A fashion-forward, carefully curated wardrobe is the stuff of every woman’s dreams. After all, who doesn’t want to open their closet and find the clothes that they’ll not only want to wear regularly, but are representative of their style and personality, too? The good news is that building a better wardrobe is not at all that hard and can be done even without the help of a stylist consultant.
But before you start checking out stores for your next dress or researching where to buy women’s pajama tops online, make sure you clear out your closet first. By doing so, you will be getting rid of stuff you don’t need or want anymore and creating space for the things you will be adding to your wardrobe. You will also be able to organize your wardrobe from scratch, allowing you to arrange things properly so that all your clothes are in circulation and nothing gets forgotten.
We’ve outlined 7 steps for you to follow so you can enjoy a cleaner closet and better-curated wardrobe.
Set Your Clearing and Cleaning Day
The first step is to mark off at least one full day for clearing and cleaning your closet. The reason why you need to allot this much time is that, depending on the size of your current collection, you will need ample time to inspect everything in your closet. In this way, you can better determine which items are keepers and which ones need to go.
Sort, Sort, Sort!
When D-Day comes and it’s time to start sorting your things, make the task less daunting by breaking it down into several steps. This mini guide will help you do this.
Prepare several boxes for stuff you will keep, things you will throw away, and items you will donate. Have one container as well for things that you might still be unsure of and need more time to think about.
Take everything out of your closet, starting from your everyday tees down to your undergarments. You can even bring out the various accessories you have, like jewelry, belts, and sunglasses.
Inspect everything. Identify which items you can donate, which ones are too old or broken to be reused, and which pieces you will keep as part of your curated wardrobe. Throw away things that have major damage, like large rips and stains. Items you can donate include: worn but usable clothes; clothes and shoes that no longer fit you; clothes with small stains; items you no longer use; anything that your ex gave you.
For items that you haven’t decided what to do with yet, set them aside in their own pile but give yourself a deadline for sorting through them. In this way, you don’t end up holding on to the stuff indefinitely.
Clean Your Closet
Before you put back the items you have decided to keep, make sure you clean your closet first. Dust off and wipe clean every nook and cranny so that everything is spic and span. If anything needs to be repaired, like a broken drawer, either do it yourself or call a handyman over. The whole point here is to prepare your closet for the curated wardrobe it will soon be housing. You can even have the handyman reconfigure your closet based on a design you have in mind.
Put the Keepers Back
Once you’ve sorted everything out and cleaned your closet, it’s time to put your stuff back in. But make sure you do so neatly and in a very organized manner. Some tips to keep in mind here are as follows:
- Buy storage solutions like shoeboxes, hosiery bags, shelf organizers, garment boxes, jewelry containers, and matching hangers. These accessories will give your closet that streamlined, sophisticated, and orderly look and vibe that will make dressing up feel more exciting.
- Mind your closet’s final layout and take advantage of it. For instance, if it has lots of vertical space, then hang most of your clothes using matching hangers. If it has built-in shelving and drawers, use them to store small garments and underwear.
- Store your stuff according to categories—meaning, tees go together, undergarments should be kept in one spot, pants are kept in one corner, and so on. In this way, you will know where to find everything and everything will be easily accessible.
- Hang anything structured or delicate. You may even want to put them into clear garment bags to protect the fabric and whatever embellishments the garment may have. Make sure to hang them so they are all facing in the same direction and that the short items are on one side, while the long ones are on the other.
- Stack thicker clothes, like sweaters and denim pants, and roll the lighter ones, such as tees and workout gear.
- Make sure everything you wear regularly on a day-to-day basis is stored either at eye level or wherever they are most accessible.
- Hang jewelry and similar accessories on the backside of your closet’s doors for easy access.
Define Your Style
Now that the cleaning and sorting are both out the way, it’s time to focus on your style and fashion personality. To give you an initial idea, take a good, long look at your freshly organized wardrobe. What do you notice about the items that you have decided to keep? Which colors are dominant? What styles are most common? What kind of clothes do you wear the most? Combine your observations with the colors you like, the style you prefer, and the looks that you want to rock with. This will help you create a more realistic picture of what your own personal style is about and identify what kind of clothes should make up your curated wardrobe.
Decide on What Else You Need
Again, a curated wardrobe is one made up of all the things you like to wear or would like to use more often. After your initial sorting, you may realize that you are lacking certain clothes or shoes that would allow you to create the outfits you dream of wearing. You may also want to add to your everyday basics, such as underwear and socks. So, start listing down everything you need while considering the style you want to develop. But in doing so, always remember to choose quality over quantity.
Start Shopping
After all that hard work, it’s finally time for your reward: shopping! But do make sure that you stick with the shopping list you made so you don’t end up needlessly buying stuff you don’t or won’t need anyway. Additionally, consider taking advantage of the growing eCommerce economy today and just buy your stuff online. Not only is it more convenient, but it can help you assess your would-be purchases against the items already in your closet.
As appealing as having an oversized wardrobe may be, there are obvious advantages to curating it. The biggest benefit, of course, is that everything in your curated wardrobe is something you like and will be willing to wear. This makes mixing and matching outfits easy and quick, saving you precious time and energy in the process.
And since curating your wardrobe also means organizing it as well, you will have a nice, clean, and organized closet to boot. Keeping it tidy and in order will be a breeze as well as you will only have to follow the system you had put in place already.
