Tag Archives: closet overhaul

Five Questions You Need To Ask Yourself Before Purging Your Closet

“Playing dress up starts at age five and never really ends” -Kate Spade

One memorable line from the hit series of HBO was uttered by Carrie Bradshaw, a self-confessed fashionista and clothing hoarder. In the series, her unsurpassed love was evidenced by her perpetually full closet and her sentiments as regards clothes stating that she wants her money where she sees them, hanging in her closet. In the real world, fashion forward women are pretty much the same. Their love for clothes and penchant for anything stylish are both unmatched. In fact, fashionable women would say that their love for clothes is anything but a penchant. Instead, they would say it is something akin to passion. With their great love for sartorial items, it would come as no surprise to find their closets and wardrobes filled to the brim with the latest finds, classic staples and the like coming in varied colors and styles. Unfortunately, one ugly reality you need to content with is that you cannot hold on to these things forever and at some point in the future, you need to purge your closet from sartorial items that are taking up too much space.

Not only would you be clearing up that much-needed space to make way for new clothes, but you would be getting rid of items which have not even seen the light of day in the past years. While letting go of clothes you once loved may be hard, you can think of it as an opportunity for a fashion catharsis. Get rid of all the items that would serve you no purpose in your closets, and you will be surprised that it might just be the perfect precursor to redefining or enhancing your style. Once you have come to terms with the need for a closet purging, how do you know which ones to donate, toss or keep? Well, to make your wardrobe purging endeavor easier, here is a checklist of questions you need to ask yourself while going through each item in your closet. It is highly recommended that you pick and ponder every item as a quick a scan would not yield the same effective results and would not help you at arriving at a decision.

1.) Is it still in style?

Your wholesale Steve Madden boots may be your favorite pair, and it certainly has a way of elongating your legs when you are wearing minis. But your favorites may not exactly be in trend or even in season today. While you might not have any fashion items from the seventies hanging in your closet, you might not be aware of the subtle shifts in fashion that would cause you to throw out some trendy wardrobe pieces that may potentially become fashionable once more in the future. It is no secret that fashion is cyclical, so a good workaround to determining which items you should chuck out and which ones you can keep for storage is to see if these items still work well with your current wardrobe. If they do, stash them away until such time that they become fashionable again.

2.) Does it still fit you well?

Keeping an article of clothing in the hopes that it would fit you one day when you finally lose weight is only going to succeed in clogging up your clothes. If you have gained or lost a few pounds over the months or have stopped working out altogether, some of your clothes may still fit you but are not going to look quite the same as they did when you first purchased them. Be honest yourself when it comes to this matter, and if you feel that it would take some time before you would finally fit into that blouse, it is best to toss or give it away. Besides, it might not even be in style by the time it would finally fit you.

3.) Does it still have a place in your life?

Admit it, at some point in your life; you may have bought sartorial pieces that were appropriate to wear in your profession. But if black ties, suits, high heels, pencil skirts and the like no longer have a place in your current life (unless you like wearing them to work), then there is absolutely no reason for you to be holding on to them. Whether it may be a career shift or a simple matter of wanting to change the tune of your style, if your clothes no longer serve you its purpose, then either toss them or donate them. Whatever the case might be, there will always be a time in a woman’s life where you need to make a sartorial shift—and throwing away tacky clothes is just one step in the process. Decide if you want to go through this transition, and purge accordingly.

4.) Can you flip it?

Under any under circumstance, it would be hard to part with an item that once held an exorbitant price tag. While this might be true, you have to take into account that you need the extra space in your closet. And if having that space would require you to get rid of an expensive piece that is no longer trendy or ill-fitting, then, by all means, you should. If you are afraid of underselling it considering the premium you paid when you first bought it, then sell it at a local designer consignment work who might pay you more. You can then use that money to buy something that is in season and would fit you well.

5.) Do you have a lot of them?

There is a saying that goes that if you want a pair of shoes, you should buy it in every color. Unfortunately, this SHOULD NOT be the case when you are looking to trim a little extra fat in your closet. Look for styles that you have a tendency to buy in repetition and look for those in bad shape. Say for example you own eight plain colored tees, look for the ones that are in the worst shape or the ones you have worn the least. Look for those items that you would not lose sleep over losing and donate them to charity.
Parting with some of our clothes may present itself as a challenge—especially if you are a fashionista with a taste for variety. However, if your clothes are sitting ducks in your closets, then they are not really doing anything to help your style. On the contrary, keeping so many of these stocked in your closet can even preclude you from reaching your true style potential. So, ask yourself the questions stated above and start paring down the items in your closet.

