The High Street Upcycle: Tips For An Individual Wardrobe

High street fashion is the staple of most people’s wardrobes. The high street takes the latest designer trends, filters them into a mainstream look, and provides an affordable option for the average person on the street. The downside is that everyone wears something similar. Often that sense of individuality is lost. However, using your high street fashions as a basis, there are many ways you can adapt your wardrobe to personalize your look and add individuality and flair.

The Designer Cheat

If you love designer clothes but don’t have a designer salary, there’s a quick cheat you can adopt to create a similar look. Find similar or high street versions of designer outfits. These can be purchased at a fraction of the cost at stores like H&M and Forever 21. Enhance them with a few key designer accessories. Belts, earrings, scarves, etc. are much cheaper than buying the full outfit. For further savings, wait for sample sales.

Upcycling, Recycling And Embellishing Outfits

The best way to ensure your wardrobe is unique is to make your own clothes. This isn’t as difficult as it sounds. There are lots of affordable sewing machines to buy, and you can follow tutorials online to improve your skills. You’ll need to understand and be able to work with patterns. You will need to be familiar with the workings of a sewing machine, and practice sewing neatly. Many people who go down this route get the sewing bug and move on to creating their own patterns.

However, for the majority, creating a wardrobe in its entirety is just not practical. So, intersperse and mix and match your own creations with bought staples. And if dressmaking is a little too advanced for you right now, you can still make some striking adjustments to your everyday outfits with some simple tweaks.

1. Create Some Accessories

Accessories can make or break an outfit, and usually, it’s the former. Used well they can bring color, pattern, creativity, and individuality to your look. They can be purchased inexpensively but if you’re looking for uniqueness, consider making your own.

That thin summer beach dress you bought last year and no longer need could be transformed into a simple scarf. Or, any light, viscose or silky fabric you have can be used in a similar way. Scarves are easy to make as they are simple rectangular shapes. All you need to do is cut them to size and sew up the hems.

Belts are another straightforward accessory. Opt for a simple version that you can tie around your waist. Brooches, shawls and even headbands can be created in no time at all.

2. Chop Up Your Clothes

Another way to upcycle your clothes is to chop them up. Take the hem up on your maxi dress to create a midi or knee-high dress. Or cut out the skirt altogether and just keep the top. Long sleeved blouses can become short sleeved, and you can create a blouse from a light jacket by removing the buttons and sewing up the front.

3. Easy Peasy Updates

For even simpler changes, keep an eye out for vintage or unusual buttons. Use them to spruce up dull cardigans, sweaters, jackets or shirts. This simple change can make a huge difference to the overall look and feel.

Adding other embellishments is another way to swap dull with dazzling. Ribbon can be used to create edging on a whole range of garments. Or, you can sprinkle some sequins, buttons, or bows.

There’s no end to the simple tweaks you can make to high street clothes to make them more individual and creative. The only limitation is your imagination.

*This article was contributed.