How do I turn a pile of clothes into a proper 'wardrobe'?

the_cat

I have a confession. I have many,many clothes..... and nothing to wear!

Most of what I have fits (a couple a bit small and a couple a bit big, but want to keep those as I'm realistically at my natural mid-weight atm and don't want to buy stuff that covers good/bad months;))

Trouble is, individually I like all the items and think 'oh yeah, I can wear that for xyz situations'. But I never do. I stick to the same boring jeans/bog standard t shirt/fleece pretty much all the time and have absolutely no idea how to make the many items into outfits in order to actually wear them

I have read all the decluttering stuff on here and it is all really good advice.Then I go upstairs and start looking through and get so bewildered by what should stay/go and if I should really throw away perfectly good stuff that I quite like just because I haven't worn it for ages (cos I decide once I try it on that it's nice and kid myself I WILL wear it) that I do nothing and shut the wardrobe again.

I need some motivation. Or help. Or.......... well I dunno, but something!!!:D

pavlovs_dog

no advice on the fashion front but can you lessen your decluttering guilt by taking clothes that are still servicable (to someone else) to a charity shop?

flissh

I know just what you mean. Today I made a real effort to wear something nice instead of my usual old jeans and t shirt/jumper combo.

Earlier today I emptied out all my clothes from my wardrobe as once again I can't see the wood for the trees!!

I'm going back up there now to turn the huge jumble on my bed into an organised wardrobe. Summer stuff is going in suitcases in the loft and old stuff/stuff I never wear is going... Well I'll work that bit out later.

I'm sure I don't wear things 'cos I just can't see them.

Right... Here goes!!

sofababe

If u haven't worn it for over 6 months get rid of it. Sell on Ebay, I've made quite a bit lately selling stuff I've hardly worn.
If u haven't worn something then ask yourself why not? Doesn't fit? Not appropriate for your lifestyle? Impulse bought it but don't really like it? Don't have anything to go with it? If u haven't worn it in the last 6 months or more then u probably aren't going to.
Put it on Ebay, if it doesn't sell then do u know someone who would wear it, or take it to the charity shop.
Be ruthless!!!

luxor4t

Don't stress, choose on a capsule wardrobe of key items eg http://www.ehow.com/how_4432174_develop-capsule-wardrobe.html or use Gok Wan's idea of 24 pieces. Put the rest of your clothes somewhere else (eg in cardboard boxes), don't throw them away / sell them / donate them.
Trial & error will tell you what works best - don't buy anything else, just look through what you have already if you need to swap something.
Once you are happy that you've got your basics sorted out & are feeling less stressed, then deal with the mountain of garments you don't need/ want (but after you have sorted out another capsule for the next season!)
... well, that's what I'm trying to do anyway

the_cat

luxor4t wrote: »

Don't stress, choose on a capsule wardrobe of key items eg http://www.ehow.com/how_4432174_develop-capsule-wardrobe.html or use Gok Wan's idea of 24 pieces. Put the rest of your clothes somewhere else (eg in cardboard boxes), don't throw them away / sell them / donate them.
Trial & error will tell you what works best - don't buy anything else, just look through what you have already if you need to swap something.
Once you are happy that you've got your basics sorted out & are feeling less stressed, then deal with the mountain of garments you don't need/ want (but after you have sorted out another capsule for the next season!)
... well, that's what I'm trying to do anyway

Thanks thats a great link! I probably have about 20 of those 'capsules' already, I just need to locate them!:D:D:eek:

Right plan of attack for tomorrow:
1. Put away any summer stuff in cases until next year
2. Pull out 2 capsules for autumn/winter (2 because I have some nice brown stuff and some nice grey/black stuff and they won't fit into one colour scheme
3. Live from that and that only for a few weeks Bung the rest of the stuff in the corner (ok, all over most of it:D)of one wardrobe.This will be hard, but I'm gonna pretend I've gone on holiday and that I have only brought the capsule stuff 'in my case'
4. Identify the problems/gaps. Hopefully I can then 'shop' from the clothes I have left over


PS. Did you read my mind? Guess where I was going to go tomorrow as a distraction, instead of tackling the wardrobe? Yes, shopping! :eek::eek::eek:

whitelillies

It must be that time of year as i need to do exactly the same. Im planning to do mine either today or tomorrow. I also have brown, grey and black pieces and am trying to work with those. I have bought a few new items, including a small red mac, two LBDs (couldnt decide on one so i bought both for christmas parties as ive never owned one in my life), a dressy grey sequined cardi, and two godet tops, one to go with each pair of grey and or black and brown leggings with boots and a black pencil skirt. The only thing i do need is a winter coat and i want a dressy one so ile be on the lookout for one of those.

BlondeHeadOn

What I do with clothes I am not sure about is to try wearing them for a day. Decide the day before that you are going to wear item A, and then the next morning put it on and decide what will go with it.

This has two possible outcomes: either you think 'Ok I can wear that and that with it' and that is you sorted for the day,
or
You think 'This looks awful/I don't want to wear it/I have nothing else which goes with it'.

If you think the latter then chuck the item in the pile for the charity shop.

If you wear it for the day and it doesn't feel right, or you don't feel good in it, then chuck the item in the pile for the charity shop.

If you wear it for the day and it feels good, keep it and try wearing it with other things.

(NB Only try this on 'at home' days or day when you are not in a rush to go somewhere, otherwise it can all go horribly wrong!)

I try to do this once a week, to make sure that stuff doesn't just stay in the wardrobe and never get worn - it's amazing how useful an item can become if you force yourself to wear it! And one day a week is manageable.

HTH

Caroline73_2

Pop over the daily fashion thread. it motivates me not to throw on the same kind of outfit each day and to experiment a bit.

sharronloves2spend

I echo what Caroline has said, lots of 'fashion' blogs floating around aswell for inspiration. Here's how i would tackel it.

- Put EVERYTHING that is not season appropiate, doesn't fit right now or needs mending away to be dealt with later.

-Now try every individual item on does it suit you? Is it appropiate to your lifestyle? If yes put it into keep pile, if noe put away in the deal with later pile.

-try and put 'outfits' together from the keep pile, remember that just because colours are not the same or you wouldn't normally match them together doesn't mean you can't, have a bit of fun, you may be surprised at the results. Recently i put a stripey top with a very patterned skirt and the only thing linking them was the colour navy blue. This broke my 'don't mix patterns rule' and i loved it.

-Once you've got yourself a couple of outfits together, ask yourself what could finish them off, it may be a jacket, scarf, bracelet, belt to just 'pull' it all together.

-Then (as you have said) make a list of need to buys and enjoy shopping!!!

I do this about 4 times a year and am always amazed at how a bit of organisation can referesh my wardrobe!!
HTH
Sharron x

GraciesGran

The easiest way to revitalise your clothes is sort out the clothes you don't want, get your friends to do the same, get a couple of bottles of vino and have a swop.

Works brilliantly for party stuff you only wear a few times.