I will give up buying clothes for a year

10:10 fashion: Shop your closet | Environment | The Guardian

Not buying clothes would seem to break the fundamental law of fashion, but happily there is a stylish way around the conundrum. "Shopping your closet" is the glossy magazine term invented about the same time as "Recessionista" – when stylists were desperately looking to put a glamorous-sounding spin on the very unglamorous practice of reining it in.

So how is it done? The first thing to do is counter-intuitive – get rid of more stuff. Annex the clothes you don't wear, but don't bin them. The theory is that by editing things out of your wardrobe that you don't actually wear, you end up having a more refined wardrobe, thus projecting a so-called strong personal style. Anna Wintour is fashion's greatest exponent of this. Slinky jogging bottoms might be in, but Wintour sticks to floral dresses and kitten heels. Keep this in mind when you feel like you've limited your wardrobe further. Repeat the mantra: "I'm not dull, I have a strong personal style."

Now take your unworn items and start swishing. That's another ritzy fashion term for swapping your clothes with your mates. Do it in an official way – search for a local event online – or persuade a friend whose dress sense you like to do it with you. Swapping jeans is a good place to start: remember, one man's skinnies are his mate's straight legs. Be daring – next year the 90s are back, so swishing a pair of leggings for a pair of cycling shorts is not the extreme folly it once was.

Next, learn to sew or find a dry cleaner who can. Repairs go without saying, and a little alteration can upgrade an item's fashion rating no end. Men should cut the sleeves off a cardigan – very next-season Prada. Women could try cutting the hem off an A-line skirt – raw edges are so Celine, which should be your 2010 wardrobe ambition.

The ultimate way to stretch your wardrobe without buying anything is to learn to style – not half as daunting as it sounds, and completely effective. Anything as simple as rolling up a trouser hem counts as styling. Where once you had an old pair of chinos, now you have a bona fide catwalk look. Easy.