There it is–your messy closet: that big, looming, weeks-long task you’re dreading. We know what you’re thinking. It would be faster to just to throw a match in there and start over, but that wouldn’t be fair to any of the woodland creatures that may have taken up residence under that pile of shoes. Also, polyester doesn’t really catch fire. It just melts.
Here it is: a step-by-step, incredibly efficient guide to cleaning it out and getting organized. It will really only take a few hours of your time, which is well worth the investment if it keeps you from being nominated for an embarrassing makeover show.
How to Tame Your Closet
by Brenda Kinsel of Inside Out, a Style and Wardrobe Consulting Company
Brenda Kinsel, the owner of Inside Out, a Style and Wardrobe Consulting Company, which is based in the San Francisco Bay area, has been matching people’s clothes to their personalities, passions, and lifestyles since 1985. Featured on Oprah and NPR, Kinsel is a fashion columnist for the Pacific Sun and the bestselling author of 40 Over 40: 40 Things Every Woman Over 40 Needs to Know About Getting Dressed and In the Dressing Room with Brenda.
Most likely, you have been telling yourself for weeks, months, maybe even years, that you need to do something about your closet. When it takes you more than five minutes to get dressed in the morning, when you’re wearing the same three outfits over and over but your closet is overflowing, or you reach for items but can’t wear them-the hem is hanging down, there’s a bleach stain on the front of your favorite shirt-you need to make peace with your wardrobe.
A closet edit is something you should do at least once a year, devoting a full day to the task just before you change over to the fall/winter or spring/summer season. By eliminating what doesn’t work, you are free to wear everything in your closet, looking and feeling great every time you get dressed. You’ll feel like you’ve lost ten pounds (4.5 kg)!
STEP 1: Gather your supplies beforehand. You’ll need plenty of empty boxes or garden-sized trash bags, a full-length mirror, and a portable clothes rack (or in a pinch, set up an ironing board for more sorting space). Purchase hangers with a uniform design (see “Choosing Hangers,” next page) to replace all those thin metal hangers from the drycleaners with more substantial versions. Pick up a good-looking storage box to store clothing that may not fit but has sentimental value.
STEP 2: Empty out and clean your closet. Hang clothes on the portable clothes rack, place them on your bed, or drape them on the ironing board. Clean the closet shelves, sweep or vacuum the floor, and dust down the walls. Hang sachets of lavender on a handful of hangers to give your clothes a fresh smell (it will also help fight bugs).
STEP 3: Try on everything and begin the sorting process. If an item fits or flatters, put it on a new hanger. If a garment needs repair, set it aside in a “To Do” pile. (Plan to have all repairs completed in three weeks.)
STEP 4: Arrange the clothes in your closet by color, from light to dark, so they look as orderly as a fresh box of Crayola waxed colors. Blouses, pants, skirts, and dresses all hang together if they are the same color. If you have large groups of one color, arrange the items from short to long: blouses first, then jackets, skirts, and pants. Dressy things will hang with casual things to inspire fabulous combinations you wouldn’t have considered. Note: Some items of clothing, such as cotton sweaters, silk turtlenecks, or lightweight cashmere sweaters are perfect for the transitional time between seasons. Retire these pieces from your closet only when you are truly in the thick of the season, from summer to fall or winter to spring. It is normal to have an overlap of pieces like these within a fashion season.
STEP 5: Sort the clothes that didn’t make the cut. Put clothes that are stained, ripped, and not repairable in the trash. The clothes that don’t fit or just aren’t “you” anymore may be right for someone else. Place them in a box to go to a consignment store or favorite charity. If you absolutely must hang onto some favorites you think you’ll wear someday when you have lost some weight or when circumstances call for them, place them in your souvenir box, to be stored in an extra closet with your photos and other keepsakes. Your current closet should hold only your current working wardrobe.
STEP 6: Make a chart of all the outfits in your newly organized closet. You may now have fresh ideas about wearing new combinations of outfits. Write out the new combos and keep the list in your closet for reference. As you create more outfits during the year, keep recording them, and you will always have something wonderful to wear. It will also be easy to see if you are repeatedly buying tops without the right bottoms or always buying pants but never having an array of tops to choose from.
“It’s not that I love it; it’s just that it was so expensive.” Here are three options for those pieces that you can’t/won’t wear or that aren’t appropriate to your body shape, coloring, personal style, or lifestyle.
1. Gift your mistakes to friends or relatives who are more suited to them. The sooner you gift them, the longer the giftee has to enjoy them.
2. Help someone else get on her feet. There are many worthwhile organizations that will take clothing and give it to women who are getting back into the workforce and can’t afford that interview outfit or the first week of outfits for a new job. (One such organization is Career Closets.) You can also find local organizations that help AIDS patients, battered women, or those in recovery for drugs or alcohol addiction.
3. Take your current rejects to a consignment store. You will usually receive half of what they charge their customers for the garments they sell. Again, recognize your mistakes early so your clothes will be appealing to shoppers.
January 15th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Dang it, who said you could take pictures of my closet without my permission! lol