Any tips for a wardrobe clear out and sort out

[Lardlizard]

Time to have a revamp

Throw away anything that doesn't fit. Throw away anything you haven't worn this season or last unless it is an 'event item' (eg black tie or holiday wear and you haven't been away). Throw away anything with stains or holes (unless you need gardening / dog walking clothes but limit this to what you need). Everything left should be stuff you love. Then if you're replacing stuff buy things that go with your current items...

Turn the hangers around the wrong way - if they’ve not been flipped within a set period, you’re not wearing it, so get rid.

I did something similar with my drawers too. If it didn’t make it until the laundry hamper within a month, it went too

Start with PP's good advice.
Then, follow the advice that I did after reading an old thread on here, to "Wear everything in my wardrobe to see if I still like it".
Some items I rediscovered, and others were washed after wearing and put in a charity bag.

Think - would I buy it today?

If you can’t see yourself buying it then you probably don’t want it much. So unless it fulfils some specific function that no other item does, get rid.

I do this at the end of summer and end of winter every year - I vacuum pack away a lot of things and put them on top of the wardrobe.

Take absolutely everything out, lay it on the bed, then sort it through.

Stuff you wear all the time, definitely keepers. Put it aside.

Stuff you haven’t worn for a while - try it on and see how you feel. Keep/charity/chuck if not feeling it, it doesn’t fit perfectly, or it’s damaged in some way and can’t be saved.

Put things back in. I tend to group items together - eg, jumpers at one end of the wardrobe, trousers and dresses at the other, jeans and skirts on the lower section, t-shirts and tops in a chest of drawers.

Make a note of any gaps where you need to replace stuff - eg, black polo neck jumper too bobbly, but essential work item.

Pre-Covid I thought on my wardrobe a bit like a pie chart. So work (for me) four days a week = smart casual. Not work days = jeans, tops, jumpers, trainers etc, dresses for going out for lunch/dinner etc. Home in the evenings or quiet weekends = joggers, jumpers or t-shirts depending on the time of year. The ratios should, in theory, balance out - no point in having a dozen fancy frocks if most of your time is spent doing the garden or walking the dog.

Now I mainly work from home, and never go out!

Thanks for the great tips
How long would you allow for doing this a day or weekend ?

You could choose a few colours that suit you best and anything that doesn’t match with these colours has to go. E.g is bright white or ivory best on you? What are your best neutral and accent colours?

Ivory is better on me than white

Other colours that suit me
Green
Wine
Browns
Turquoise
Burnt orange

Navy is ok
Not the greatest

Awful on me
Bright yellow
And I’m not a fan of black on me, however people tell me it looks nice
I’m a sucker for a fancy print too, and sometimes I buy something as I liek the print and the shape doenst really suit me

A wrap dress suits me well

Also bright red looks bad on me, but deep red wine colour looks nice

Usually an afternoon does it for me. Also, I tend to make a mental note of “mistakes”. I never wear prints beyond stripes, polka dots, or leopard print (I know Mumsnet hates animal print) but am sometimes drawn to a floral, wear it once, then never again.

I am a person who loves a wander round the shops, and impulse buys, but don’t like shopping in the current climate, so am only buying online. That means I am less likely to buy duds!

Oh, another great tip that really works for me is knowing what to spend money on (beyond coats/footwear). I am a size 10, but quite hippy, so paying more for bottoms than tops makes sense. I know which shops suit me for trousers (Cos), jeans (Levi’s, Whistles) and will happily spend more on those items. I buy cheaper tops.

@Lardlizard

Other colours that suit me Green Wine Browns Turquoise Burnt orange

Navy is ok
Not the greatest

Awful on me
Bright yellow
And I’m not a fan of black on me, however people tell me it looks nice
I’m a sucker for a fancy print too, and sometimes I buy something as I liek the print and the shape doenst really suit me

A wrap dress suits me well

Given the above, don't bother keeping the navy or black stuff, assuming you've got something in one of the other dark colours in case of a funeral or other formal occasion - brown, dark green or a dark wine would work for most events. There's no point in having clothes in colours that don't suit you. If you've got clothes in prints you like but in shapes that don't work for you, can you alter them, or make something different out of them? If not, then get rid of those too-you're unlikely to wear things you know don't suit you. Once you've put everything in pile that doesn't work for you, then you can see what's left, and what gaps there are - eg shirts you like which need trousers to go with them, or (as above) something appropriate for formal occasions in a colour that suits you. If wrap dresses are your thing, then make sure you have at least 1 in a dark colour and that it has a coat or jacket and shoes or boots to go with it. Think about your lifestyle, now and say 6 months down the line. If you are working from home currently, is that going to be a permanent thing? Is money likely to be an issue?No point in chucking everything out just for the sake of it, if you can store it comfortably. Just don't keep things you know you won't wear.

