Wardrobe De-cluttering

Wardrobe De-cluttering – it can scare the hardiest of fashionistas! Have you looked into your Wardrobe lately? One of the prompts for #JunkFreeInJune was to venture into our wardrobes and de-cluttter! Having recently moved house, I have been through this process although I may have gone too far and now am scratching around to find something to wear!

For some ideas on how to start Wardrobe De-cluttering, I’ve asked Christine Blundell from My Private Stylist and resident Fashion Editor for Sizzling Towards 60 & Beyond, to put together a plan for Wardrobe De-cluttering. Will you take up the challenge?

Wardrobe De-cluttering

One thing I know from personal experience is that physical clutter is also mental and emotional clutter, which is why I particularly like Sue’s theme of Junk free in June. Some great ideas on her calendar, if you haven’t done so already make sure you download it.

Let’s talk wardrobe de-cluttering- a scary thing it can be too! So many things hiding away in the back and the bottom that haven’t seen the light of day for many a year in some cases. Often the thought of doing it can be worse than the actual doing itself, and the longer we procrastinate the scarier it is! So put on your big girl pants and get ready to get organised and in a few hours you can have a wardrobe you will take pleasure to open instead of approaching it with fear and trepidation, hoping a mountain of mess doesn’t jump out and attack you before you can shut it all back in!

First thing you need to do is set aside a good chunk of time, preferably when you have a few hours uninterrupted as it’s best to do the declutter in one big bite. You will need:

     A full length mirror

    4 bags:

      1 for giveaways or to sell

      1 for throwaway

      1 for keeping- these will be going back in your wardrobe only after passing a few tests.

      1 for repairs, washing, dry cleaning, or alterations

Secondly:

       Take everything out of your wardrobe, yes EVERYTHING! and put them on your bed.

Next:

        Try on the clothes you haven’t worn for a while:

        Ask yourself the following questions:

How long since I have worn it?

Unless it’s a special occasion garment then if you haven’t worn it in 2 years, ask yourself why? It could be that you have an emotional memory attached to when you wore it or who bought it for you. If you can’t bear to part with it, then try to store it somewhere away from your main working wardrobe.

How does it make me feel?

I won’t go all Marie Kondo on you and ask if it sparks joy and thank it for being your friend etc, but if, when you put a garment, you feel uncomfortable or the Colour makes you look terrible etc but it is still in good order, then it goes into either the giveaway or sell bag.

Do I still love it?

If you don’t still love it and WEAR it, then perhaps it may be because:

Does it still fit me?

We all have garments that we hold onto with the hope or intentions of losing that weight. Keep one favourite garment as a goal and donate the rest as when you lose the weight you will deserve a new wardrobe!

Does it suit the person I am now?

We evolve and change who we are and the clothes we once wore may no longer express who we are at this present stage of our life. If this is the case then it’s pointless keeping it hanging in your wardrobe.

Does it fit with my current lifestyle?

We may have reached a time in our lives where we have retired, or changed employment roles and therefore clothing that once suited our former roles no longer applies. If, for example you have had a corporate role where tailored garments were appropriate but now are irrelevant, therefore a large part of your wardrobe is no longer necessary, consider donating them to a registered charity such as Dress for Success which helps to improve the employability of women in need would be very much appreciated by them and the women they assist when going for interviews and starting work.

If the answers to the above questions are all YES, then does it need repairing, dry cleaning, alterations?

If the answers are NO, then it goes back into the keep bag

If the answers are YES, then it goes into the bag for repairs or cleaning etc.

If you have any garments that you can’t decide if you want to part with, then put them in a box or somewhere apart from your wardrobe and if, after six months you still haven’t gone to that box and retrieved it and worn it, then it’s time to say goodbye.

Remember that if you have unworn clothing taking up valuable space in your wardrobe, if you instead had the actual money hanging there, ask yourself how much would it total, because that’s how much money you are wasting?

Once you have sorted out all the bags, take the keep bag and hang the clothes back in your wardrobe (no wire hangers please!) and work out a system that suits you best, hanging by categories and/or colour for example all your black clothing, all black skirts together, all black pants together etc.

 Now you should have a tidy, workable wardrobe that is a pleasure to open and easier to find your garments.

One more thing- take all your shoes out and sort out which ones you no longer wear, ones that need throwing out and any that need repairs.

Finally- congratulations on a job well done! You deserve a nice cup of tea or coffee (or something stronger if it has been traumatic!)

In order to avoid doing a huge declutter do a seasonal one to keep on top of it.

Your wardrobe is prime real estate so only allow garments you love and wear to live there!

You might find the wardrobe wastage calculator quiz below, an interesting one to do, go to:   

Wardrobe wastage calculator