I kind of love spring cleaning & decluttering. Everything feels so fresh afterwards! I hate it while I'm in the midst of it though, but I know the reward will be worth it. This spring I decided my wardrobe really needed a cleanse. I have a tiny closet and I feel like I'm always saying I need to get rid of some clothes. I find it gets harder and harder to do this as you get older, though. After a little soul-searching, these are the reasons that directly relate to why the size of my wardrobe has gotten out of control:
- My current sense of fashion lends itself more towards classics(realllly hard to get rid of)... but I like trendy stuff too!
- I've been approximately the same size for the past ten years.
- I tend to wear more separates than suits or dresses (anyone else a blouse + jeans or t-shirt + skirt girl?)
- I'm very sentimental.
- I hate doing laundry.
- I love shopping.
Please tell me someone else out there has these problems too. Because of these tendencies, I have approximately 50 tees that are all similar styles but in every shade of the rainbow (this goes for tanks, collared shirts, long sleeve tees and sweaters as well), way too many cute blousy tops that can be casual and dressy at the same time, lots of shorts & skirts (these tend to fall in the 'trendy' category), and I don't even want to talk about the shoe situation...
I started my purge by reading every closet organization article I could find. The classic "if you haven't worn it in a year" rule was just not cutting it anymore. I needed something more compelling to battle my sentimentality. Here are the top 4 sources I found that go beyond the basics of decluttering:
The ideas from all of these posts that helped me the most were to judge if the piece really supports the life I want to have right now & to pretend like you are shopping your closet- would you buy that item again and be excited about it? The other thing that helped was trying things on. I had some really nice shirts in my closet I hadn't worn in a while, but I wasn't sure why. I found out as soon as I put them on- they just fit weird--bye bye! And others that I thought fit weird were actually really cute when I tried them on! I dreaded this part of the process the most, though. I would stare at my self in the mirror trying to figure out if I should keep the shirt then get distracted and think, "Why did I eat cookie dough for dinner??! I need to go to the gym." But it was worth it.
All done!
Outcome: I ended up with quite a few bags of clothes to donate!!
Conundrum: My closet is still pretty packed. Where were all those clothes I'm donating hiding?? Not in my closet obviously.
Realization: I had lots of stashes of ill-fitting, out-dated, or worn out clothes around my apartment. Shoes hiding in the hall closet, t-shirts and jeans in a box in the top of the closet, nicer items like skirts & dresses in another closet & more boxes under the bed. It was crazy! Everyday clothing lives in one place now (special occasion dresses are in another closet).
It took me more than an afternoon to attack everything, and clothes were strewn from one end of the apartment to the other, but I purged many items that don't fit my life anymore. I know they will find a second home that will treat them right.
Need a little piece of encouragement? When you purge everything that's dragging you down you feel a million times better and your closet will be awesome :) And let me know if you need help! I'm a nerd and love organization projects.
perfect rainbow wardrobe
{For more closet inspiration check out my Pinterest board!}
Spring has been a long time coming in New York this year. The showers have finally arrived and my trusty trench coat has become my go to fashion statement. Though I'm dreaming of spending all morning in bed and then snuggling on the couch next to a small fire to fight off the chill and reading books, lots of books, while the Dude noodles on the guitar. Wow that sounds amazing...but I had a nutella crepe for dessert at lunch today which I guess is pretty amazing, too. Sometimes you just have to treat yourself when the weather decides not to cooperate.
