My 5 Step Winter Wardrobe Refresh Plan with New Ace For Colours Powder

(AD) When the days get shorter and the weather colder it is time to put those summer dresses away and pull out the knitwear. I’m not one of those people that embraces the colder days of autumn though. It probably doesn’t help that when I open the boxes with my winter clothes in it all smells pretty musty. This year it was worse because a year ago I was in maternity clothes so some of the jumpers have been hidden away for a couple of years. I want to feel warm and comfortable without smelling, or looking, stale.  Now is the time to give my winter wardrobe a refresh.

I don’t have the money to buy much new, but I have plenty of clothes already so I don’t really need too. My winter wardrobe refresh plan is helping me create new looks for this year and get my clothes ready to wear thanks to Ace for Colours.

A box of new ACE for Colours powder surrounded my multi coloured scarfs
New Ace for Colours powder


Step by Step Guide To Updating Your Wardrobe For Less This Winter


Step 1 - Make Space

Once you are confident the hot weather has gone away there is no point having a wardrobe full of summer clothes. I recommend sorting them into 5 piles:
Holiday clothes: there are some clothes that only get worn in hot destinations or on the hottest days of the year, I pack these away separately in the loft ideally in a vacuum storage bag* which helps keep them fresher and away from moths etc.
General Summer Clothes: The clothes that are worn day in day out in warmer weather and you will want to pull out in the spring once the weather improves.
Layer clothing: Some of the summer clothes can be brought into winter with a pair of tights or shirt underneath. It’s worth keeping some of these in your wardrobe to make your winter wardrobe more fun and offer new looks that you haven’t tried before.
Long Term Storage: If there are any clothes that haven’t been worn in the last year you need to decide if they are worth keeping. I love to put clothes in the loft until they work for me again (style, colour or body size) 
Charity: Each year I bag up clothes that I know I am never going to wear again to get rid of. These are normally clothes that I don’t think are flattering on me. Some items I sell, but mostly I take them to my nearest charity shop.



Step 2 - Sort Out The Winter Clothes

Bring Out the Winter Clothes: My winter clothes are stored in a variety of places. I always plan to keep them in the loft in vacuum storage bags, but they often only make it as far as boxes on top of my wardrobe. My scarfs live in a drawer with my gym wear, that drawer hasn’t been opened much recently. All of these need pulling out, sorting though and getting ready for wearing.
Have a sort out: fashions and tastes change even in the course of a year so there will probably be items from your winter wardrobe you aren’t likely to wear again. Now is a great time to decide what you no longer want so they can be sold or given to charity.
Freshen up the clothes: a lot of my winter clothes need a wash to make them smell and feel ready to wear again, there are even a few with marks on and the coat that was never cleaned as I just stuffed it away when the weather got better. 
I am washing most of my clothes in new ACE for colours powder to make sure they are ready to wear. It removes stains and odours which has made such a difference to those more musty smelling items. The new powder comes in fully recyclable tetra packs instead of Ace for Colours Original which comes in plastic.
Ace for Colours isn’t suitable for some wool blends, leather or silk so you will need specialist powder to clean those. Fortunately much of my clothes and scarfs are cotton or polyester because I find they are easier to care for (and my clothes need washing a lot thanks to the little people in my house). The few items I didn’t wash with ACE for colours didn’t smell as fresh after their wash in an alternative product.

A drawer of lots of different scarfs all messily folder
My scarf drawer before the refresh

An airer with lots of scarfs drying on it after washing in ACE colour powder for a winter refresh
Washing the scarfs

Scarfs all put away neatly in a drawer after following my 5 step winter refresh plan
All neatly away and smelling great

Step 3 - Have a browse

I’m a mum of 3 young children and I’m not going to claim to be fashionable. I have a typical mum style that isn’t even school run chic, but I find that to stop me living in the same old jeans and sweatshirt all winter a bit of planning can bring a little style. Looking through Instagram, or online magazines, is a great way to check out what is fashionable at the moment as well as providing ideas of how to wear old clothes in new ways. I searched for Fall or Autumn 2019 as well as looking in some shops that sell my sort of clothes. Looking at the key colours for the season and how people are wearing them makes a big difference to keeping in touch with fashion, you then just need to decide how to make them work for you.

Update clothes for Winter 2019 (for less)

A browse of the current trends for this autumn/ winter revealed: neons, bold prints (especially floral), pleated skirts, animal print, layered up lace and big scarfs.
Neon is probably my favourite trend this season because neon accents are really easy and cheap to incorporate into normal clothes. I have some scarfs and jewellery which will work well to lift outfits and I’m looking at jumpers I can update by changing buttons to neon colours or adding some bright ribbon.
I will be going into my loft bags to check for pleated skirts, animal prints and lace which can be layered up for a warmer style. 

Step 4 - Outfit planning

Once I have sorted out everything I want to wear this year and made sure it fits I plan some outfits. It’s easier while everything is in piles on my bed to work out new combinations that I might not have tried before. I then take a quick snap on my phone and save them to a folder so I have inspiration for outfits that will make me feel great on dull days. 

By sorting through all my clothes it means I know better what I have and I can think about if there are any gaps or accessories which would make my looks more on trend. It also stops me from buying yet another t-shirt nearly identical to what I already have just because it was on offer!

Step 5 - Put it all away

Are you a KonMari fan? I have always put my scarfs away so I can see them quickly when I open the drawers, but I love to put as many tops as possible on hangers so they crease less (or the existing creases drop out) and the trousers and jumpers normally go in piles. I'm happy when I open my wardrobe and drawers and seeing order in front of me.  It makes it so much easier to choose what I am going to wear in the morning and it stops me wearing the same clothes over and over again.

So that’s my 5 step plan for giving my wardrobe a refresh this winter. I would love to hear if you have any tips too.

***Disclosure: This post is an entry for the BritMums #ACEWinterRefresh Challenge, sponsored by ACE for Colours Powder. Get help for all kinds of stains with the ACE Stain Helper http://www.acecleanuk.co.uk/ and pick up the range at your nearest Morrison’s store or buy online on Amazon* (affiliate link).***

2 comments

  1. Loving learning from this step by step approach. Commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part

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