Find Your Mood Before You Find Your Outfit
Make a Style Mood Board
Once you know what your closet actually needs to do, the next step is the fun one: figuring out how you want it to look.
A mood board is just a collection of images that capture a feeling. It doesn't have to be precious or perfect. It's a way to notice what you're drawn to right now, before you start pulling clothes out of your closet.
I like to make one at the start of every season. It refreshes what I'm wearing, and more importantly, it helps me look at the clothes I already own with fresh eyes.
How to make one
However you want. There's no wrong format.
Pinterest, if you like to save as you scroll
Screenshots in a folder on your phone
Magazine cutouts on a wall, a corkboard, or the inside of a closet door
Your own photos, including outfits you've worn and loved
Aim for 20 to 30 images. That's enough to see patterns without getting lost.
Pull from everywhere: TV, movies, street style, old photos, art, even interiors or landscapes. A mood board isn't a shopping list. It's a feeling.
My fall 2026 mood board
This season, a few things are on mine.
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. I really enjoyed Love Story, the series about her and John F. Kennedy Jr., and all the very 90s Calvin Klein throwbacks. Clean lines, a neutral palette, long coats, crisp shirts, and nothing that tries too hard.
Shōgun. I'm also watching Shōgun and loving the oversized Japanese silhouettes: volume, layering, wide sleeves, and wrapped shapes.
A few people on Instagram, including [name], [name], and [name], who are offering real alternatives to the usual fashion trends.
On paper, those look like opposites: sleek 90s minimalism and big, layered volume. But that's the point. When you put them side by side, something new starts to show up, like a clean, neutral base with one oversized piece that changes the shape.
Read your board
Once your images are together, step back and look for what repeats:
Colors. Is it all neutrals? A lot of one color?
Shapes. Fitted or oversized? Long or cropped?
Textures. Crisp cotton, soft knits, leather, silk?
Feeling. Polished, relaxed, bold, quiet?
Write down three or four words that sum it up. Those words become your filter for the season.
Then look at your closet
This is where the mood board pays off. With those words in your head, you'll start seeing your own clothes differently. That long coat you forgot about. The white shirt you only wear to work. The oversized sweater you thought was too big.
A lot of what's on your board is probably already hanging in your closet. You just haven't put it together that way yet.
So once you know the mood for the season, do your laundry and get ready to shop your own closet.