The wardrobe handbook every style lover should read

A good wardrobe is built like a good studio: with a plan, a few reliable tools and room to grow.

Audit what you own

Pull everything out of the wardrobe once a year and sort it into three piles: worn weekly, worn rarely and never worn. The rarely pile usually reveals your real taste hiding under impulse buys. Anything unworn for a year should be sold, swapped or donated.

Buy for the gaps

Write a short list of the missing pieces before you shop — a winter coat, dark denim, shoes that survive rain. A list turns a crowded high street into a short errand with a clear ending. Buy the best fabric you can afford in the colours you already wear.

Own fewer things, wear them more often.

Care for what you keep

A twenty-minute routine doubles a garment's life: air knits instead of washing them, brush wool coats and resole shoes before the heel wears through. Learn three stitches — button, hem and seam — and small damage stops meaning the bin. Care is the cheapest form of style.