With all this time at home and looking for things to do, I'm sure we all have had spring cleaning on the mind. The one question I’ve been getting a lot is, “how do I choose what to get rid of and what to keep in my closet?”. I get it, we all have that favourite pair of jeans that are too tight and we are hoping that once we lose 5-10 lbs we will rock them again and better than before! I’m not going to say that you should throw them away, but here are my rules when styling clients and going through their closets.
How do you need your clothes to support you and your lifestyle?
This is the first question I ask all my clients upon an initial meeting. What do you need your clothes to do for you? Depending on your occupation and life activities after work and on weekends, you want to make sure that the clothes in your closet support them all. Find images online or in magazines that showcase your sense of style or the style that you want to achieve. Purge and keep based on the images you have pulled. Often my clients find that they have many pieces that work with the styling that they want and just need a few key pieces to fill in the gaps. Get rid of the clothes that don’t support this.
Does it fit?
Sizing today is crazy, in some stores you can be a small and others a large. I want to encourage you to not look at the size on the tag, but try it on and be honest with yourself! Regardless of the size ask yourself, “does this look good on me?” If you cant decide then call on a friend for their honest opinion. Make 3 piles, too small, too big and a pile for clothes that don’t fit but still have a tag on it.
Can it be altered?
The key to looking fabulous and polished in your clothes is having perfectly altered pieces, so find an amazing tailor! Depending on how the garment was made some pieces allow for the item to be taken out and you can almost always take something in. So if the clothing item is relevant and supports the style you’re going for then first see if it can me altered. It’s almost always cheaper to alter rather than buy new and its better for our environment too!
Does it make you happy wearing it?
Just because something fits doesn’t necessarily mean you should keep it. Ask yourself if the clothing item makes you feel happy when you put it on. Sometimes clothing can carry emotional stuff for the positive and negative. Get rid or give away anything that doesn’t make you feel like your most beautiful vibrant self! If it’s a great piece but doesn’t spark joy for you anymore then give it to a friend who will enjoy it. I was gifted a beautiful belt this year by a friend and she was so happy that I would wear it and love it rather than it sitting in her closet.
When was the last time you wore it?
As a rule I suggest that if you haven’t worn the item in over a year then its probably time to get rid of it. Another suggestion is to place those unworn items at the front of your closet and make a plan to wear them in the near future. If you don’t wear them within the next few weeks then realized that you’re probably not going to ever wear them and get rid of them!
Cleaning your closet doesn’t have to happen all at once and shouldn’t be stressful. I often start with one section of the closet, then you can come back to it later in the day or the next day and feel like you’ve accomplished something. Wanna have some fun with it? Invite a friend over, play around and try things on and create outfits. Even better if your friend is a similar size and you can give the items that don’t work for you to them.
Happy closet cleaning!