How I streamlined my wardrobe (Feb. 2021)

WRITTEN by CHRISTINA TAYLOR




Until recently, I would open my wardrobe doors and feel dread.  My items of clothing were numerous, cluttered and unmanageable.  I felt guilty for not having worn many of them, during the past couple of years.  

I desperately wanted to get some control over my wardrobe.  I researched how other people de-cluttered and managed their wardrobes but found fault in their methods; their methods were not for me.  Therefore, I decided to create my own process.  Here it is: 

 
1. Where are my clothes?

Firstly, I needed to find all items of my clothing to get a realistic idea of what I was working with.  I made a list of all locations where I had items of clothing:

tallboy
wardrobe
laundry basket
clothes I am wearing
clothes airer
linen closet – bottom/floor
linen closet – top


2. What do I currently have?

For each of the locations identified in the previous step, I went through each item of clothing.  I assigned each item a clothing category name, such as:

jackets
shorts
shoes
tops

I wrote this category name down, and then wrote down a unique identifying note for each item belonging under that category name.  

Once I had inventoried every item, I tallied up the total for each category.  I was surprised to find that I had:

17 sleeveless casual tops
12 sleeveless work tops
19 pairs of socks

I clearly had more clothes than I needed!


3. What do I need?

For each clothing category, I thought about the number of items in that category that I actually need and will wear in the future.  I considered the following:

how often I do a load of washing
how many days per week I work in an office environment that requires business attire to be worn
how many days per week do I exercise
what items of clothing ‘mix and match’ with different items
do I really need so many items of summer clothing
do I really need so many items of winter clothing

I wrote the total next to each category name.  


4. Go ‘Shopping’

For every item of clothing, I imagined I was shopping at one of my favourite stores.  I tried on each item of clothing, while standing in front of a full-length mirror in my bedroom, and decided which items I liked enough to ‘purchase’.  I turned my bedroom into a change room.  

For this step, I wore my favourite underwear.  While trying on my numerous tops, I wore my favourite black jeans.  For a second opinion, and to make the process more fun, I did this ‘shopping’ in front of my partner.  

After trying on each item, and getting my partner’s opinion, I decided on one of three groups for that item.  For each group, I created a separate pile on the bed or floor.  I also noted down the name of the decided group next to that item in my inventory list.  Here are the three groups that I used:

definitely keep
items that I placed in this pile included clothes that:
I love
I wear regularly
are flattering
make me feel fantastic

don’t want
this pile included clothes that:
no longer fit me
have stretched and worn beyond repair
look unflattering
I had only worn once or twice in the past couple of years
I had never worn
I no longer like
no longer ‘go’ with anything else
I found an old t-shirt that I loved and had owned for over 15 years, but I rarely wore it anymore because of its bad condition.  Associated with it were good memories, but it was of no further use to me.  I took photos of the t-shirt, which helped me ‘keep the memory’ and let the physical item go

maybe (revisit these)
a few of my sleeveless work tops were initially put on this pile, but once I identified my favourite sleeveless work tops, these tops were moved onto the ‘don’t want’ pile

During this step, I regularly reviewed the clothing category totals from the previous step, to remind me of what I actually need in the future, and what items I can let go of now.  Once I had completed this step, no items were in the ‘maybe’ pile.


5. Disposal

A mountain of clothes formed my ‘don’t want’ pile.  I bagged these items up and donated them to one of my favourite op-shops. 

There are other options for disposal of clothes.  Here are a few ideas that came to mind:

use as rags
sell online
hold a garage sale
give away to a friend


6. Maintaining Control

Not only do I now have more room in my wardrobe and linen closet, I no longer feel dread when I open the doors.  Instead, I witness organised items that I love and will wear in the future.  This is how I plan to maintain control:

continue wearing black
for simplicity, I will continue only ever wearing black jeans and black shoes

swapping out
if I procure an additional item of clothing, at least one current item is to be disposed of, from that category of clothing

annual review
I have set a date for later this year when I will remove all items of clothing and relocate them to a separate location, such as the empty wardrobe in the spare room
once I have worn an item, it will no longer be stored in this room
every year on the same day, any clothes that remain in the spare room are items that I have not worn during the past year and I will dispose of
if need be, I will also review my inventory and update the number of each clothing category that I will need in the future


1 comment:

  1. Although I did not follow this to the letter, it did inspire me to have a clear-out of my own. After reading this, for the second time, I got straight up from the sofa and headed directly to the bedroom.

    I discovered that I had many items of clothing, that I never used. Socks, boxer shorts, shirts and jeans that I had kept 'just in case', are now bagged up ready to go elsewhere. I now have more space for storing things that I actually need, use and love

    ReplyDelete