 

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Tell-tale Signs You Need a Wardrobe Overhaul

“We women are so judged by the way we dress, and men are not. So style is part of developing your own brand.” – Mireille Guiliano

Style remains to be one of the evolutionary aspects in the world of fashion that does not stagnate and shows no signs of ever wearing down. As the years go by, it updates and modifies itself consistently to accommodate the modern world’s fashion demands. And though it may be something considered as cyclical, it is undeniable that most classic sartorial items have been given a modern revamp, a contemporary update or a complete overhaul once it makes a comeback.

Though fashion and style are not mutually exclusive, there are some aspects in fashion that become obsolete and outdated as time goes on. This is why a constant and consistent update of your wardrobe is called for. Though you may stick to a particular theme when it comes to choosing how you dress, there will be days you would wish like you had not dressed like a fashion recall from the seventies. Fashion pundits may laud personal preference when it comes to choosing a particular fashion style, but there is a fine line between personal style preference and using the former as an excuse for your style slump. The fact is, there are so many reasons for being in a style slump: You get far too busy with work, you have gained a lot of weight over the past few years, you just could not fit fashionable and trendy clothes into your budget—whatever it may be, you should never compromise looking good and feeling good to the point that you would start feeling comfortable in those unattractive clothes. When that sentiment starts to sink in, maybe this would be your catalyst for a complete wardrobe overhaul.

So, give your wardrobe tonight a complete once-over and try to look for some of these signs in it and in yourself. If you find that you can identify with one or some of the statements below, then perhaps this may be your wake-up call for a much-needed wardrobe update.

1.) You cannot remember the last time you went shopping

Regardless of whether this is online shopping or retail shopping or whether it is for wholesale clothing or retail branded clothes, the fact is, you cannot seem to remember when the last time you went to spend some cash for clothes. This is crucial because this signifies the last time you cared enough to update your look or at least, add to your closet. If you honestly cannot recall the last time you purchased clothing for yourself, then it is high time for an upgrade.

2.) You do not feel like yourself in your clothing

You may feel comfortable in your chosen clothes, but it is not necessarily that feeling of being neither yourself— nor does it give you any air and aura of confidence. You go through a lot of changes internally and more often than not, the outside changes along with it. Should you find yourself pioneering business group projects now or mentoring interns, yet you are still sporting the same clothes from back when you just started out as an intern yourself, then you do not really exemplify the position given to you. Nor is your clothes indicative of any authority and you probably do not feel like yourself in that wardrobe. It is important to take care of your outward appearance just as you do your inner appearance. Appropriately dress for the part, or better yet, dress for the next role you would like to play in life.

3.) Those “I have nothing to wear” moments are happening a little too frequently

Women, regardless of how abundant their wardrobes are with clothes, would always have that one off day wherein nothing in their closet seems to be appropriate for them to wear. It may be teeming with too many clothes, yet they would still find themselves falling short on one particular criterion on how the ensemble should look like. This is excusable, but if you find yourself constant having these moments (say at least thrice a week), then you may have a problem. Similarly, if you find yourself sporting the same “go-to” outfit, then it is time to admit that you are in dire need of getting yourself new clothes—in your case, it is definitely worth the investment.

4.) Your closet is quantity over quality

You may think having way too many clothes signifies a woman with a good sense of style—more variety options! Though this is not necessarily true, it would just signify her penchant for hoarding clothes. Today, with so many clothing temptations creeping on us everywhere—in the mall or even at our desks at work, it can be rather easy to fall fast into fashion trap and have our closets spilling over with fast fashion purchases which we have neglected to clean out for the past five years or so. However, if you find that your closet is filled with more cheap buys that do not really last the test of time and would easily break over than quality and timeless items, then it is time to tell yourself to invest in quality rather than quantity.

5.) You think getting dressed is a chore

What used to be a fun and exciting activity for you has now turned into a dreadful prospect and you liken it to a chore. You find the thought of dressing up and getting out of your trusty wooly pajamas tiresome and you honestly want to be unfettered by something as trivial as dressing up. If this is a similar or all-too-familiar notion you share, then perhaps it is time to introduce a very welcome change to your closets. Fashion is fun, and it should never have to feel like a chore as it is also very empowering. Remember, if you look great, you will feel great.

6.) It is almost impossible to find something in your closet that fits you

Weight gain can happen to anyone of us, but this should not excuse our dreadful manner of dress nor should this become the catalyst for being in a style rut. If you find yourself having to spend at least half an hour just to get into most of your clothes, then maybe it is time to face the truth that you no longer possess the svelte and lithe body you once had in your twenties and start investing in styles and sizes that do complement your body tip and more importantly, fit you.
Do not let a style rut or slump deter you from being fashionable. Fashionable should be something you can fully exploit to the fullest and use to your advantage, it should be something that augments and enhances your outward appearance and not contribute to its decline. Give yourself a reality check, and if you that you are indeed suffering from a style slump, then do yourself a favor and update your wardrobe.

 

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