What’s your wardrobe style?

It’s time to get a wee bit personal. I want to take a peek in your wardrobe.

Is everything hanging beautifully, colour-coded and arranged according to the ebb and flow of your working week and lifestyle? Or is it an eclectic mix of stuff you can’t bear to part with?

If you’re ok with your eclectic mix then that’s truly OK. When you find yourself staring at your wardrobe every morning declaring, “I’ve got nothing to wear”, then it’s not ok.

You with me?

If you want to turn your wardrobe around and make it work for you, an edit is in order. The word edit, yes, is a nicer way of saying “cull” because that’s what you’re going to do.

Here is the step by step process I do myself – and I also guide my clients through. Something to bookmark for the new year?

How to edit your wardrobe

1. Get in the right frame of mind.  If you need a glass of wine to help achieve that then go for it.  I’ll wait here while you go to the fridge.

2. Lock the door so you don’t get any “helpers” in the form of small children.  They will distract you with requests such as, “can I please have another biscuit?”, “watch YouTube on your iPad?” or “mummy, why are you drinking wine for morning tea?”.

3. Pull EVERYTHING out.  There’s seriously no point flicking through the racks, offering only a cursory glance at that floral top you bought three years ago.  That still has its tags on.

4. Look at your empty wardrobe.  At this point another glass of vino may be called upon.  You’re not wardrobe gazing here.  You’re taking a good look at the space available to you and thinking how best you can make the most of that space.  If moving your partner’s clothes into another room is what you think best, who am I to come between you and marital wardrobe bliss?

5. Unless you’ve had your wardrobe custom-designed by a company that builds in all those clever shelves(in which case I have serious wardrobe envy and may descend on your house just to sit in front of said wardrobe and stare) then it’s a good idea to invest in some sort of wardrobe storage system.

6. When you have all your clothes out of your wardrobe, start to organise them in to type and colour. This is particularly essential if your week involves two completely different type of clothing demands. One client I’ve worked with is ultra corporate during the week and surf lifesaving all weekend. We were able to split her wardrobe into two, so that Monday to Friday she opened one section; on the the weekends and holidays another.

7. During this organisation process, you’re culling, right?  If it doesn’t fit and doesn’t make you feel good it has to go (special consideration is given to sentimental pieces … I’m not that harsh!).  If you want to hang on to those jeans (just in case … umm like my sass & bides I squeezed into for my 40th, drank too much and they’ve never fitted again), then store them out of sight.  Otherwise, they will only make you feel like crap every time you see them.

8. Put things back into your wardrobe in a way that suits your space and lifestyle.  I have a small wardrobe that I’ve been unable to convince my husband I should have sole custody of (despite regularly encroaching on his “side”), so I have taken up a sub-let in my daughter’s wardrobe to house the clothes from the season I’m not currently wearing.  I figure I’ve not got long to go on this plan, though, as the teenage “must buy new clothes” bug has well and truly kicked in.

9. Bag up clothes for your favourite charity store, keeping aside any you might be keen to eBay.  From experience, it’s new, near-new designer labels that will pull the most cash and make your eBay session worthwhile.

10. Sit back. Pour another wine and admire the glory that is a wardrobe ready for the season ahead.

Some wardrobe inspiration for you (a girl’s got to dream, right?):

Next Tuesday night, December 20, (between 8-9pm AEDST) I’ll be chatting on the JustB Facebook wall, ready to answer any of your style questions. Don’t be shy. I’m here to help. And if you can’t chat during this time, just leave a question whenever it suits and I’ll get back to as soon as possible.

I also blog over here and hang out on Twitter here.

Photo credits