Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!
When I used to have a disorganized closet, I ended up wasting money and time. I wasted money because, more often than not, I wasn’t sure what I had, and I would end up purchasing something that I already owned. It was a time waster because it would take time to go through a disorganized, cluttered mess to find things to wear, and since time is money, this is another way where I wasted money. By keeping my closet organized, I know what I have, and I end up saving money from unnecessary purchases as well as save time with putting outfits together for an event (work, date, party, etc.). Since I can easily put together outfits because it’s organized and I can tell what I have, I’m not stressed out.
This is what I do
1. Once every two months, I spend a day going through my closet to see what I already have. I sort through the clothes and accessories, and try on everything. I make sure that I am honest about fit, condition, and how often I wear the item.
2. I separate the items in four categories – keep, sell/donate, mend/refashion, recycle
This is self-explanatory. These are items I wear all the time because the color, fit, and material flatter me.
Item is in good condition, but for some reason or another, I don’t use the item enough to keep it. Some things that fall into this category are: purses I don’t use, accessories I don’t wear, clothes that I wore once or twice for an event but don’t wear in my everyday life, clothes that are too big or too small that can’t easily be tailored or refashioned. If it’s an upscale designer, a valuable accessory or vintage item, I sell it. I donate the rest of the items to charity.
These are items that I love. It may be an item with a beautiful print, or it may be an item made with high-quality materials and manufacturing processes. However, it needs mending, tailoring, or a revamp to modernize it. In order to prevent clutter, I remember to schedule a day when I can work on these items.
A rule that I follow – If I add a garment or accessory to my collection, I get rid of another garment or accessory.
These are the items that are stained, have worn fabric, made of cheap fabric (ex: rayon), or damaged beyond repair. If the item has some features that I can reuse that are in good condition, like zippers, buttons and elastic, I will remove those notions from the garment before throwing it into the recycle bin. Those notions can get pretty expensive. In Orlando, we have a number of recycle bins around the town for old clothes and accessories.
One exception: I throw away old, used undergarments.
3. Stylists recommend making a lookbook to help with putting outfits together. I’m currently working on that. I can do a “hardcopy”, but I noticed that there is a smartphone app that does the trick called Stylicious (http://styliciousapp.com/). It saves money in paper, ink and supplies, and it’s handy.
4. I organize my closet. Typically, I used to organize my closet by garment (jacket, skirts, pants, shirts, dresses, suits), but for some reason, I find it easier for me to organize the closet by color. I can see what “goes” a lot easier that way. I also organize my shoes based on color and style as well on a shoe shelf.