3 Reasons to Dress Up for Fun

Casual, yet chic. Don't let a good outfit go unseen!Hands up if this ever happens to you: You're standing in the closet, trying to get dressed for the day and you pull out something super cute. And then you think, "I'm not going to see anyone today, so why waste a good outfit?" And you put on something less cute. And certainly more blah.

Anyone? Everyone? I thought so.

We all have those days when it just makes sense to throw on a pair of yoga pants and take care of business. But I'm talking about that impulse to conserve your stylish outfits as though they were a special category of endangered species. I'm talking about feeling like there's no reason to look nice unless there's a specific reason to look nice.

Those days.

Related: 10 summer dresses you can wear this fall

The whole point of having a carefully edited and curated wardrobe is so that you can wear something fantastic, every single day. I'm a big advocate of organizing your closet by color or style, not by purpose, because when you start to segregate your clothes by the places you wear them (work, weekend, date night, only to fancy after-five functions that require special tickets) you don't actually wear most of them.

There's no rule that says you have to look schleppy just because you're not going to see people all day.

Lazy? Effortless fashion is the best; just throw on a pretty dress and add a belt. Let your clothes do the wor …We start to really thin slice our wardrobes and pass by even the most casual pieces, because they're new or they're nicer than some other, similar piece. What's the point of putting on a brand new skirt to spend the day staring at a spreadsheet by yourself?

Related: 10 must-haves from J. Crew this fall

Here's why: Because the whole reason you bought those new, spiffy pieces was so you could wear them. So do it -- wear them! Today!

Once the money is spent, it's spent. Saving that dress or jacket or blouse isn't going to help you buy a new house or finance your retirement; it's just going to leave you with clothes that you never wore.

So how do you break out of the saving-it-for-later rut? Like this:

1. Stop thinking about getting dressed in terms of spending or saving. There's no number of times you can wear a specific piece or outfit -- if it works for you, repeat and repeat and repeat. Just because you wore something today and didn't see people doesn't mean you can't wear it again next week when you have a full day of meetings and play dates. It's still the same cute outfit.

2. Stop imagining some better day or place to wear the things you love. Face it: This is your life, and there's no reason not to look nice for it, every day. Wearing something you love makes this day a good day, in a way that tossing on those sad yoga pants just doesn't. Don't wait around for something style-worthy to pop up on your calendar -- get dressed for each day as though it really mattered. Because honestly, it does.

3. Force yourself to wear the cute stuff. Don't even give yourself the option to throw on that jeans-and-tee outfit one more time. Move the pieces you're saving to the front of the closet, or -- my favorite reader suggestion -- stop doing laundry until you quite literally run out of things to wear. If you can't grab your safety blanket outfits (we all have them, people) you will be compelled to take a chance with something else, something you're waiting for the right opportunity to wear. Well guess what? Today is the right opportunity! Because it's that or go naked.

Finally, there's this: Think about all those no-one-will-see-me days as a chance to experiment. Not sure you can pull off head-to-toe color? Do it on a day you're not leaving the house. If you wind up feeling like a clown, at least you can remind yourself that no one saw you. And that's a good thing.

- By Susan Wagner
To see Susan's go-to outfit for lazy days, visit Babble!

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Susan Wagner is a personal stylist who believes that less is always more, particularly when it comes to your wardrobe. She loves cashmere, ballet flats and anything with stripes; she is less enthusiastic about workout wear as clothing (save it for the gym!). Susan lives in Oklahoma City with her husband and their two sons. You can find her on the Internet at The Working Closet.

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