A Personal Stylist Tells You How To Look More Put Together

July 25, 2022

Are you ready to learn an easy way to look more put together every time you put on clothes – instantly and effortlessly? I’m here to share my personal stylist recipe.

Let’s dive right in with a visual example. Take a look at the two sets of images below and notice how they differ:

Image set 1:

Image set 2:

Men and Women Wearing Core Colors As A Way To Look More Put Together

What was the first thing that stuck out to you for all these looks? Was it the fit? A specific item they were wearing? Or did you notice the colors?

The biggest difference between the first set of images and the second set is COLOR.

The first batch has too much of it while the second batch showcases outfits that are more thoughtful in color coordination.

How does the second batch of outfits look cool, cohesive, approachable and more put-together?

These outfits focus on only FOUR colors – navy, gray, white, and black.

These 4 colors are season-less, look great on all body types, and pair amazingly well with each other to create an outfit – making you instantly look more put together.

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Credit: @NextLevelWardrobe

These 4 core colors also happen to be one of the key components of my Next Level Wardrobe Style System™.

As a bicoastal personal stylist who has 20+ years in the fashion industry, I’ve had decades to perfect my method of helping professional men and women get dressed.

I created the Next Level Wardrobe Style System™ to make it easy for people to feel confident and look great everyday while also maximizing the items in their wardrobes. Our clients are successful professionals who need to look and feel great – consistently. The NLW Style System™ gives them that.

By following my 50/40/10 rule with these four core colors, you can look just as polished and put together as my one-on-one personal styling clients.

Using the 50/40/10 Rule to Look More Put Together

Let’s take a look at this color hierarchy pyramid that I’ve created. This is a guideline that you can use when building your wardrobe and figuring out what items to invest in.

The first step is to make sure you have the right colors in your closet so that you can create more outfits with less clothing:

Core Colors Triangle with three sections for colors of a closet

Now, let’s take a closer look at each level of the pyramid to see how you can incorporate the 50/40/10 rule to help you look more put together when getting dressed.

50% CORE COLORS

50% of your wardrobe should consist of the four core colors – navy, gray, white, and black.

Men and Women Wearing Core Colors As A Way To Look More Put Together

These 4 colors are season-less, look great on all body types, and pair amazingly well with each other to create an outfit.

40% TONAL TEXTURES

40% of your wardrobe should consist of tonal textures. This is an important part of the pyramid because it’s where you get to incorporate light to dark shades of core colors AND textures.

Men And Women Wearing Tonal Colors To Look More Put Together

Texture is an important part of making your outfits look more interesting while still looking put together.

10% SEASONAL COLOR & PRINTS

Finally, 10% of your wardrobe should be seasonal colors and prints. This is where you can interject seasonal color trends:

This keeps you from wasting time and money on pieces that don’t pair well together and eventually end up shoved to the back of your closet or crammed into a drawer.

Following the 50/40/10 rule is a simple strategy to always look put together.

Credit: @NextLevelWardrobe

HOW TO LOOK PUT TOGETHER USING COLOR

One common question we get asked is, “What if I like color?! How do I incorporate it into the system?”

Short answer: You can!

The beautiful thing about the Next Level Wardrobe Style System™ is that the 50/40/10 ratios are flexible. That means if you want to incorporate bolder colors or prints, you can do so. An example ratio could be 40/30/20. Just make sure that the color/print ratio is always lower than the lower two tiers.

Now that you know the basics, learn the next 2 steps to creating a professional capsule wardrobe or visit our women’s personal styling and men’s personal styling pages to see how we can save you time and money by building a fantastic professional capsule wardrobe just for YOU.

About the Author - Cassandra Sethi
About the Author - Cassandra Sethi

Personal Stylist & Image Consultant

Cassandra Sethi is a Personal Stylist and Founder of Next Level Wardrobe, a luxury Personal Styling and Shopping Service that helps successful professionals of all ages and sizes. After working in the fashion industry for over 25 years, she used her expert knowledge to create a proprietary styling system called ‘The Next Level Wardrobe Style System' which guarantees clients more outfits with less items in their closet. NLW has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Tamron Hall Show, NY Mag, Huffington Post and more.

*Disclosure: Next Level Wardrobe only recommends products that we’d suggest to our clients or personally wear ourselves. All opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, Next Level Wardrobe may earn a small commission. Read the full privacy policy here.

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Cassandra Sethi

is a NYC Personal Stylist and Image Consultant. She is the Founder of Next Level Wardrobe and 'The NLW Style System' that guarantees clients more outfits with less items.

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