How I save time with wardrobe planning (PLUS a free guide!)

Friends, in retrospect, we should have always known I would be a costumer. After all, I have been making myself wardrobe plots since high school.

Yes, I’m serious. When I was in high school, on Sunday nights, I would sit down and plan out everything I was going to wear for the whole week. I no longer have any of those (I wish I did!) But here’s what I remember it looking like:

Monday: General look: elegant

Top: red sweater

Pants: brown dress pants

Shoes: brown/red flats

Jewelry: gold

Makeup: full, red lips

Hair: half up bun

Yes, I did this for the whole week.

A wardrobe plot is a thing we use in costuming to help the actor figure out when they wear which costume pieces. I make them religiously for shows now, as I find it especially helpful for my young actors. Ironically… it looks almost identical to what I made for myself in high school. Except that now I type them. In high school, I had this paper pad that was pink marble paper and I painstakingly wrote them all by hand.

But I have a confession to make: I often still plan my outfits for the week. Anything that makes my mornings easier is a win in my book, so I regularly sit down, think through my week, and plan accordingly. I’m not rigid about it- if I change my mind, that’s fine! But it gives me something to work with so I don’t have so many pre-coffee decisions to make.

I have a special gift for you today: I’m giving away my exact template to plan your own week of outfits. I’ve been doing this long enough now that sometimes I just jot them down in my planner, but I use this pretty regularly, especially for long, important, or busy weeks! To get the template, just click here

Go get that freebie, y’all! I’ll wait.

You back? Great.

Here we go: How I plan my outfits for the week:

The first thing I do is look at my calendar. What’s going on that week? Do I have any special occasions to dress up for? Meetings? Special days at school? I fill in those first.

So, for example, next week I have:

Monday: family event, all day, no work.

Wednesday: church meeting, 6 PM

Friday: school event in the evening

Saturday: teaching in Columbus

Sunday: church

Sometimes I write them on my tracker, sometimes I don’t. Once I know what’s coming, I think about what I need to wear those days for those events. So, I know that on Friday for the school event, I’m going to wear my school green polo, my black dress pants, and my gray sweatshirt. Personally, unless I have to, I don’t like mid-day changes, so I’ll wear that all day. So I would just write down “green polo, black pants, gray sweatshirt” And then under “Don’t forget” I would write “comfortable shoes!” because I know I’ll be walking a lot.

I do the same for the rest of the days. If I’m going to the gym straight from work, I’ll write (Don’t forget) “gym clothes”.

And that’s it!

As for *how* I decide what I’m going to wear, I find that that’s really dictated by the weather, the environment I’m in, what I’ve worn a lot recently… etc. Just like with meal planning, I’ll often look in my closet, think about what sounds good, and go from there. If I want more inspiration, I hop on Pinterest (follow me here!) to see what other people are wearing and see if that gives me some fresh ideas.

So there you have it, friends! How I plan my outfits for the week. I’m a huge believer in dressing for success- and this helps me! I hope it helps you too.

Until next time, I’m rooting for you, and I love you.