I am not a fashion-savvy person. For awhile I thought I just couldn’t figure out how to put together the right combination of trends. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that there is a difference between trend and style. And since I’m not running out to buy every new “it” item, it’s safe to say I lean more toward looking good, than looking of the moment.
That being said, I struggle to keep a wardrobe that is cohesive, confidence-boosting, and stylish. I’m always pulling out items that don’t go with anything else I own, it takes ages to get dressed, and the result of all this unnecessary stress is general dissatisfaction with how I look. Which, of course, translates into poor confidence, and that definitely isn’t a good look on anyone.
I decided to do an audit of my closet to figure out where the gaps are in my wardrobe, slim down what I own, and discover what I could purchase to make a more cohesive closet. I also promised myself that I wouldn’t get cheap once I figured it all out. I’ve seen too many H&M tops go in the trash by now. I know better.
So, I went though my clothing earlier this month. The process took a week, and included actually unpacking the stuff I let stay in moving boxes over the past 6 months (note to self: figure out a better system for moving clothes next time around).
Here’s how I organized my closet audit:
Wash everything. I started with throwing my laundry pile into the washing machine. As it was being cleaned, I pulled everything out of my drawers and closet. I kept whatever was clean and folded as-is, and made a second pile for all the crap that was hiding in the back of the drawers because guess what? It was my second laundry load. And third.
Break down clothes into keep//sell//donate//trash. While I ran the laundry, I sorted everything that was clean and on my bed. Keep stayed on the bed; Sell got folded into a pile for my Poshmark closet; Donate went into a designated garbage bag; and Trash got chucked across the room because, who cares? It’s trash.
STOP and regroup. Once all the laundry was done and my 4 piles were created, I stacked my Poshmark items into a large bag for storage. I tied my donation bag and put it aside for Goodwill. And I threw all my ratty old clothes into the trash. This sounds obvious, but cleaning before sorting allowed me to only see what was worth seeing.
Sort Keep clothes into work//weekend//workout//sleep. I then took all my Keep clothes and sorted them into easy to understand, broad categories. Sweatpants will never go in the Work category and a tailored suit will never make it over to Sleep, right? Right.
Break down categories further. Here’s where I got to see the full extent of what was in my closet, as well as my buying habits:
I sorted my Work clothes: dresses in one spot, trousers and tops in another. I made different piles for sleeveless//short sleeve//long sleeved shirts, and, most importantly, I stacked clothes in color order to see how many pairs of each thing I owned.
Then I did the same thing to my Weekend clothing. Again, I sorted by sleeve length, color, and style. I also paid attention to my jeans and sorted them as specifically as possible, so I could see if there were any style patterns (dark wash, ripped, etc.)
Workout clothing and Sleep clothing were easy – it’s all about quality, less about style preference. I sorted both categories by sleeve and pant length, and tossed anything that was ratty or stretched out.
At the end of the sorting madness, I was left with a bed full of folded clothing, grouped by style and color. I put my Workout and Sleep clothing away, and geared up for the actual auditing portion of the process – going through my Work and Weekend clothes to figure out, once and for all, what kind of style I really have.
And since this post is now entirely too long, Work and Weekend are what I’ll be covering in Part II: Streamlining My Closet: Wardrobe Patterns and Gaps!
the delicious establishment 