Wardrobe organisation

[littlematchstickgirl]

How do you ladies all organise your wardrobes please?

My wardrobe is rammed and despite that, I have ‘nothing to wear’. I am trying to sort stuff out and declutter. At the same time, I don’t want to charity shop everything, in case I would like to wear them again in a few years. I have done that in the past, although saying that, I often don’t miss what is gifted to charity.

What do you do with your out of season clothes? I have a lot of summer dresses, but I need the space for stuff to wear now - I could fold them up and store in a cupboard, but then that will require lots of ironing to decrease if / when I get them back out. Maybe that’s just what I need to do….

My wardrobe only has half height hanging (apart from a very small full length section) and lots of drawers.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I’m not really sure where to start, part from getting all of my winter stuff together. So I know what I have!! Thanks in advance ladies!

Mine took a bit of time but I basically emptied everything out on to the bed, knowing that I'd then have to actually sort it all out or no sleep (I'm a terrible procrastinator).

Some items I knew straight away needed to go, that was easy enough.
Items I hadn't worn for a while and was unsure about I put in a pile. These were later stored under my bed, I reasoned if I didn't wear them in the next 12 months then I'd definitely get rid.

Cleaned the wardrobe out, and vacuumed it. Put some scented sachets in.
I bought loads of those slimline hangers and that actually made a difference as to useable space plus it looks nicer.

I then started listing everything on an app called Stylebook. This took ages because I needed to either photograph everything or find a photo online, but it's been really worthwhile.
Now if I'm contemplating buying something new I consult the app to see if I already own something similar.

If I were you I’d take everything out of my wardrobe and then sort it into item type.
So all of your dresses in one pile, T-shirts in another etc.
Then put them in colour order - so then you can see how many white or red or pink T-shirts you have for example. You can then get rid of anything you have duplicates of.
Then hang things up like that, so you always have your T-shirts together and in colour order. Do the same with dresses, trousers etc. It’s easy to see what you have before you buy something new, or whether you’re missing something.
If you are quite ruthless with getting rid of stuff then you can just keep all your clothes in your wardrobe regardless of season. Hang your dresses and maybe trousers in the longer section. Tops, blazers, sweatshirts can hang in the other section. Knitted jumpers and casual T-shirts can go in drawers. Depends how much space you have really! But just make sure you can see each item.
I have heard of people turning the hangers the wrong way round and then after say 6 months if the hanger is still that way round then you know you don’t wear that item of clothing so you can donate it.

I recommend you get a steamer so you can pack things away and then steam them when you unpack them again. You need to make space in your wardrobe for now.

First things first, pack away your summer things.

Next, separate your wardrobe into three. 1. Gym/dog walking/gardening/loungewear clothes. 2. Occasion clothes. 3. Every day clothes.

Next, start picking out the outfits that you do wear day to day. You might find you only have a couple of outfits that you like and feel good in. It’s VERY important that anything that stays in your wardrobe has something to be worn with. If there’s nothing to wear it with, it goes.
I recommend you do Project 333 for your every day things. There’s lots on YouTube about this. Put together a nice little day to day wardrobe of 33 pieces for the next three months. Only the things you love.

Any excess, either get rid of, or pack away in boxes and store out of sight. That way, you are not committing to getting rid of things that you might need (but when I did this process, I didn’t reach for anything that I packed away, so I sold it all the following year).

You can do the same process with other clothes after that (for example gym wear or occasion wear). I find it’s helpful to keep things in separate areas, as well, then you can have your daily 333 things in your main storage area.

I sort mine by type and colour (dresses in the full length hanging section which os small) then I have a medium length rail and a short rail both of which are for tops then trousers on shelves. All black cardigans on one hanger in the black section, white ones on another hanger etc. I keep my Whering app updates to plan outfits but I don't record on there

Just to add something on your "I would miss this if I charity-shopped it" point. I just lost a lot of weight. Finally, I can fit again into lovely quality clothes I had worn several years ago and had stored away, worried to get rid of them.
When I unpacked them and tried them on, I didn't actually keep one thing. Perhaps I had changed (some of the styles no longer matched how I want to present myself, too girly now), maybe styles have changed, but none of them were right. Just get rid.
I would recommend "A Slob Comes Clean." Listen to her podcast or YouTube and learn about the container concept. You have your container - your current wardrobe. Yes, it's small, but that's what you have. Fit your clothes to the container and get rid of a ton.
I would also think about how many things you can actually wear. Summer dresses? Maybe 10 tops. Order them in terms of which you like the best. I would pick my best 10 and get rid of the rest, even if I quite liked 11, 12, and 13 in the order of preference. For example, I always find myself wearing the same pair of work trousers. If they are clean, those are the ones I am picking. So why am I keeping work trousers that aren't my first, second, third, or even fourth favorite? GET RID. You will breathe easier.

Thank you for your helpful responses, that’s appreciated! Apologies, I don’t know how to tag people on my phone, but I hope I respond to everyone.

So far I have emptied one side and dusted, etc and only put back in some items I will definitely be wearing - some jeans, a few T-shirts and jumpers, etc. It’s a good idea to think about keeping whole outfits - I tend to default to the same few things all the time, so I need to think about other outfit options.

For the long hanging area - I have taken all the summer dresses out and put them in a vacuum bag, which I have stored under my bed. Next spring, I’ll get them out and anything I don’t want, I’ll charity shop. I think for those, I’d rather wait until then. I have put back a few things that are winter appropriate. Now I can see them, I hope I will be more likely to wear them. It is a good point that by the time I get then back out, I may not want them anymore. At least they’ll be going to the charity shop at an appropriate time of year.

A steamer is a good idea - is that better than ironing, in your opinion?

Thanks so much for giving me your opinions, it has helped me approach it better. I’ll carry on and any more, bring it on!