Life in Colour - 33: 5 Things Actually Worth the Money in Your Wardrobe

Episode Date: August 17, 2026

This week's episode is inspired by something doing the rounds on Instagram, the "worth the money" trend, but from my perspective as a personal colour stylist. I'm not talking about must-have basics or trend pieces. I'm talking about the five things I genuinely think are worth investing in if you want your wardrobe to actually work for you, not against you. In this episode I cover: Why a properly fitted bra is the real foundation of every outfit (and how often this gets overlooked) The difference between trend neutrals and your neutrals — and why wearing the wrong ones could be working against you Why tailoring matters more than price, and how a $20 op-shop find altered properly will always beat an ill-fitting $200 piece The case for one genuinely good coat, blazer or jacket in one of your best colours, not a safe neutral Why knowing your colours (not guessing them) changes everything else on this list I also share what my own everyday neutrals look like as a Light Summer, versus my daughter's as a Deep Autumn, to show just how different "the basics" can look depending on your colouring. If this episode has you wondering what your own colours actually are, you can find out through a Virtual Colour Analysis with me — done online, at your own pace, no guesswork involved. 👉 lovingcolour.au/colour-analysis If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you'd subscribe or leave a review — it genuinely helps more women find the show. Ashley 💕          

Welcome to Life in Color, the podcast where we dive into the real, raw and wonderfully colorful aspects of life. I'm your host, Ashley, and I'm here to explore the ins and outs of seasonal color analysis, navigating motherhood, thriving in your 40s and beyond, and embracing health and wellness with a healthy dose of humor. Join me as we uncover the secrets behind finding your perfect palette, share stories of the joys and challenges of being a mom. And from practical tips to heartfelt conversations, life in color is your space to laugh, learn and live life unapologetically in all of its colorful hues. So grab your favorite drink, settle in and let's add some color to this adventure that we call life.

Welcome to Life in Color. Okay. This week is actually based on something that's going around on Instagram. Now, I haven't actually done this post on Instagram. I think it's going to go out tonight. So I'm getting this out at the same time. But what we're going to do is we're going to talk about five things that are worth the money according to me as a personal color stylist.

Now, they may not be the thing. things that you're thinking. And I'm not necessarily going to give specific examples of you must have like a white shirt or that kind of thing. We're not going into that. It's more about the things that I really think you should invest in that are really worth the money to making sure that your wardrobe is working properly for you and also making sure that you're investing in the right things. Because there are some things that absolutely you can spend a bit more money on and they're really, really worth it. And then there can be things that maybe you could buy something that's a bit cheaper or you could go for an alternative rather than really splurging on it. So here are the five things.

I'm going to list them off quickly and then we're going to go through them in depth. So number one is a properly fitted braw. Number two is making sure that you have your basics in your right neutrals, not trend neutrals, your neutrals. Number four is tailoring. Number five is like a genuinely good coat or blazer or jacket. And number five is knowing your actual colours. So None of this is about spending more. It's about spending well and making sure that what you're adding into your wardrobe is actually assisting you and helping you and guiding you in the right way rather than making you feel more confused or more flat or wise than anything working.

So let's start at the very beginning. You know me. I sound like the sound of music. I think I say that every time. Now, a properly fitted bra, so many of you might be thinking, why on earth are you talking about a bra and others would be like, I know exactly what you're going. she's talking about. Now, it may sound completely unrelated, but I guarantee you it is the foundation of your outfits, just like how choosing and making sure that your skin care is working really,

really well for you. Your makeup always sits better when your skin is hydrated and it's got the right skincare on it and the moisturiser and it's not dry and it's not flaky and all of these kinds of things. that is exactly the same thing when it comes to your right underwear, but in particular, the right bra. There are so many women out there who, whether you're small boobed or big boobed or wherever you sit in that area, that when you're wearing the wrong bra, if it's not giving you the right left, it's not giving you the right support. And if it's digging in or it's doing the wrong thing, that will show up in your clothes.

