I love fashion. Everyone who knows me knows how much I love fashion. As the quote from Confessions of a Shopaholic goes “When I shop, the world gets better, and the world is better, but then it’s not, and I need to do it again.” The mental issues all wrapped up in that statement are certainly something that needs addressing and I can proudly say that I’m working on it now. However, I was desperately in need of a complete wardrobe rehaul this year.
I didn’t necessarily need to buy more, but I needed to take stock of what I had in order to better understand what I wore, what I didn’t wear, and what I actively avoided wearing. I had to ask myself hard questions like “am I just holding on to this dress because of a memory” and get that “what if the perfect occasion comes up” voice out of my head. It wasn’t easy.
There was a lot of advice on redoing my closet that I simply couldn’t take. Take everything out of my closet to look at it? Fat chance, Marie Kondo. I’d have to dedicate a week, not just the spare hours I have here and there. I am the poster child for not having enough time to do anything.
In some article somewhere, someone is listing off the excuse “I’m just too busy” and the meme right next to that statement is a photo of me. Ok, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but it’s been my excuse for everything for years.
So, knowing this about myself, I purchased the book Unfuck Your Habitat (it spoke to me a lot more because I needed something a bit beyond “tidying up”) and got to reading. I only read this book while I was in my room, when I had time to spend reading and cleaning. I read the book like a workbook, doing each exercise as I came across it. There’s a method the book mentioned, which I put into practice by reading a chapter and then cleaning for 20 minutes. I won’t go super in-depth (since you need a reason to read the book too), but I started with my closet.
If I got rid of stuff in my closet, it made room for the things that didn’t have places. So really, it was the place I needed to start.
I’m not sure what your relationship with your closet is, but if you feel like you can’t define your personal style, can never find something to wear despite having a ton of clothes, and are constantly purchasing new things you don’t have space for, I hope this post provides a little bit of guidance.
I started with my “dream body” pieces.
You know those items you have in your closet that you tell yourself, “well, if I just lose 5 pounds, I can fit back into this.” I get it. I really do. And, I really wish you the best on your weight loss journey. But let’s cut the crap. Those pieces don’t make you feel good right now. There’s a reason you won’t wear them now. I pulled them all out of my closet and, as I put them into a thredUP bag, officially said goodbye to my high-school-varsity-sport body.
As much as I loved those pieces when I could fit into them, they’re just a reminder of what my current body isn’t. I have clothing I love more and, to be completely honest, if I lose weight, I will be way more stoked about buying new clothes that fit rather than fitting into old clothes.
I organized my closet by color and function.
I’ll be honest. My mom actually did this for me when she was helping me organize and fold some of my clothes. She organized my shirts by color and then, within the colors, helped my organize by function. By this, I mean that polos went together, button down shirts went together, tank tops went together, etc.
As much as I wasn’t sure how I felt about the method when she did it, it did help me see what I had in my closet. (For example, I have far too many white button down shirts.) When you can see exactly what you have, it’s easier to decide what to get rid of.
I asked myself – is this a ‘laundry day’ piece of clothing?
Here’s the dirty truth, literally. If the piece you’re looking at is one of those I’ll-wear-it-when-I-have-nothing-else pieces, get rid of it. Trust me when I say, if you’ll do laundry before reaching for that item in your closet, it’s not worth keeping. I’m the most guilty of this practice with my underwear drawer, but have been known to do it with similar shirts and jeans.
The absolute easiest place to make this decision was with my jeans. I have two pairs of jeans that are my favorites. I wear them every day to work because they are so flattering and fit perfectly. When I found that I was more likely to wash those jeans than to pick a different pair to work, well, my decision was made.
I got rid of everything I didn’t love.
There were definitely a few pieces in my closet that I did not like. For whatever reason, I could get rid of them.
Although not many people know this, I am recently out of a long term relationship. Without going into details, I got rid of all the items that I didn’t like that I kept because he liked them. This was possibly one of the most cathartic things I did in the process, but some things were easy to toss.
Even though those clothing items were specific to a person, getting rid of those first made it easier to start making other decisions. All the sudden, it was much easier to figure out what I loved and didn’t love in my closet.
So many pieces in my closet were provided by brands for me to shoot when I focused heavily on fast fashion content on the blog. I quickly started to realize that I didn’t love these pieces as much as thought. I mean, if I wasn’t going to purchase them on my own, why was I letting them take up space in my closet? And… out they went.
I asked myself if I was holding on to a memory.
The hardest things in my closet to get rid of were the items that I associated with memories. The dresses I wore to special events, the romper I wore on my first cruise, or swimsuits I wore on the beaches of Australia. The problem was, these pieces didn’t even match my style or personality anymore because I wasn’t the same person. I was more mature, my style was different.
When I finally admitted that the memories wouldn’t fade by getting rid of the clothes, I was able to part with the pieces I didn’t wear anymore, even if I just associated them with a happy memory. (I’ll give you a little more insight into this so-called Endowment Effect in a later post, I promise.)
I’ll be the first one to tell you that clearing out and really re-hauling a closet can be a long, exhausting, and somewhat emotional process, especially if you let it go for too long. Although I hope you are not in a situation similar to mine, I hope some of these tips at least help you solve the problems in your closet that you’re facing. Good luck!
