It may be time for a wardrobe declutter if …
- Your closet is full of clothing and your first thought in the morning is, “I have nothing to wear.”
- There are clothes in your wardrobe with tags still attached.
- You can find at least five items you haven’t worn in more than five years.
Decluttering clothes from drawers, closets and other storage spaces may seem like a never ending cycle. You’ve probably tried flipping your hangers and other decluttering tricks. If you are tired of a chaotic wardrobe, It’s time to skip the tricks and focus on a simplified wardrobe. This article will give you inspiration to let go and consider a owning fewer clothes by creating a capsule wardrobe. With a decluttered closet, you’ll have more closet space and more mind space too.
Wardrobe Declutter: Remove these 5 things from your closet today
Collect all of your clothing. Get the clothes off the shelf, out of the piles and bins and off the hooks. Bring clothes back from the dry cleaner and laundry area. Collect your pants, skirts, jackets, blouses, pairs of jeans, the old items and the new items. Oh, and don’t forget that scarf collection. This decluttering process should allow you to remove any items that don’t work for you. The list below will help you work by category of clothing, to identify clutter more easily and do a wardrobe declutter that sticks.
1. Declutter clothes that don’t fit.
Anything that doesn’t fit your today body and your today lifestyle can go. If you are thinking, “one day I might fit into this,” remind yourself that you don’t have to change your body to fit your clothes. Simply, change your clothes to fit your body. If you hold onto clothing in different sizes due to weight fluctuation, remove the sizes that don’t fit you now and set them aside for a while.
2. Let go of shoes that hurt your feet.
We’ve all dealt with sore feet, blisters and other marks left by shoes that look good but don’t feel good. Feeling good > looking good. Sometimes you can get both, but prioritize comfort and support for your feet. If there are shoes you aren’t sure about, take a walk in them. How far can you go without pain? How much pain are you willing to be in to keep them?
3. Include clothes with tags still attached in your wardrobe declutter.
I know there is always an exception but there is a reason you haven’t worn the items that still have tags on. Bye. Bye. Bye.
4. Let go of clothing that makes you feel guilty.
You may feel guilty about the clothing in your wardrobe because you spent too much money on it. Seeing as you paid with your money, with space in your closet, your time and attention and now with emotion by feeling bad about it, haven’t you paid enough? Perhaps you feel guilty because someone gave you something or passed something on to you that you never wear. It’s time to let go. Let go of the items and let go of the guilt. You may not even realize how heavy the guilt is until it’s gone. That was my experience! I felt so much better when the stuff I didn’t really care about was gone.
5. Let go of items you aren’t going to wear again.
If your job changed, or you live in a different climate or for other reasons, you own clothing you know you’ll never wear again, why keep taking care of it? Own the clothes that allow you to dress for the live you have, not the life you had. You’ll discover, not only more space in your closet, but you’ll experience less decision fatigue, and cognitive dissonance when you don’t have to choose from items that don’t make sense in your life anymore.
It may be time to consider letting go of wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses and other formal wear you won’t wear again too. Donate here or here. If you are holding on for sentimental reasons or to pass on to a family member, simply clip a small square from inside the dress and the future bride can pin it inside their dress one day.
For this wardrobe declutter, if the idea of letting these items go for good doesn’t feel that good to you, here’s a gentler option. Remove them from your closet, put them in an unmarked box, and hide the box for a month or two. If you don’t miss the items, drop at a local donation center. If you want to wear your favorite things, only own your favorite things.
33 item spring capsule wardrobe
If you are ready to save time, money and energy, join the Project 333 Challenge! Whether you’ve been thinking about starting the Project 333 challenge for awhile or you are hearing about it for the first time, I’m here to help you get started. I started the Project 333 challenge back in 2010 and I’ve been following these fashion rules since the beginning. All you have to do is to choose 33 items (clothing, jewelry, accessories, shoes) to wear for 3 months and hide everything else. Spoiler alert: doing it is much easier than thinking about doing it.
I’m putting together my 33 item spring capsule wardrobe and I’ll be including:
- 4 pairs of shoes
- 2 pieces of outerwear (a black trench and denim jacket)
- 2 pieces of jewelry (pair of earrings and a necklace)
- 4 accessories (sunglasses, scarf, handbag, tote)
- 3 dresses
- 4 pants
- 4 sweaters/sweatshirts
- 10 shirts (a mix of tees, tanks, button downs)
When I decided to simplify and eliminate a bunch of stress from my life, I had no idea that my closet clutter was stressful. I knew there was stress in my diet, in the way I managed money (not well) and that stress was in my schedule and in my job, but my wardrobe? I thought my clothes and more specifically, my shopping for clothes reduced stress. I rarely shopped because I needed new clothes, but instead shopped to feel better, to relieve the pain of boredom and working a job I didn’t enjoy, and because I honestly believed that new shoes would make me happier.
When I challenged myself to dress with less by creating the Project 333 challenge, I realized that all the shopping I was doing was contributing to more clothes clutter, debt and stress. And, even more surprising, I noticed I had all kinds of stress and emotion wrapped up in the clothing hanging in my closet. I highly recommend trying this wardrobe declutter and/or creating a capsule wardrobe with the Project 333 challenge. After dressing with fewer items since 2010, I can confidently say that less is best.