Having a top, some people or some women, I should say, come to me and they're like, oh, I can't wear that kind of top because my boobs are too big. I totally understand that. But then I will say to them, well, when was the last time you were fitted for a good bra? And they'll say, oh, I've never actually been fitted for a bra. I just buy the ones when I go that I think fit me the best. The thing is, if it's riding too high at the back, if the cups are gaping as you lean over, if they're digging in at the side, if they're leaving like a really big imprint at the end of the day, you are in the wrong size bra. And I cannot tell you, I cannot stress how important it is to make sure that you get fitted a bra and get it done regularly because, you know, with hormones, breast size can go up with,

like, I know when I was breastfeeding, I lost a lot of my volume from mine. And so therefore, my bra size has changed quite a bit from like my 20s right the way through now to my 40s when I'm back on, like I'm doing HRT. And then that's made a difference to my brass size again. So making sure that you get that and it's not just your cup size, it's also the size across your back, like, again, with perimenopause or hormone changes or anything that you're going through in life, that may also change as well. You might become a bit broader or you might narrow down a little bit. And all of those things make such a big difference. It's the same when you get a strapless bra. You

don't want a strapless bra that's going to end up around your waist if you're going out to like a nice barbecue and event. It's got to sit in place, but it doesn't want to be so snug on you that you feel like you can't breathe. So making sure that you get the right bra for you and also getting the little nipple covers. They are super important. And a lot of people wear them, I keep saying people, a lot of women generally, I'm saying, they wear them even in their swimmers so they don't have to worry about anything showing or that they don't want to show when they're getting cold or they're wearing it under a top so that they can go brailess if they want to, if they're wanting to wear more of like a holterneck or a strapless or anything like that. Don't feel it has to be that.

But making sure that you've got the right underwear. And then again, I know we're talking about bras, but it's exactly the same with underwear, making sure that you've got the right underwear. And if you're wanting to wear like a really knitted dress that's really tight, making sure you've got the right underwear under that. So it skims, it's seamless rather than actually seeing the underwear line or whether you need to have shapewear. All of this has such a massive impact into how your clothes actually sit on you. And whether your clothes are even comfortable or whether you feel you're a bit more

lumpy and bumpy like we all have those days, sometimes it might just be putting a bit of shape or underneath or I might be changing the bra. So making sure that you have the right underwear is like my number one because it makes such a difference. Now, I do get asked quite a bit where I buy my underwear from and I get mine from Victoria's Secret. I get it shipped to Australia. The reason I have this is I bought them.

I have been in a wireless bra ever since my early 20s because of my breast surgeries that I've had. I've got scar tissue. And so literally where an underwire would sit is exactly the spot that my scar. that my scar tissue is. And so I used to get quite unwell because it would irritate my scar tissue. And yeah, it just would make me feel awful. So I started buying wireless bras from Victoria's Secret back before it was even like a thing

to wear more wireless bras. But that's where I get my from. You used to be able to go into David Jones and Myers and get fitted. I think that's still a thing, if not go to a lingerie store. I also know that there are other services. I'm not affiliated with them at all. But if I find any more, I will put them down in the description box so that you have all of the info in there.

I also buy my underwear from there. From my general underwear, I buy it from booty. The only gripe I have with booty is that they take forever to dry. So I do put them in the dry quite a bit in the winter because they just don't dry and it drives me batty. So that's my only thing. I probably need to invest in a little bit more underwear that's sort of more of the seamless. So on things where I'm wearing a knit dress, like for myself, I can't.

