If you’re panic decluttering, please stop
We’ve all been there: frustrated at bulging wardrobe doors, feeling like we have nothing to wear despite having rails crammed full of clothes, yet somehow still wondering whether that new blazer/bag/dress that your favourite influencer is advertising will fix all of your problems and make getting dressed a breeze….
If any of these scenarios sound familiar, then the reality is that more clothes will not help, and neither will a frenzied wardrobe clear out. What you need is a strategic approach to decluttering.
Pause, reflect & plan
Before you grab the bin bags, take some time – I suggest one or two weeks – to really think about what you want to achieve. Ask yourself how you want to feel in your clothes and what you want to look like. Think about your day to day activities and, ideally, take pictures of your outfits and each day and make a note of whether these outfits worked. Were they practical? Did they make you feel confident and were they easy to wear or did you spend the day fidgeting with your clothes? Going through this exercise will help you identify what you want to achieve by clearing out your clothes. You will also quickly discover if your wardrobe is functional for your life.
Next, and keeping your wardrobe goal in mind, it is time to determine what to keep. This might sound counterintuitive given that the aim is to reduce the amount of clothing that you own, but focusing on finding the items that you are happy with will make it easier to sort through your garments and divide them into “keep” and “discard” piles. It should also make it easier to let go of difficult feeling that can cause you to hold onto your things, regardless of how little you wear then and irrespective of whether they fit. The goal isn’t to keep items that you spent a lot on; the aim is keep the clothes that you truly love.
Learn lessons
Having identified what you want to keep, you will have clothes that no longer have a place in your wardrobe. The items that you’re letting go of will have all served some sort of purpose, even if you haven’t worn them very much. E.g. buying an item on a bad day might have, temporarily, made you feel a little better, and trying out trends will have helped you get a bit closer to that elusive thing known as “personal style”. Irrespective of whether your ‘discard’ pile has shone a light on some bad habits, make sure that you are grateful for what these items have given you and the lessons that you have learned from buying them and then letting them go.
It is also important to discard items thoughtfully. My approach is to sub-divide the “discard” pile into items that I will give to friends (if they want them), clothes that I will sell and garments that I will give away, usually to charities like Give Your Best or to my local Oxfam shop. If there is anything damaged beyond repair, then as a last resort I will bag it up for textile recycling.
Don’t rush to plug “gaps”
Regardless of how you let go of your unwanted things, ensure that the items are cleaned, ironed and carefully folded before you pack them up. Maintaining respect for clothes and all of the resources that it took to make and sell them is an important part of the clear-out process. It reminds us of the need to value our things which, in turn, can make it easier to focus on what you already own rather than on accumulating more.
Both before and after a wardrobe clear out I always recommend that clients try to avoid shopping. Instead of working on “plugging wardrobe holes” – something that is so often suggested by stylists – I think it is best to use what you have before making a judgement on items that are missing or that you need to replace. I also recommend making a plan to carry out a review. I go through my wardrobe once a quarter and weed out anything that I need to mend, that doesn’t fit or suit me anymore. Regularly assessing your clothes will stop your wardrobe from getting on top of you in the future. It can also help you to avoid unnecessary spending when the season changes.