Our Wardrobes
Wardrobe Cleaning.
Life is busy enough without walking into your closet and
having a sense of helplessness, irritation, or disappointment. Dressing
should be easy, fun, empowering and representative of how you feel about
yourself and how you want to portray yourself to the world. Style is
a wonderful way to revive and reinvent yourself and organization has a major
role in this revival.
How to
Start.....
Visualize your goal: A
clean, organized closet, that allows you to easily dress each day and feel
confident and in love with your style.
2) Prepare your "closet cleansing"
tools. Some suggestions;
a) Bags to organize items that
are leaving your closet, nicely labeled to stay organized. For example,
a bag labeled "charity", one labeled "garbage", on labeled "friends", one
labeled "alterations", "dry
cleaning", etc.
b) If you don't have nice hangers, invest in them. Get rid of all
your wire hangers from the dry cleaners, and have uniform hangers that are
visually appealing and keep your clothing at the same level as you flip through
your closet. You'll be surprised what it difference it makes! Buy a
big box (and don't forget hangers that have clips for pants and skirts), you'll
most likely need between 150-200 hangers which sounds like a lot, but you go
through them
fast!
c)
If you have a collapsable rolling rack, drag it out, it can be super useful in
helping pull items out of your closet. Many people use these in their
laundry rooms and they are relatively inexpensive at stores like The Container
Store or
Storables.
d) Make sure you have garmet covers, and tupperware for items you don't
use often. Your evening dresses, or rarely used items should be properly
stored.
3) Make sure you have adequate time to do this
project, and make sure it is uninterrupted time. We know it is hard to
come by, but we promise that the peace of mind you get from completely this
project and bringing order to your closet will be worth it!
4)
Starting.....
a) Make your way
through each article in your closet (this includes drawers of tees, socks and
undergarmets) and every pair of shoes. Look at each piece of clothing and
ask
yourself:
QUESTION:
Do I love this (or at least really really like
it)?
QUESTION:
Does it look good on me, and flatter my
body?
QUESTION: Does this represent my
style?
QUESTION:
Do I wear this (more specifically, have I worn this in the last 12 months and
why not)?
b) Pull yes items and put them on a new hanger. Pull the "no" items and put
them in their appropriate bags for departure. The types of items that
you should see accumulating in the NO pile are the ones that don't fit,
flatter, hold negative feelings (no matter how much you love that DVF dress,
if your husband told you he wanted a divorce while wearing it,
chances are it it conjures bad memories and should go), or pieces that
are outdated. There are outdated pieces I would consider holding on to
and storing, but they would have to be really nice pieces, worthy of storing for
10 years waiting for the "revival" of that fashion....these pieces are few and far
between!
c) You
will find that there are pieces that you will want to hold on to, but
realistically will never wear. Identify these, and pack them into
your tupperware (which you can nicely label with a label maker if you have
one). This includes sentimental pieces, or things you really anticipate
wanting someday (for example, something you might want to give your daughter
when she is older). Try not to hang on to stuff just because you feel
guilty giving it away (ie, you spend a lot of money on it, or it was a
gift), remember, just because you feel guilty doesn't mean you will actually
wear it, it just means that you will keep it in your closet and keep someone
else from having the pleasure of wearing it!
d) During this process you
should keep your WARDROBE ESSENTIALS CHECKLIST handy and mark off as you
go, the essentials that are going back in your closet. This will help you
determine if you have any "holes" in your wardrobe foundation. The key to
a wardrobe that is easy, and flows, is having excellent essentials, and then
being able to mix your style pieces in with your essentials. It is sort of
like cooking, if you have the basics, you can always whip something together
that tastes good!
e) Just remember,
when you let go of the old, you allow the new to walk in.....new style, new
clothes, and a new perspective.
FALL/WINTER ESSENTIALS CHECKLIST
Pants
- three pairs of full
length black, brown, and charcoal pants in a wool, or wool blend fabric. For those of us who shy away from wool, try a heavier blend of rayon/viscose, nothing too lightweight.