see it as much. But yeah, that's what I do, that there are so many different ranges that you can go for, but just make sure you have a properly fitted bra. I cannot tell you that is worth the money investing in good bras. Okay, off my soapbox with that one. Let's move on to number two. And that is making sure that you have your basics in your right neutrals. Like I said before, not trend neutrals, your neutrals. And they will outlast anything that is trend-led, I should say, friend led by years. And when I say you're right neutrals, not all neutrals are created equally. And I'm pretty sure I've done an episode on this before. So if I, I'll try to link that again in the show notes too, but just very quickly to recap, if you're not aware or if you're new to

color analysis or if you're new here with me, thank you for being here. Not all neutrals are created equal. So we have cool tone neutrals, which are white, gray, navy, black. White gray, navy black. Yep, just making sure I've got all of that. And then, you also have like a charcoal in there as well. Warm-toned neutrals, rust, tan, caramel, khaki, beige, olive. They're all your warm-toned neutrals cream is in there as well. Now, the reason it's so important to know which ones is so many people don't wear color because they are intimidated by it or they don't know which colors suit them. And so they opt for what they feel is like safe colors, which are neutral colors. The thing is, they may not be wearing

the right ones. Now, I'm not talking about, I'm not wanting to shame anyone into feeling like, oh my gosh, you're saying I'm wearing the wrong colors and everything. I'm not about that. I'm more about helping you discover which ones are right. If you want to try and figure this out at home, then do the cream versus white test, which is standing in front of a window, take some photos, wearing cream or holding up cream or holding up white, and see, does the whitewash you out or does it give you like a nice flush of pinkness to your cheeks? Does the cream make you take on like a sallowy yellow kind of color and make you look a bit sickly or does it make you look like you have like a natural flush of a tan? Because it makes such a difference because these neutrals

could be working against you and you don't need to. You don't need to have clothes like doing that in your wardrobe. Let's face it. If with lack of sleep perimenopause or being up feeding a baby or whatever stage of life that you're at, you do not need your clothes working against you. So just by changing up your neutral colours makes all the difference in the world and then having a capsule of basics that work for you. So to give you an idea, here are like the basics at the moment that I'm wearing. It's winter in Australia. Here are the basics that I'm currently wearing.

Like I do include denim as my basics as well. And so I have my denim. Now for me, I'm a light summer. I wear a light toned, cool toned denim. It's got more of an iciness to it. It's got more of a purpleness to it. And then I also wear a deep, darker denim as well. They're the two different denims that I like to wear.

I do not wear black because black does nothing for me. I don't really wear charcoal either. I wear a grey. I don't wear it in a denim, but I do wear a grey as a neutral. I also wear an off white. I can wear a more stark white. I can get away with it. Stark whites are better for winters because they are like a hospital-grade white.

It's very sharp and intense and very, very clear cut that it's a white. So I have like an off white and then I have like a nice feather grey and then I wear a lot of navy. For me, my go-to is navy and I have different variations of navy. That's probably one of my favorite neutrals to wear and I pair it with so many different things. So that's what I have. And I have tops in that like basic cotton tops.

I have a couple of knits in like a charcoal gray, a light feather gray and a navy. I don't have a white one in a knit at the moment or a cardigan. I have a couple of cardigans in those. And then I have like jeans or pants or barrel legs, things like that in those colors. And that's where I interchange and mix and match a lot. Even I've got like a cord skirt in the navy as well. So navy for me is my predominant one followed by white. And then I have my like gray that I dip into as well.

Now for other people, so for example, somebody who's warm toned, that would look totally different. They would have like a milk chocolate. They would have like a beige. They would have a tan or a rust in there. They would have a khaki and their khaki is fantastic for all warm toned seasons to wear, whether you're spring or whether you're autumn. Olive features a little bit more in autumn clothes more rather than it does in spring. But in spring you're going to have the beages and the caramels and the tans and the creams. So knowing which one of those is yours makes such a difference. And then everything starts to mix and match. Like today, I'm literally in all neutrals. I have Navy Lorna Jane Tights on. I have a long sleeve white top on from Cook High. And then over the top,

I've got a country road, one of their, I don't know what it was called, but it's like the stand-up color, like jumper, like cruise. And that's in and off white. That's what I have on today. And all of my neutrals go together really, really well and work really, really easily. My daughter, who's a deep autumn, she's actually wearing chocolate today. And then she's got on an olive country road heritage sweat today. So she's in her neutrals. I'm in my neutrals. They work beautifully together and they suit both of us so, so well.

