With the weather soon about to change, now is the time to get your wardrobe into shape.
Whether it’s a clutter-free closet, an overhaul of your outfits or just an annual arrangement of your fashions, now’s the time to get stuck into organising your wardrobe.
But if the task seems too enormous to even contemplate, break it down into our five stress-free steps to sorting out your style.
Mind over matter
Make sure you’ve set aside enough time that you don’t rush through it, make terrible decisions and find yourself mourning for that leopard print blouse you threw out in your haste. Make sure your bedroom is cool and light, pack the kids off to your parents and turn on the radio. Also, dress comfortably – this is wardrobe workout after all!
Pick a signature style
Flit between fashions or find yourself sticking to a seasonal uniform? Defining your style can whittle down your wardrobe in seconds – if you steer towards cool and casual, get rid of that terrible trouser suit or stiff pencil skirt. More preened and polished, it’s probably time to throw out your Sienna Miller-inspired boho tops and gypsy skirts. Experts suggest picking out your 10 favourite items and think about what they say about your look.
Pile them up
It’s an oldie but a goodie. Create three piles – a yes, a no, and a maybe is the simplest – and start dividing and conquering. Keep the yesses, bin, sell or charity shop the nos and store the maybes. It can be heart-wrenching throwing away anything (especially if you’ve hardly worn it) but by storing for a months, it’s not so harsh. Go back to those in a few months and chances are, you won’t have missed them and will want to take them straight down the charity shop.
Be honest
Do you really need that moth-eaten T-shirt you wore to move house in or the dress that you’ve not fitted into since you met your husband? It’s hard – clothes have sentimental value too – but you’ve got to be brutal, especially if you’re short on space. Anything super-sentimental can be stored, but store it away from the clothes you wear daily.
Get organised
Now you’ve decided what you’re keeping, you’ve got to put it all back. Organise by clothing type and colour – OK, you probably won’t keep it up for the rest of the year but it not only will show you what you have, and haven’t, got but it’ll look pleasing to the eye too. Simple things like upgrading your hangers, marking shoe boxes or hanging up jewellery will give it an instant lift.
