5 spring style tricks to update your old clothes - without buying anything new

With the latest easing of lockdown and more freedom on the cards, our thoughts have turned to our 'reentry' outfits. After exclusively sporting jersey loungewear for 12 months, you’d be forgiven for thinking you needed a whole new wardrobe to make a stylish comeback, but this needn't be the case.

A much more realistic (and affordable) solution is to use a few styling tricks to spin your 2020 looks for the new season.

Here are five styling tips that will have your post-lockdown outfits feeling brand new - without buying a single thing.

How to revamp old clothes for a new spring look

Wear jeans under a midi dress

As much as this may appear a fresh-off-the-catwalk idea, ultimately, it is a cost-free layering technique that allows you to start wearing your favourite floral summer dresses - even in the temperamental spring weather.

A button-down dress looks particularly good worn this way: leave unbuttoned from the waist down, and pair with mules for Al fresco dinners. It’s the ultimate in smart/casual dressing.

Layer knitwear unexpectedly

If you normally have a go-to look that you wear a cardigan, knitted waistcoat or sweater vest with, try to switch it up to breathe fresh air into other tried-and-tested staples in your wardrobe. Try a sweater vest over a sleeved dress, or a chunky cardigan over a slinky midi skirt and T-shirt. Chances are that you already own these pieces, you just would typically wear them in a different combination.

Knitted vest, £55, & Other Stories; Knitted cardigan, £195, Ganni

Try socks with sandals

See this as the outdoor version of slippers and cosy socks, making it the ideal fresh-out-of-lockdown footwear choice. The key is to ensure it doesn’t look sloppy, so have this serve as the most casual element of your look.

By day, pair tailored trousers with a linen shirt and your comfy shoe combo, then for off-duty, wear with a smock midi dress and a denim jacket for the perfect picnic ensemble.

Smarten up loungewear with a blazer

This interesting high-low take isn't breaking any new ground: the late Princess Diana famously sported neutral sweatpants with leather boots and oversized blazers in the ‘90s to excellent effect. Take your style cues from her street style looks and elevate the sweatpants you’ve relied on with a tailored jacket.

Stick to black and navy options which will add a slick, luxe element to the outfit, and match to an accessory or shoes to pull your look together.

Give your shirts a new lease of life

Buttoning up shirts and having them act as the focal point in your look is a simple styling option that has served us well over the years. For the new season, a fashion twist can be introduced. Rather than buttoning them up and tucking them in, wear them open and loose over racerback vests and T-shirts.

Stick to a neutral palette and pair with chunky sandals and cropped wide-leg trousers for a look that wouldn’t look out of place on a summer city break.

Denim overshirt, £59.95, Massimo Dutti; Linen shirt, £149, Massimo Dutti

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