One of the scariest things my clients talk about when we have our initial consultation, is that they have to take out all of their clothes at once and look through everything in one go. It must feel very overwhelming and like an unachievable task.
Image @ chewonthisart.com
Don’t you wish one fine morning you’d open your wardrobe and find a neat selection of clothes? Everything colour-coordinated, in its right place. But how do you get there?
The secret is in breaking this massive process into tiny little segments. How hard is it to go through 100 pieces of clothes in one go? Yikes! 🤦🏽♀️ What about 50? How about 20? 10? 5...? How about just looking at 1 thing a day? Sounds much easier, doesn’t it? 😅
Here are some decluttering hacks (from a Personal Stylist who has a lot of clothes she needs to keep organised!) that I promise will make decluttering your wardrobe less overwhelming!
Pick one category you’d like to concentrate on. Perhaps shirts/blouses is a good one. Have 4 clearly labelled bags/boxes:
Alter and keep – this might need alteration or fixing. There are some great alteration companies in London, some of them you don’t even need to go to; you just send the clothes, they fix them and send them back to you. One of my favourites is The Seam. For more places plus shoe and bag restoration services check out the list I’ve compiled here: Fix Directory
Sell – something which might not work on you but is a good brand, in a good condition and you’d like to sell it. There are a few places in London which can help you sell your clothes. My go-to is Manifesto Woman.
Donate – things to take to a charity shop or to give to someone you know.
Recycle – things which are not salvageable – have big holes in, for example. There are a few charities in London which would take your unwanted clothes and recycle them. One of the big ones is Traid. Interestingly, & Other Stories and Arket recycle clothes. If you bring them to the store you get a 10% off voucher to redeem within 3 months.
Items which you are happy to keep go straight back into your wardrobe.
Here are the questions you could ask yourself when looking at every item:
Does it bring me joy?
When was the last time I wore it?
Is it comfortable?
How does it make me feel?
Does it need to be altered?
Does it work with the rest of my clothes?
Would I buy it again?
Do I have more than 3 similar items, and do I need that many?
It might feel like this process is not going to change anything in your life, as what difference can it make sorting out one top if you’ve got hundreds, right? What you’d achieve with this method is creating a new habit, which shouldn’t take more than 5 mins out of your day but will lead to a great change over a period of time.
If you find that you or anyone you know struggles with a big wardrobe you can book your free consultation now to get even more tips from an online stylist on decluttering your wardrobe. 🧡