Jeans
- two pair of dark
blue denim jeans with very little fading or whiskering (can be worn day or evening)
- one pair of
medium to dark blue denim jeans that are more casual (ie with fading and/or whiskering)
Skirts
- one black,
chocolate, and charcoal skirt in a wool, or blended wool
fabric.
- denim skirt
(nothing shorter than slightly above the knee)
Dresses
- one year-round
little black dress for any generic event-not more than an 1” above the knee and not lowcut or revealing (work dinner, funeral, conservative gathering)
- two fun cocktail dresses (‘tis the season of work parties, festive gatherings and events, so don’t be caught scrambling for something to wear)
- one day dress with long sleeves
that can easily convert to evening (example, a DVF wrap
dress)
Jackets
- Shorter jacket that is versatile and provides warmth but can still be worn indoors (and provides enough warmth for the lighter chill days)
- Car length coat in a nice warm wool blend that is fully lined. Doesn’t need to be a solid color, but needs to be a subtle enough print or pattern that you will still wear it with everything.
- sweatshirt “coat” for
casual days
Sweaters
- Black, cream, chocolate, charcoal or shitake tan cardigans
- cashmere turtlenecks in at least two essential colors (black, cream, chocolate, charcoal)
- 4-6 sweaters in flattering colors to pair you’re your neutral bottom, varying weights depending on the climate in your area.
Shirts
- white button
down shirt, cream button blouse
Tees & Tanks
- tanks, black, and chocolate for layering and extra warmth
- tees in long sleeves, black, chocolate, cream, and a few pop colors, for layering
- Several turtlenecks in basic colors and at least one “pop” color.
PJ's:
- 3 sets of
matching pjs (necessary to keep the old sweats, boxers and oversized tees at
bay)
Underpinnings:
- black, chocolate, and nude
cami
- several pair of
truly invisible thongs, black and nude are necessary colors
- pair of body
slimming shorts
- racerback bra
and strapless bra
Accessories:
- classic leather bag in
a neutral color, or neutral print
- two shawls/scarves, one in a neutral like light brown, camel or cream, and one in a versatile color or print (but with some kick to it)
- good eyeglasses (these are worn daily and outdated or unflattering
versions are a disaster)
- good hair accessories (nothing
ruins a put together outfit like having to borrow your daughter's Dora the
Explorer hair tie)
- several pairs of tights in neutral colors
- a pair of neutral gloves (cashmere or leather)
Shoes
- flats in a
neutral color
- heels in black, brown
- great black and/or brown tall boots (substitute in short boots if you prefer or if you are very short and can’t pull off tall boots
- pair of casual boots (Uggs maeks some that aren't those once trendy huge snowman ones--they make sleek cute suede pairs with cute detailing; puma also does a cool boot that is very casual (great with denim skirt and thick tights), with a easy to run around in sole and lots of style.
- casual sneakers that are cute (and
not the ones you run in at the gym)!!
Armed with the
knowledge of what you "need"-- items you MUST have to make your entire wardrobe function.
You can fill in, and then begin to add those fun pieces that you love
and flatter you perfectly. Remember, YOU create the style you want, you have no
one to blame but yourself. It has nothing to do with how much money
you spend on clothing, it has to do with how you put yourself together, and
the pride you take in your appearance. Being well dressed and put
together doesn't mean you've spent 2 hours getting dressed, and doing your
makeup. Well dressed means that you have a well defined sense of style, and that it
shows in the confidence you portray to the world. It can be done with jeans
and a tee, it can be done with a suit and heels. Cleaning your closet and
purging items that are visually standing in your way to a confident style is a
great way to start.
For great reading on defining your style and putting together
the perfect closet, try "Nothing to Wear?" by Jesse Garza and Joe
Lupo. Another favorite for helping to destroy the clutter that might wreak
havoc in your closet is "Clear your Cluter with Feng Shui", by Karen
Kingston. Trust us, it will help you purge like never
before!!
|
