Now, back to almost regular programming.
I recently moved into a new apartment, and during the packing sessions, I realized that I have a lot of clothes and shoes. It was over double of what I originally brought to the place the year before. That’s some crazy expansion! At times, I would go into my closet and I could not find the piece I wanted because it was buried away somewhere. When it got messy, it was pretty unmanageable and sometimes, I’d be frustrated because I didn’t have anything to wear!
It’s not that I don’t have things to wear, but I couldn’t find it because I had so much other junk.
So, to prevent additional growth, I’m gradually paring it down. I went through each and every item and asked myself,
“Have I worn this lately?
Would I wear it in the future?
And can it create multiple outfits?”
If the answer was a resounding NO, it went to the donation pile. If the answer was YES, then it was carefully put back into the closet.
Every once in a while, I’ll sell my clothes to Buffalo Exchange, Plato’s Closet, and the like, but I find that I don’t really shop there, and it’s not worth the pain of seeing a brand new, but too big For Joseph dress (original price $165) get marked down to $15 because few people have heard of this LA designer. It was marked less than a Urban Outfitters dress that I got for $30.
Therefore, I prefer to donate everything to Goodwill or Salvation Army. That way, I have a charitable donation that brightens up someone’s day who really needs these clothes.
After the first round, I made sure that I had less than 365 items of clothing and shoes as my personal goal and luckily I’m still way under! I can mix and match to create countless different outfits with my current wardrobe, so why purchase more? I’m pretty sure I can wear a different outfit everyday for a year and I’m sure people would still think that I have a never-ending supply of clothes. But I don’t.
Here are a couple of tips I’ve picked up to having a great wardrobe:
- Sort clothes according to the type like putting all jackets together
- Fold t-shirts and sweaters to prevent them from stretching out
- A shoe rack or clear storage containers to see your shoes better when matching an outfit
- If a garment needs special attention, like leather, wool, or silk, make sure it’s stored properly so it lasts longer
- Have a set number of hangers so when it’s all filled up, then it’s just a matter of replacing items instead of adding items to your closet
What do you do to keep your closet manageable and organized?
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How funny! I wrote a super similar post on my old blog (link attached in the “website” field of this comment form in case you were interested). Guess we think alike.
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