Closet Audit
Every spring and fall I go through my closet to weed out and refresh. A few years ago my family and I had to move into a one bedroom apartment...
Every spring and fall I go through my closet to weed out and refresh. A few years ago my family and I had to move into a one bedroom apartment...
Every spring and fall I go through my closet to weed out and refresh. A few years ago my family and I had to move into a one bedroom apartment where I split my closet with my husband and 1 year old son at the time. I had to drastically purge most of my clothes and really simplify my wardrobe. At that time I was also starting this store online so I was doing quite a bit of research on what makes up a good wardrobe. I found a book, Lessons from Madame Chic : 20 stylish secrets I learned while living in Paris that described a 13 Piece Wardrobe (I wrote a blog on this and can be found here!). This helped me define and shape my current wardrobe.
Simplify your closet. Create and define your style through your iconic looks, create less stress and more joy when getting dressed, and have less laundry and closet overwhelm!
Choose 2-4 places/life situations you find yourself in most. Here are a few examples.
This all helps to define your style.
There are many terms out there in the fashion world, bohemian, classic, professional, eccentric, preppy, the list goes on and on. What's important is that you define a label for yourself, maybe it doesn't exist in the list above? Maybe that's because it totally depends on where you are in your life, where you live, and what your life consists of. Do you work an office job five days a week, stay at home mom, work as a barista, or manage a restaurant? You won't fit into any typical style because you are unique. Your day-to-day routine is exclusive to you, and your style should reflect that.
Ask yourself the two to three most common places you are in a given week. Work, home, the gym? Coffee shops, the outdoors, behind a desk? Organize these by where you spend your time from greatest to least. This is where you start to give yourself your personal style label. For example, I describe my style as laid-back luxe because I live in Alaska, spend my time working from home and at my boutique, exploring the outdoors with my kids, and I enjoy luxurious textures like silks, cashmeres, or ultra-soft cottons. I also like to pair my clothing with fun jewelry. I have a mixture of clothing, mostly basics with novelty pieces woven in.
Find these items and build your wardrobe around them! When you have less to choose from, you tend to make better choices! If you only posses clothing you truly love because of fit, color, texture, you'll wear it. If you have 15+ tops to choose from, it can often feel like you have nothing to wear! Which is crazy, but true! Think of this scenario like your would when you go to a restaurant. Typically, the better the restaurant the less pages on the menu, when you're overwhelmed with choices it can take forever to choose and cheapens the look! It is the same when you're getting dressed in the morning. If you closet is only filled with your favorite and most beautiful clothing, you're forced to wear it, and feel great in it!
Here's an example of a simplified wardrobe!
Winter
Fall/Spring - I find living in the Pacific Northwest that these seasons can be interchangeable. Meaning I find myself wearing a lot of light sweaters, jeans, boots, and outerwear throughout the year. So I can mix both my Winter wardrobe and Summer wardrobe because all of my pieces tend to work well together since I shop with versatility in mind.
Summer
Novelty Pieces - for all those special events and occasions.
Get rid of the rest.
Now that you've (hopefully) got a decent pile of clothing that no longer suits your needs, it is time to re-home it all!
In summary, care about what you wear. It not only shows who you are but has long lasting effects. If you buy in overabundance from discount stores, your closet will be stuffed to the max, but will these items fit and flatter you? Instead, pool your money for that one cashmere sweater that you'll want to wear a couple of times a week, or a great fitting pair of jeans that you'll get tons of mileage out of. Often times, the higher the quality, the more care will likely be taken to stop exploitation of 3rd world countries who manufacture and sew these inexpensive items. When you take care in your shopping methods, it not only reflects on your beautiful style, but has a cascading effect all the way down to where the fabric is made and how the dye to create such pieces is disposed of. An entirely different blog but an important one and an important consideration!
Cheers to your new wardrobe!
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