Out with the old; In with the new

Q:
I am emailing you because I need help!!!! This is going to sound strange, but I am cleaning out my closet and have a hard time getting rid of things. How do you make yourself do that?!?!
Nicole from Wichita Falls

A:
Hi Nicole. It’s so nice to hear from you!

Yes! Clean out your closet. You will be so happy you did. You will feel so relieved.

Women can tend to become emotionally attached to ‘things’, so it can be hard to get rid of clutter, whether that’s in the closet or elsewhere. Actually, there was a study done by some German Scientists many years ago that led to the conclusion that women lose their ability for rational thought during shopping sprees, especially when ‘bargain-shopping’. Sidenote: men do the same when confronted with gadgets, power tools, cars, etc… The scientist that led the study stated that ‘Shopping frenzy is rooted in our ancestors’ hunter-gatherer instincts’.

So, this means that it’s not our fault, right? This explains why women tend to get jam-packed closets. And, fear of loss can a reason many women find it hard to purge. No wonder many women can’t make sense of their closets and get overwhelmed. They get ‘stuck’ in their closets.

Here are some thoughts:

* Be ruthless: if you don’t 100% love it, get rid of it. You won’t miss it. You will actually love having an ‘edited’ closet. It’s a great feeling to have a closet full of clothes that you actually love.

* If there is something in your closet that you never wear, there is a reason for that. It may be a sub-conscious reason (fit, color, bad memory, last year’s trend, etc…), so listen to it.

* Be strong; let go! Some of the very most stylish women in the world have very edited, sparsely populated closets. But, they love everything they have in there, they buy what looks great on them, and they have a knack for mixing and matching.

Organizing:

* If you do not have uniform hangers, buy some (crystal cut, wood, velvet, whatever).

* Face all your clothes the same direction and don’t have things hanging inside-out.

* Keep the current season’s clothes in the most visible part of your closet and move the off-season clothes to the back or in another closet.

* Only keep your current size in your closet.

* Arrange colors from light to dark.

* Separate pants and skirts according to length (and then from light to dark).

* Keep your accessories in plain view.

* Fold your sweaters.

* Get an ‘inspiration board’. Make it, buy it, whatever. Tack the pics from magazines or copies of photos you snap that inspire you.

Shopping:

Many women really need to re-direct how they spend their clothing budget:

* So important: shop by a list. After you edit down your existing wardrobe, make a list of the clothes you need to complete ensembles using what you already have (especially in order to utilize those ‘orphan’ pieces) These are the’holes’ that need to be filled before anything else so that you obtain a more versatile wardrobe.

* How many pieces do you have in your closet with the tags still attached? Are those markdown mistakes? DO NOT purchase clothing simply b/c the price is good. Purchase because you LOVE it and it looks great on you.

* Only fill your closet with the type of clothes you actually wear (for example: don’t spend on lots of fancy-night-out clothes if you live in ‘mommy wear’. Or, if you work heavy hours, spend most of your budget on office appropriate wear separates that you can mix-and-match for casual chic weekend wear.)

Take care and Happy New Year!! Hope to hear from you soon!