25th September 2020
How to organise your wardrobe.
Let’s be honest, wardrobes can be stressful affairs. And no matter how many pieces you own, it’s easy to feel like you never have anything to wear. That’s why it’s so important to dedicate some time every now and then to go through the clothes you have hanging up or stuffed in the back of drawers and see what you actually use.
When a closet is organised, everything is easier to find. Always knowing the location of your favourite sweater, your prized pair of jeans, and your go-to work button-down blouse helps take the stress out of getting dressed & getting ready for work. To organise your closet, you’ll have to sort through all of your clothes to determine what you really need and find the best way to reorganise your clothes and other belongings.
Ready to get the most out of your clothing? Read on!
Firs of all, make sure you have enough time to do this job properly. Set aside a rainy afternoon, stick on your favourite playlist and enjoy it. Go hard, or go home & avoid having a messy wardrobe every day!
Keep your wardrobe organised with these nine steps
1. Empty and Clean Your Closet
Firstly, remove all of the clothes from your closet, fold them in piles on the floor or on your bed
If you’re used to shoving clothes into your closet, this is going to be weird, because you’re about to take everything out and probably find some stuff shoved in a back corner that you forgot about. Remove everything from the closet, including hangers, baskets, bins, and anything else that might be on the floor or shelves. It may also include other accessories such as belts, scarves, purses, or ties
2. Decide which clothing you will keep
When you’re trying to decide whether or not to keep something, it’s helpful to ask yourself these questions: Does the garment still fit me? Is it appropriate for my current lifestyle? Have I worn it in the last two years? If you have not worn the item in a long time, that may well indicate it is time to let go.
Keep in mind what’s the overall look you are going for. For example, if you really want to have a well put together Dita Von Tease vibe, a wardrobe full of sportswear isn’t going to create that look. Think who’s your style icon & how do you want to reproduce their dress style.
Make sure you have someone help you who is impartial & honest, but also kind. They need to be honest with you and tell you what clothes really suit you, but you can feel vulnerable trying on items which may not fit so well. A kind friend is key, they also need to be strict enough with you to not let you keep everything once you’ve decided to get rid of it.
3. Create a pile of clothes that you will donate or give to someone else.
This is the hardest step and the most important. Any good quality clothes that you haven’t worn in over a year and you won’t wear again should be donated to charity. Donate all of the clothes you don’t need that are in good condition, or give them to a sibling or friends.
4. Decide which clothes you will throw out
If you have an item that is so worn, covered in moth holes or faded that you and anyone else will never wear it again, then it’s time to throw it out. I usually try to recycle the fabric or use some parts for different purposes. For example, my mum uses some fabrics for DIY Christmas Ornaments!
5. Clean the inside of the closet
You should do this before you put back your clothes. Vacuum or sweep the floor, wipe the walls down with all-purpose cleaner and sweep away any cobwebs that may have accumulated there.
Don’t forget any baskets or bins that could be collecting dirt and dust!
6. Hang up your clothes and organise them.
Now it’s time to actually start the organising. This can be tricky as a lot of people don’t know where to start, but having a vision in mind always helps. We suggest sorting by colour or type. This will make it easier to find the outfit you want when you look at my wardrobe.
If sorting by colour, start off with neutral tones at one end and gradually fade it into colourful items. Starting off with black, you can then transition it into grey, navy and then white. With the more colourful pieces in our wardrobes we try and start off with the more muted tones and fade into the brighter options.
If sorting by style, you can separate your tank tops, shirts, pants, skirts, and dresses.
Don’t forget to separate your work clothes from your casual clothes so you can easily get dressed for work in the morning!
7. Give yourself a buffer
There will be items you’re all set to part with, only you try them on for old times sake & decide you’re back wildly in love with them. Or items you still love & are struggling to part with even though they don’t fit, haven’t for 3 years & really don’t work with your current life.
There are 2 ways to deal with this.
The first is to allow your self a set number of items you can keep which are completely impractical these days. This is where your friend is needed again, they need to keep tally for you, keep these items separate & not let you put everything in this pile! We’d suggest limiting this number to single digits, ideally 5 or less.
The second is a status or limbo box. Anything you’re really struggling to let go of goes in here, it can live in purgatory for a set duration. Again, your friend’s job is to hold you accountable to this. You can set the number of items you’re allowed to keep like this if it’s helpful. But the key to this working is arranging a cut off date. To sum up, If you’ve not worn items from that pile within 2 months, they go. No exceptions. Your friend comes back around & takes them.
8. What to do next?
Next, take a look at what you have left in your wardrobe, are there any major holes? Any staples you’re now missing because they just don’t fix any more? Make a list of the items which will give you the wardrobe of your dreams & only shop from this…I don’t care if we try & tempt you with sales, if you have 7 black halternecks you don’t need to buy our Tabatha in the Christmas sale. However, if you have to wear black for work, then go wild on pencil skirts, cigarette pants & circle skirts to keep your look & fit in with your work uniform.
9. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
What do you do with all of the clothing you’re saying so long to? There are loads of ways you can ensure they don’t just end up in the bin.
Organise a swap party with your friends. Open the invitation out to their friends too to make sure you’re getting as wide a reach as possible. Limit the number of items, you come home with and with anything left… (in the current climate this is a challenge, but you could do this via a zoom call or house part as an auction for a fun Friday night in)
Donate to charity. Thrift, Opp, Salvo, Charity, Secondhand also. There are loads of names for shops which sell your clothes once you’ve fallen out of love with them. Donate away, helping a good cause & reducing your waste.
Donate to homeless charities directly. This is a particularly good idea for anything suitable to be worn for job interviews. Some charities will accept donations specifically if they can help someone look the part for their first job interview. We love Smart Works as a great charity to help women get back into work.
Sell them. One good way to reuse your items & help pay off some of the cost (shopaholics with a credit card we’re looking at you) is to get to eBay, Depop, Facebook selling groups and sell your older items. The Lady K Loves team have successfully done this & paid for holidays off the back of the sales so we know it works!
Donation Boxes. Be it your local mega supermarket at a shopping complex, or the local tip, you can donate your clothing so it’s sorted & taken to markets in other countries. This is another great way to reduce your addition to landfill & support people who don’t have access to the wealthy we do in the UK.
Now you feel great for donating, you have your look perfectly curated & a pristine & organised wardrobe. Take a step back & admire your hard work!
How do you organise your closet? Do you have any great tips which we’ve missed? We’d love to hear from you! Join in the conversation on any of our social pages
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How do I organise my wardrobe/closet?
1 – Clear everything out
2 – Take 1 item at a time and decide which items to keep
3 – Which items to donate or give to someone else
4 – And which items to throw away because they can’t be saved.
5 – Clean inside your wardrobe/closet space
6 – Rehang your items with a system that works for you (style, colour, item type etc)
7 – Give yourself a deadline to get old items out of your house
8 – Asses the gaps, are you now missing key items?
9 – Recycle and donate old items