tips on how to cultivate your own style. It’s more than just advice on how to get out of your comfort zone, though.
Murphy has used her fashion expertise to produce a comprehensive guide to creating lasting and effective changes to your wardrobe — and, don’t worry, it doesn’t ban black, either.
From how to elevate the basics into contemporary fashion-forward outfits, to tackling “new generational layering” — and The 666 Approach, a devilishly simple but effective wardrobe revamp — it’s the ideal stocking-filler for style obsessives.
Read a snippet from the book below.
The 666 approach
SIX PILES
On the first evening, sort everything into six piles:
1. Not worn for six months
2. Used to fit but doesn't any more, and/or has become tatty
3. Used to fit your lifestyle but doesn't anymore
4. Workwear
5. Off-duty wear
6. Occasionwear
SIX QUESTIONS
On the second evening, go through each of those piles. Ask the following six questions about each item…
1. Does it fit me now?
2. Might it fit me in the next six months, no miracle required?
3. Do I look good when I wear it?
4. Do I look good when I wear it?
5. Is it an unnecessary duplicate of another item that does the same job better?
6. Does it have sentimental value? If the answer is not yes to at least four questions, get rid of it. Hang everything else back on your rails or return them to your drawers.
SIX MONTHS
For six months, every time you take something out of your wardrobe to wear, turn the hanger the other way around. By the end, you will have incontrovertible evidence as to what you still have left that you don’t wear.
How Not To Wear Black, by Anna Murphy, £16.99
Available now at Amazon.co.uk
*This content was commissioned and approved by DK