How To Streamline Your Closet

My newly organized closet

As I mentioned in this post yesterday, I am trying my best to streamline my closet so that I can get the most wear out of every piece and avoid buying too many clothes. I will admit this is a challenge for me. I recently completed my first attempt at paring down my wardrobe and wanted to share with you the steps I took to make the process a little less painful. This will be a constant process that I will have to revisit, but, hey, you have to start somewhere!

Open up your closet doors and pull out everything you have not worn in over a year. These items should be donated! You are allowed to keep a few sentimental pieces but no more than three. This is probably the hardest step but think about it, if you haven’t worn something in over a year, do you really think you’re going to reach for it this year?

Now, take a look at what’s left in your closet. Do you see a color theme? Do you see certain pieces that you own multiple of? These pieces are what I would define as your personal style. For me, I noticed I have a lot of what I like to call the classic colors (charted below), but have way too many black items, especially considering I don’t usually reach for black as I think it looks too harsh on me. I also noticed that I own a lot of button downs, empire waist and shift style dresses, and high-waisted bottoms.

Finally, looking at the items that you removed, do you notice a theme or correlation among them? For me, these items ended up being bright and/or patterned pieces, sleeveless items, and anything form fitting.

Take note of your likes and dislikes for future purchases as well as future closet clean outs. Here’s what my list would look like:

For the longest time, and by that I mean my entire life, I organized my clothes by item type. Jackets, dresses, shirts, pants, skirts, etc. However, this time around, I decided to organize by color, and boy did that change my perception of my wardrobe! Now, it’s easy to see which colors I gravitate towards, which I have too much of (black!), and which pieces I can easily mix-and-match (next step). 

This is the fun step! As you choose your outfits each day, start mixing-and-matching pieces that you haven’t before. Now that you can see what colors you have, you can start to imagine what would look good together. One thing I noticed was that the army green pieces I have look great with my maroon and pale pink pieces. It’s like having a whole new wardrobe! Challenge yourself to see how many times you can wear a particular piece by mixing-and-matching it. Another tip here is as you put these outfits together, snap a quick photo of yourself in a full length mirror, this way you can remember what you paired together for future wear.

Take a few weeks or a month and see if you wear the clothes you decided to keep. Try out the outfits you created. Ask yourself, am I mixing-and-matching the items I saved? Also, take note of what looks inspire you. I noticed that I am drawn to classic, timeless looks and am not typically drawn to bright colors, patterns, or trendy pieces (visit my Classic Style Pinterest board to see what I’m talking about).  Don’t be afraid to get rid of even more items if you notice you aren’t wearing them or if they don’t fit into your overall wardrobe!

When shopping for new clothes think about three things: