Time to wardrobe edit

Twice a year, every year, I have a wardrobe edit and swap winter for summer and vice versa. However, as I get older I find it becomes more difficult. I know all the rules about having a wardrobe edit but I am not very good at abiding by them. There’s that one whereby if you buy something new you must get rid of one old item. Of course we all have committed the same crime of buying something and getting home and realising it is virtually the same as something we already own ~ navy blue jumpers are like chocolate bars in my rule book i.e. you can never have too many.

I also look at my clothes and shoes and think maybe I will fit into that again (an obvious problem), or I look at something that I have not worn for some time and think there might just be the perfect event coming up. The reality is that we all have far too many clothes and the best thing would be to get rid of 50% of my wardrobe so that I can actually wear what I do have.

So now I have my own wardrobe editing routine – I make four piles:

1. Clothes I wear often, fit me and I like (see top tip at bottom of this article)

2. Clothes I like but don’t seem to wear. I put these in a case or cupboard and if, after the season, I have not gone and got them out then the chances are I have forgotten them. So it is time to give them to my daughters or to charity or sell them at a pre-loved shop.

3. Clothes that no longer fit me but might fit my daughters.

4. Clothes I have no idea why I ever bought them in the first place because no-one in their right mind could like them!!

No. 1 pile goes straight back into the wardrobe. No. 2 pile, well there might be the odd item that I was not sure whether it should be in pile 1 so now. So if there is still room in the cupboard without making anything invisible to the eye as you open the cupboard doors, then that can be snuck in. The rest of pile no. 2 goes into a case or cupboard and come the Autumn it probably goes to the charity shop too.

No. 3 pile I photograph and send pictures to my daughters – I normally get a quick reply which is polite but to the point i.e. thanks but no thanks.

So pile no 3 realistically joins pile no 4 and goes straight to the charity shop.

However if you want to be more methodical then try this diagram for wardrobe editing:

 

There is something very cathartic about having a wardrobe edit. It is cleansing just like any form of de-cluttering. I guess you cannot be entirely clinical, and nostalgia does also play a small part. Oh yes, and that top tip I promised you: Turn all your hangers so they are facing the same way. Then when you’ve worn something and are putting it back in the wardrobe, turn the hanger the opposite way. This is a brilliant visual clue to what your favourite clothes actually are.

 

Last but not least, if you think you need some serious style guidance, put your feet up with a lovely cup of tea and read Ines de la Fressange’s Parisien Chic – we think it’s the ‘never goes out of date’ style bible!

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