Do you have too many clothes but still nothing to wear? Are you afraid to even open your closet because it’s packed with ill-fitting mismatched clothes? As a personal stylist, I help people with the dreaded closet cleanse and create capsule wardrobes to improve and maximize their wardrobe.
The best part is, that you will LOVE going into your closet after we remove what works for your style and remove what doesn’t.
3 Simple Closet Cleanse Steps
First and foremost, this is not a task you want to take lightly! Clear your schedule and prep your space. Make sure you have enough room to work with. After all, you’ll be pulling out EVERYTHING out of your closet for this much-needed closet detox.
Before you even start to dive, however, there is an important self-inventory task you’ll need to complete. This self-inventory will inform your decisions about which clothes you will keep after your closet cleanse. You’ll need to identify your personal style, body shape, and personal color palette.
Step 1: Identify Your Personal Style
Please do not skip this step! How will you know what clothes to keep if you don’t have any clue what your personal style is? Are you classic, elegant, or sporty? There are 7 style personalities. Most of us have a dominant style and a secondary style.
Before cleaning out your closet, it’s important to know your style. This way, you can keep the items that are in line with your style and ditch the one-offs that are not authentic to your style personality.
Step 2: Identify Your Body Shape
This is the next important step to improving your wardrobe. Dressing for your body shape will improve how you look in your clothing. Plus, they will fit and flatter your frame much better!
Step 3: Identify Your Color Palette
Wearing the right color palette can make or break how you look. The right colors will make you look younger and healthier. They bring out your best features and make your eyes sparkle. The wrong colors on the other hand can age you and even make you look sickly!
Knowing your best colors is a must if you want to do a closet cleanse right. This way you can get rid of the colors that don’t do you any favors! I love using the colorwise.me app.
Step 4: Time To Declutter
This is where the rubber meets the road. I suggest blocking off 3-4 hours (take breaks in between). Pull out all the clothing from your closet.
Throw out the pile of worn and old clothing. Next, put all ill-fitting clothing in a bag for donations. This alone is a major decluttering step, but wait it gets even better!
Step 5: Shop Your Closet
Here is where the fun begins. Take the clothing that remains (you know the ones that suit your personal style, body type, and color palette) and mix and match them to make outfits. See how many combinations you can create. Then make a list of items you may need to enhance these items such as shoes, bags and other accessories.
Pro Tip: Learn how to spot quality clothing
Step 6: Declutter Accessories
Take a look at the accessories you already have to see which ones work with these outfits. Follow the same steps above to declutter your accessories as well. If they are not aligned with your personal style and can’t be seamlessly incorporated into your “new” wardrobe, then get rid of them.
Step 7: Wardrobe Organization
Now that you have your capsule wardrobe, place them back in your closet based on color and season. The preference is up to you depending on what type of climate you live in. There are many methods. One favorite is the iconic Marie Kondo Method. If you have not read her book “The Magic of Tidying”, I highly recommend it!
I live in a 4 seasons climate, so I store my clothes together by season. For example, sweaters go together in one bin. Summer dresses on the other hand are hung together on a rack.
Now that you know what is in your closet, your personal style, body type and color palette, make a list of gaps that need to be filled.
Do you need more tops, pants or jackets? How about belts and boots and shoes? Once you have a list of items you need to enhance your newfound capsule wardrobe, be on the lookout for these items.
Remember building an efficient wardrobe is about quality not quantity!
A pro tip is learning how to shop for discounted luxury goods. This will help you build a high-quality capsule wardrobe.
Benefits of a Closet Detox
There are life-changing benefits to a closet cleanse and creating a capsule wardrobe that works for your lifestyle. Here are just a few:
What is a Closet Cleanse?
A “closet cleanse” is the process of removing all clothing items from your wardrobe that no longer serve you. It’s getting rid of clothing that are:
- Too big or too small
- Old and worn
- Out of style
Most importantly a closet cleanse can make way for you to provide clarity about your own personal style. When you own your style, you can feel more confident and authentic.
While the above will surely declutter your closet, the best part of a closet cleanse is to create a capsule wardrobe that is in harmony with your personal style and overall lifestyle.
By creating a capsule wardrobe, you will have clothing that can be mixed and matched to create endless outfits. This also reduces decision fatigue and saves money in the long run.
The Wardrobe of Your Dreams
Now that you have taken the first step in decluttering and shopping your closet, keep this process going. As time goes by and your lifestyle changes, keep assessing your wardrobe needs.
Edit as needed and by doing so you can slowly build and efficient wardrobe of your dreams. Remember the quality over quality rule and stay to your personal style and you can’t go wrong!
Resources
I highly recommend the following books if you are serious about decluttering your closet:
- The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo
- The Curated Closet Workbook: Discover Your Personal Style and Build Your Dream Wardrobe, by Anuschka Rees
Clothing Organization:
