Step up your style with Annette Merrin from Platform

This is my first fashion column for The Weekend Sun, so let me introduce myself. As Twenty years ago, as a young mother, I was looking for a new challenge and dreamed of creating stylish clothing that reflected the needs of my lifestyle, yet still allowed me to feel sexy and confident.

Now, with a grown family, my lifestyle is a little different, but my desire for wearable, coordinated clothing remains unchanged.

Along the way I've learnt some valuable fashion lessons. The first and most important is ‘less is more'.

How many of us have looked into our wardrobes, bursting at the seams, and thought, I have nothing to wear. Fueled by emotion and impulse buying, more and more stuff just keeps getting added. Much of it relegated quickly to the category I call ‘fashion orphans'.
Women generally wear 20 per cent of their clothes 80 per cent of the time, yet continue to buy more. So before you rush out to the sales this year, take a good look at what's already in your wardrobe. Get rid of anything you don't love, doesn't fit or you haven't worn in the past year. Then make a plan, look for the gaps and go shopping.

My advice is to buy less, but spend a little more. I've always worked on a ‘cost per wear' approach. Divide the cost of the garment by the amount of times it will be worn. A $250 well-designed, great fitting pant worn twice a week for two years is a far better investment than a $50 dress worn once.

I have a gorgeous black cardigan I purchased in Los Angeles six years ago, for an amount I'm almost too embarrassed to admit to, but I've worn it endlessly ever since. It's honestly the best garment I've ever bought and its cost per wear has proven to be very little. Invest in good quality clothing, it'll last longer and look better.

So try and keep those impulse ‘it's a bargain' purchases under control this sale season and I'll look forward to catching up with you next month.