In this week’s podcast episode, I discuss how best to declutter and organize your closet.
I discuss capsule wardrobes, how you can purge too much, and how you can have variety in your everyday clothing while loving and wearing everything in your closet!
I started this year with three episodes about the importance of decluttering, organizing, and increasing productivity.
In those episodes, I explained that when you reduce the amount of “stuff” you own and get it all organized, your productivity will increase. This will give you LOTS of extra time to focus on what you were meant to do in life.
Productivity is a result of living an organized life.
This week’s episode builds upon those topics. So if you missed those episodes and would like to listen to them first, they are #144 – Declutter!, #145 – Organize, and #147 – Increase Productivity.
What to buy?
When I was in high school, my mother taught me some important lessons on how and what to buy when it came to clothes.
Here are the tips she shared with me that I still find helpful today:
- “Cost Per Wearing” Analysis – Evaluate the cost of your clothing by how many times you think you will wear it. A $150 coat is worth the investment if you wear it 100 times, bringing the cost of the coat down to $1.50 per wear. Compared to a $15 “bargain” top that you only actually wore once, meaning the cost per wear is $15. The $150 coat was a far more economical investment.
- Buy-In Outfits – Focus on purchasing items that are interchangeable. By focusing on a specific color scheme or style in mind, it will save you time and stress because everything will match.
What to keep?
Now that you have some ideas for how to shop for new clothes, what should you do with all of your existing clothes that are sitting in your closet?
It’s time for you to decide what needs to stay and what needs to go.
Just recently, I went through my closet to decide what to keep and what to get rid of.
Here are the rules that helped me when decluttering my clothes.
- Keep clothes that fit you – We all have that one item of clothing we are keeping until we can lose 5 pounds and it will fit once again. It NEEDS to go! You should only keep clothes that fit you and make you feel great. Don’t keep clothes that make you feel like you should change to be able to wear them.
- Keep items that match each other – If it doesn’t match anything else in your wardrobe so you have nothing to wear it with, it needs to go. It doesn’t matter how cute or comfortable those shoes are if you are never going to wear them.
- No extra purses – Most women do the same with purses… we usually stick to one primary purse yet hold onto our old purses, telling ourselves we might one day need them. This rarely happens! Try to keep your everyday purse, as well as a particular favorite, and get rid of the rest. You DON’T need them all.
Types of wardrobes to consider…
If you’re looking to try something entirely new when it comes to organizing your wardrobe, there are a couple of different options out there for minimizing your closet.
- Capsule wardrobe – This type of wardrobe limits you to a certain number of items per capsule (not including your undergarments). You set the number to what you would like and you limit your wardrobe capsule to that number. Have capsules for work, seasons, or specific occasions, it’s up to you. You can keep the rest of your clothes, but it takes the stress out of planning your day-to-day outfits.
- Uniform wardrobe – Many successful executives such as Steve Jobs, Barrack Obama, and Mark Zuckerberg have utilized the uniform wardrobe. Clothes in this kind of wardrobe are all similar and interchangeable. For example, my wardrobe consists of mostly jeans, sweaters, and tops. Jeans match pretty much everything so it is easy for me to buy a large variety of tops to interchange with them.
As parents, our wardrobes often fall by the wayside as we spend all of our time and money making sure that our kids (who are constantly growing) are getting the clothes that they need.
I’m here to tell you that it’s IMPORTANT to update your wardrobe, too. Instead of buying the occasional, random item for yourself on a whim, make a point of finding yourself something nice that matches your wardrobe.
You need to look and feel good about yourself, too.
Now that I have shared my ideas for decluttering your wardrobe, I challenge ALL of you to walk into your closet and come out with 15 items that you no longer need or want.
This is a great first step toward getting your closet decluttered.
By following my tips and getting your closet organized, you’ll be able to get dressed quicker, feel better, and get on with living your best life.
Now go declutter!