If she was to wear mine, she would look really washed out and really, really pale. And if I was to wear hers, I'd start to go a bit yellowy from that olive color because it does nothing for my skin tone and my undertone. So really think about making sure when you know your neutrals, that when you're building your basics, that you're building that in the right way. by getting ones that all go together and then they'll go beautifully with your wardrobe as well. If you know your colours, if you don't, then we can talk about that. Okay.

Number three, tailoring. And when I say tailoring, I'm not talking about necessarily going to a tailor and getting something done, but I'm talking about having something that fits you really, really well. You are actually better off buying something like for $20 at an op shot and then getting it altered to fit you, say like it's a blouse or a skirt or something like that. you just need it taken up, you need to take an in slightly, you're better off spending that money doing that, and it will always look more put together and more classic and more refined than if you bought a $200 item that doesn't actually fit you properly. I would much rather buy something

that's $20 and then get it altered rather than buy something that's $200 and then it still doesn't fit and then maybe you'd have to get it altered. But even then, going for something that is tailored and cut really well. Like I recently bought a denim skirt from seed and it's in a beautiful A line, but it gives me shape. I am a rectangle and I need something that gives me shape. It sits firmly on my waist and then it really gives me some nice hips and then the way that it's tailored with the panels, eyesuit skirts, longer skirts that have panelling in them to give a bit of like fit and flare kind of movement with it. It has that. I cannot tell you how much better that looks on me compared to, if you remember a few years ago, the really long maxy denim skirts were in,

they did nothing for me. Absolutely nothing. So the tailoring on that, it wasn't cut as well for a body shirt like mine. On other body shapes, looks fantastic. This is where knowing your body shape comes into it because then you know the different kinds of tailoring that suit you. I love shirt dresses. Really, really love shirt dresses. If the sleeve comes down too long and has too much of a cuff, I look like I've got too much fabric on me because I'm quite petite. I need to have a cap sleeve. It's all these different things, knowing how tailoring suits you. So when I say tethering, it's not about necessarily finding a blazer that fits you.

It's about finding the cuts of blouses or dresses or tops like a boatneck or whether you suit, where they're going out you like an off the shoulder. All of these different things make a difference to knowing how to put your outfits together, but also how they put together them on you and then how you feel in them when you go out. If you wear something that is too big for you and it sort of swamps you and it does nothing for you, you're going to feel like it all day, you're going to feel like you're wearing a sack all day. For somebody whose style personalities, they really like oversized, there is a difference between wearing something that is oversized and baggy for them, but they style it and they make it work for

them, as opposed to wearing something that's way too big for you and it just looks too big and it just doesn't work. So tailoring, whichever way your style personality leads, whether that is classic, like I know people are probably thinking more like tailoring, classic. Tailoring also comes into it when you are going for something boho, the skirts with the way that the tears fall or the way that the ruffle is or the really beautiful rayon pants, they still have to be tailored in a way that suits you. And it can be like I could go shopping with my best mate and something that looks beautiful on her and it's tailored to fit her kind of cut and body and

everything may not suit me and vice versa. It's not that the tailoring on the item is bad. It's how it fits on you and your body shape. Okay. Number four, this moves in really nice actually because we've just been talking about blazers. One thing I will say though is I do think having a genuinely good coat, blazer or jacket in one of your best colors, not in a neutral. I'm not saying play it safe here. I am saying go for a one in one of your colors because that is your statement piece. People will see you in that and it's just like, wow, look at her. She looks amazing today and I can't tell you the difference that it makes and that people will start saying to you, gosh, you look really lovely today that that kind of piece can wear

and pull it together. So like, for example, when you have a coat in one of your colors or in a mix of one of your colors, if it's within your color palette, which if you know your colors, it generally will be. But so many of your colors and your tops go with it, you can wear it pretty much with everything. Having a blazer, like I have a teal blazer. When I discovered that teal was one of my best colors, which hands down, like,

knocked me over, I never thought that I could wear teal. And then when I discovered that teal was one of my very best colors, I bought a blazer in it. And now I do wish I'd bought the matching pants. It was from witchery a few years ago. And I wish that I had. And I did actually buy the pants in the Navy and I took them back because I realized that I much preferred the teal than I did to the Navy.

