When revamping your wardrobe to an RPW approved look, there is a lot to know, and there is a lot that you have to figure out on your own, or with the help of your friends, through experimentation. So this is just the bare fundamental tool to help you get started.

Part 1: What is an RPW approved look?

The RPW dress code is comprised of skirts with a blouse or dresses. When paired with even a short (1"-2") heel they look put together and classy. Sometimes flats can do the trick. Your clothes should be well fitted to best flatter your body and body type. You don't have to throw away all your pants and sneakers, but they should not be what you are grabbing for your every day wear. Your clothes can be modest (high neck line, long skirts), but the basic rule I like to follow is "skin on the top or the bottom". If you want to show some leg, wear something more conservative on the top. Or somewhere in between the modest and "skin on the top or the bottom" look. If you want to show some skin on top, wear something a little longer on the bottom.

If your overweight focus on losing weight before revamping your wardrobe. While there there are clothing techniques that look better than others for the overweight person, at the end of the day there's no way to hide that your overweight. It is much easier to look better and find clothes that fit you well if you are not overweight.

Part 2: Which Clothes Flatter Me?

The first step is to identify your body type. Body types can be determined mostly by the ratio of your shoulders and boobs to your hips and butt, as well as looking at your waist. There are 4 main body types.

Pear: Your hips and butt are larger than your shoulders and boobs.

Apple: Your hips and butt are smaller than your shoulders and boobs.

Hourglass: Your hips and butt are about the same size as shoulders and boobs and larger than your waist.

Rectangle: Your hips and butt are about the same size as shoulders and boobs and about the same size as your waist.

The key for dressing yourself well is trying to minimize the parts that are disproportionately large, while trying to maximize the parts that are disproportionately small. Your are trying to create that ideal hourglass shape with your clothing.

Pear: You need more on top. Ruffles, bold patterns, cowl necks, large necklaces, jackets that go down to your waist. Minimize on bottom. Wear skirts that go straight down and are in subdued tones.

Apple: You need more on bottom. A like skirts, peplum tops, poofy skirts with frills, jackets that go down past your waist. Minimize on top. Wear simple shirts with subdued tones.

Hourglass: You are pretty balanced, so you don't want to wear something that over-emphases one part of your body and make it look unbalanced. You want basic silhouette on top and bottom that emphasizes the middle. Wrap dresses, peplum shirts. Scoop necks, cowl necks, and v necks on top.

Rectangle: You can create a waist by wearing something that has a focal point there. Also you can combine frilly tops, with frilly bottoms, just as long as your waist stays small. You can also look great in strapless or spaghetti strap styes.

Part 3: What Colors do I Choose?

A lot of people think RPWs should wear pastels like pink and summer colors. The problem is not all women are going to look good in those colors. Instead it's better to know which color pallet looks best on you, and rock that look. The problem is finding your colors is hard. I think the easiest way to figure out which colors pallet is to start with what you know, can you think of any particular color that you look good or bad in? Start with those and find the pallet that has that color in it. If that doesn't work try asking your friends to help you and if your still having trouble try this in depth guide with several more methods. Once you determine your color pallet, stick with those colors.

Winter: Blues, Greens, Purples and black. In general stick with vibrant colors or dark colors, avoid light ones because white doesn't look good on you.

Summer/Spring: pinks, greens, yellows and white. In general stick with vibrant colors or light colors, avoid dark ones because black doesn't look good on you. Spring and summer are not actually the same color type, but they are somewhat similar and I'm unclear on what distinguishes them.

Fall: Browns, Oranges, Orange-Reds. Neither white nor black look good on you.

Part 4: Pairing Clothing

The easiest way to match clothing is to look at a color wheel. Your matching colors will be the ones that are right next to each other (the color "family"). Also you can also pair the color that is directly across, if you want to use complementary colors (be careful with complementary colors because often both sides aren't in your coloration, if you want an complementary color outside of your coloration, use very little of it and have it located in a place that is not directly next to your skin, like a blue dress with an orange belt).

You can also use neutral colors for matching. If you're a winter, you can match anything with black, if you're a summer you can match with white, and if you're an autumn you can match anything with brown.

Do not try to mix and match patterns. Polka dots don't go with stripes and neither go with floral. When pairing something with a pattern, the easiest thing to do is to use something that has no pattern that matches.

Part 5: Wrap Up

Finally you want to buy quality clothes and take good care of them. Check out the External Resource Mega-List for suggested shopping sites.