Also read "The Curated Closet". It has really interesting ideas and strategies on figuring out your personal style.

I try to look at all the stuff I'm kicking out and spot the theme. I have found I have a terrible habit of buying clothes in the size I wish I was instead of the size I am, and then never wearing because it's uncomfortable.

Thanks for the excellent advice, you guys really know your stuff, I’ve actually got the curated closest and the workbook as previously you’ve told me to get it, so I have, arrived in March a dnuge not read either yet
But next week I’ll have way more time
So first on my reading list

@athousandstrawberrylollys

I try to look at all the stuff I'm kicking out and spot the theme. I have found I have a terrible habit of buying clothes in the size I wish I was instead of the size I am, and then never wearing because it's uncomfortable.

Spotting a theme is a great idea - I chucked a load of fresh, summery florals because although they are pretty, they are not edgy in any way, I feel like Miss Honey in them, and that is not me.

I find it helpful to figure out how each item would be worn as an outfit. If I don’t have the right trousers/shoes/top to make it work I put it to one side to consider later. If there’s a few items I need to complete the wardrobe that’s fine and I’ll add it in. But I don’t like having pieces that can’t actually be worn taking up space.

I attempted project 333 where you only keep 33 items and wear them for 3 months. I didn’t manage to get anywhere as low as 33 items but having the goal helped me to be ruthless.

I have a box in the top of my wardrobe for sentimental clothes which helps distinguish between loving something and it being wearable

If I’m unsure about keeping something I let it go and imagine the delight of someone who is sure they love it, finding it on the rail of a charity shop. Eases the guilt

I Marie kondo'd my closet a year ago, massively regret it. Had to replace a lot of items I gave away- very wasteful.

I had a good wardrobe and wish I had not been sucked into this clean minimalist wardrobe trend - mostly due to trends coming back every other year, or it being considered vintage two years later.

Do your colours online first using Justine Leconte youtube videos.

First of all you need to know whether your skintone is cool or warm.

Then you work out your "season" which is affected by skin, hair and eye colour and contrast.

Once you've done that you will be able to see which reds/blues/greens look best on you, whether you should wear white or ivory, whether you should wear black, navy or grey etc.

Helps enormously.

@HasaDigaEebowai

Do your colours online first using Justine Leconte youtube videos.

First of all you need to know whether your skintone is cool or warm.

Then you work out your "season" which is affected by skin, hair and eye colour and contrast.

Once you've done that you will be able to see which reds/blues/greens look best on you, whether you should wear white or ivory, whether you should wear black, navy or grey etc.

Helps enormously.

From the colours OP has said suit her, it sounds as though she is warm toned and perhaps an autumn.

I would agree you might be an autumn OP. Also agree Justine leconte is fab. Might also be worth checking out the concept wardrobe blog re explanations of colour types. Also another thought about managing your wardrobe - I have heard good things about the app ‘style book’. Might be worth checking out though I think you have to pay for it.

Thanks so much, yes I’m pretty sure I’m an autumn too from the colours I know suit me best and the colours that look bad on me
And friends that are good at this type of thing have said I’m an autumn
I’m warm skin toned

Also magenta is a great one for me

So with the decide if you suit navy black or grey best
Out of all of them navy is the better one but still not one of my best colours, but the best out of those three, do you think I should keep a few navy bits of just get rid it store somewhere else ?
I Certainly don’t have any big navy items like coats etc
But I do have a couple of dresses
So what shall I do with the few navy bits I’ve got
?

Back in March I’d already downloaded stylisous app but then of course the schools shut and I’ve been home schooling my children for months
So I suppose I’m going back to things I was trying to start up in March
So I have that app on my phone already
I can see it’s rated 3 stars but it was free when I downloaded it months ago
And I can see style book app is only 3.99
Which I don’t mind paying for as I’ve not put any work into the other app and that has the rating of five starts
So if you think that’s worth it
I’ll pay for that app instead

Something that has helped me is thinking about outfits not just items. If it doesn’t go with anything else you own, you won’t wear it.

I don’t think you have to purge everything that isn’t your perfect colour if you actually like it and wear it. If there is the option to store stuff for a while and see if you miss it/it comes back In fashion I’d do that.