And whenever I go out now, like I've got an event tonight, I will probably wear that to your blazer because I can wear my neutrals like, think of your basics again. I can wear a really nice pair of cut jeans. I can wear a really nice top underneath, and I just want that pop of color to bring it all together to be that statement piece and instantly that outfit is elevated. Not saying that you couldn't go, I couldn't go for a navy, it would look very nice with that too. But by the teal, it just switches it up a bit. So you could do a red, you could do a pink, you could do a rust, you could do a purple,

you could do a cobalt blue. For those that are in warm tones, you could do like a really lovely mustard. There are so many different things that you could do. Just think outside the box. a little bit when it comes to a coat, a blazer and a jacket, because I can guarantee you it will make all the difference in the world. Now, number five, and I don't think that this is going to surprise you, it's knowing your colours and it's not guessing them. It's not, I think I'm a spring, I might be in autumn. I'm not sure some people think I'm cool toned, but I've got red hair,

so I think I'm warm toned, actually knowing. Every single thing on the list that I've spoken to about today, work so much better when you actually know this and you stop guessing. Because even if you think you might have an idea, I can guarantee you. I have had clients that have thought they were warm-toned their whole life and they ended up being a cool summer. I've had clients who thought they were cool-toned, end up being like a bright spring. I've had clients come in and say, oh, I've been told because I'm aging. She was in her 70s.

I've been told that because I'm aging, I need to wear soft colors now. No, she's a bright spring. A hundred percent of bright spring. and she comes to life in those bright colours. And then I've had others who wish they were in a bright. I've got a lovely client at the moment. She wishes she was in a different colour palette to the one that she's in, but she's actually a soft summer.

And those soft summer colours look absolutely beautiful on her. And she knows that. Like we've talked about it. She's in the colour collective and, you know, we've talked about it. But she knows that those are the colours that suit her best and that bring out her features the best and harmonise the best with her. It's not to say that she can't go, rogue, as we like to call it, and wear other things. No, we're not about that. She absolutely can,

but she actually knows that those colours just don't suit her no matter how hard she's tried. So if you're interested in knowing your colours and having a virtual colour analysis with me, it's $150. It's all done online. I'm there to hold your hand the entire way. It's all done through selfies and email. And then you get a full 12-page document from me with your colors and an explanation and personal shopping recommendations and makeup recommendations. and I explained to you in your email exactly how I came to the result that I did. So if that's something that's of interest to you, go to Lovingcolor.com.com. You forward slash color analysis and you can book in at any time to have one of those done with me.

But I can guarantee you it makes such a game changer. I wear more color now in my 40s and I'm about to be 45 in a month or so. Yeah, so not far off. But I wear more color now in my 40s since discovering my color. as than I did in my 20s and 30s combined. And it has been so much fun. Like my wardrobe is now just a sea of color and I open it and it makes me so, so happy compared to back in my 30s, I played it safe by staying in gray, navy, white, a blush pink and denim.

And I got stuck in that for a really long time. So see, even me, you might think I have it all together, but I have had years and decades or times when I didn't necessarily know what to wear or how to wear the clothes that I had. Anyway, that's the five things that I think are worth investing in for your wardrobe. If you have any questions, feel free to DM me at Loving Color double underscore over on Instagram, or you can send me an email to Ashley atlovingcolor.coma.u. Anyway, if you've enjoyed this episode, please make sure to subscribe or leave me a review. That really, really helps me to know that you're enjoying the show.

Otherwise, take care and have a great week, and I will chat to you next week. Bye.