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For many, a seasonal wardrobe refresh is something to look forward to. But concerns about fast fashion and the cost of living crisis may mean that a shopping trip just isn't on the cards at the moment.

Dressing up can have huge benefits to our mood, so why not try embracing what you already have? Emma Slade Edmondson is a fashion, lifestyle and retail consultant and spoke to Woman’s Hour about how we can fall back in love with what’s already in our wardrobes, and why now is the perfect time to upcycle ready for a new season. Here are her five tips...

“I would always tell my clients to organise a night in with their wardrobe,” says Emma, who used to run a style consultancy. “So, get everything out. Look through what you’ve got. Think about things that you haven’t been wearing for a while. Really think about why you haven’t been wearing them and how they make you feel. Try them on again.

“Put new combinations together that you probably wouldn’t have time to look at when you’re feeling quite time poor and rushing around in your everyday life. This is something we can all do now that we’re inside and we can’t go out and buy things.”

“I’ve worked from home for a long time but I’ve been finding it really difficult to motivate myself and I have to confess, when we first went into lockdown I was in my pyjamas quite a lot. I work from home normally, so it was kind of odd to me why I couldn’t motivate myself.

“I found personally that getting dressed purposefully has really given me a bit of a spring in my step, lifted me for the day and made me feel like I’m in the zone to get on with my day. I’ve actually got this green olive silk suit that I’ve been wearing quite a bit, especially to jump onto calls, which is really comfortable and it feels really beautiful on my skin. Wearing bright colours, wearing things that feel comfortable but also beautiful and that you love really make you feel good.

“I’ve also got something of my Nan’s that I’ve been wearing. Obviously, we can’t see our grandparents at the moment so it’s quite nice to wear things that make you feel closer to your family.”

“There are things that you just cannot put in the wash, for example if your jumpers are lambs wool or cashmere. But you can aerate them and spot clean them. If you don’t have a garden, I often pop things in my bathroom and open the window very wide. This means that they’ll last longer and feel refreshed.

“I’ve been looking at de-bobbling things. You can order a de-bobbler online, but you can actually just do it with a razor. So it’s just about gently shaving those pieces of clothing that have formed little bobbles. You can hang them up, shave them gently and restore them.”

“As somebody who is a city dweller, I don’t often have time to really sit and get into mending, upcycling, or perhaps dyeing things that I’ve put aside because they’re no longer working for me or they perhaps have a bit of a stain I want to look at.

“I’m really interested in natural dyeing at the moment. That’s something I definitely want to experiment with whilst in lockdown. You can dye things with rosemary, eucalyptus, lavender, onion skin, avocado even. You know, things that you either might find in your garden or that you might have in your fridge. I think that’s a really nice way to look at giving something a new lease of life, particularly if it has a mark on it or something like that.

“There’s lots of little things you can do, even if you’re not somebody who is really proficient with a sewing machine. I’ve actually arranged to do a bit of painting via a tutorial through a friend of mine who often paints on denim. So I’m going to uplift a pair of jeans by just doing a very simple upcycle on them by painting the seams in different colours.”

“I think one of the things that is most important to get into during this time, or that would be most valuable going forward, is just learning to mend. Because that really is the way that you give the things that you love the long life that they deserve.”