Do you have too many clothes? There is nothing wrong with liking fashion and pretty things. However when you look into your wardrobe, is it always a real mess? Well this is why you can never find things when you need it. Can you sometimes even struggle to get dressed as everything is all over the place that you can never find the things that go well together? If this is happening to you every morning then you need to give your wardrobe a good spring clean. You need to sort through your clothes so you know what you want to keep, give away, sell or throw in the bin! However where should you start? This can be a daunting task so that’s why you should follow our advice to help you out!
Beforehand
- Take absolutely everything out of your cupboards and clean your wardrobe so that you are starting from a good base. Put everything on your bed.
- Visualise how you’d like to organise your wardrobe now, where will your t-shirts go, your jumpers or jeans… ? Where are you going to store your clothes for summer and winter etc?
- You should also try and buy a good quantity of quality hangers that are the same size. Often we can make the error of buying hangers of different sizes that in the end take up lots of space and prevent you from seeing everything well.
- Make several piles of clothes: For example have a pile for giving away, selling, keeping and a maybe pile that you are unsure about.
Take each item of clothing one at a time and ask yourself…
1) Is it in a good condition?
If it has holes in it or has an obvious stain you have three options. Either you are repair or clean it, reuse the item in another way ( make clothes, interesting details for other decorations or you can throw it out. You can also have clothes that require a lot of maintenance. If you can never be bother drying the item flat, hand washing or ironing it then you might as well get rid of the garment.
2) Does it fit me?
We can often keep clothes that are too small for us thinking that we will one day lose a bit of weight and manage to get into them again. However dieting take time and there is no point in cluttering up your wardrobe. We can also keep clothes that are too big for us as we are proud to have lost the weight. Instead why not fill your wardrobe with clothes you real size! We can also buy shoes in error that are not the right size. Instead of keeping size 4 heels when you have size 6 feet get them sold online pronto!
3) Is it comfortable? Am I happy wearing it? Is it flattering?
Of course having fashionable clothes is important but your clothes should be stylish and comfortable at the same time. Clothes are meant to highlight your curves and you best features so the item should be flattering and make you feel good. If you get through the whole day and feel like you haven’t felt comfortable at all then you know you need to get rid of your item. Remember some clothes can be really pretty but when you wear the item it doesn’t suit your body shape, skin type or hair colouring. Choosing to keep clothes that only flatter your body shape is an excellent way to spring clean your wardrobe!
4) Have I worn this item recently?
Sometimes we keep clothes that date back to high school as we think we can still get use out of them and that we have accummulated clothes over the years. Ask yourself when was the last time that you wore this item of clothing. If you haven’t worn it for over a year then you know that you aren’t going to miss it!
A good test is to put all your coat hangers in the same direction when you organise your wardrobe. When you wear the item put it back in the wardrobe facing the other way. A few months later you will see clearly the clothes that you like and the others you rarely wear.
5) Would I buy it again if I saw it in a shop?
We often make impulsive purchases due to new trends which can go out of fashion quickly, sales as clothes are much reduced or due to a shopping frenzy that got out of hand. This is a radical way to sort through your wardrobe and get ride of surplus that you don’t wear.
6) Do I have items I can’t do without?
Sometimes we wear things all the time while other things in our wardrobe gather dust. Think about keeping just one item that you think is perfect for different occasions like a good winter jacket, a good hand bag, a nice black dress and a good night out outfit. This is the perfect way to give your wardrobe a good spring clean!
7) Do I have a current image? Do I give off the image I’d like to give off?
People can change and can change their style as well. Perhaps something that you liked a lot at the time you like less nowadays.
8) Do you keep it out of guilt?
This is often because you paid a lot of money for the item and in the end you never really wore it and felt obliged to keep it. If you don’t use this item remember that you can still sell the item online!
How are you going to reorganise everything
If you like to coordinate and match your outfits you should organise you clothes by colour. If you pull out clothes depending on your mood or the days activity then you should organise depending on the functionality. For example put the tops together and the bottoms on a different hanger or shelf. If you always wear the same things together for example the same jumper with the same pair of trousers you can store these items together.
How do you keep you wardrobe under control after you have sorted it?
You could perhaps have a basket in your wardrobe where you can easily place items that you want to give to charities in the future. Donating your clothes makes it much easier to get rid of clothes without having to find someone to buy the item second hand and then send it by post.
You can also create a rule that if you buy an item you then get rid of one, two or three items that you no longer like or wear. This wear you can get rid of between 10 to 20 items every three to six months. However this depends how often you buy new clothes and how many items you have in your wardrobe in the first place.
Gook luck with your wardrobe spring clean! It might seem like a daunting task but these tips will make your life easier.
Sources : Becoming Minimalist ; Style Caster
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