“I have skinny clothes, normal clothes, and fat clothes.” This is what a woman recently told me. She then followed up and said she feels like she’s drowning in her wardrobe. It’s not that her house has no space — there’s plenty of room in her closet. It’s that she feels stressed! All those clothing options — most of which don’t fit — are weighing her down.
When I speak about a streamlined style, most women are split. There’s a part that loves having a curated closet filled only with clothes they love and want to wear. And then the other part doesn’t want to let go of anything. It’s like the idea is good in theory, but in reality it won’t work.
WHY WE THINK STREAMLINING WON’T WORK
Because you never know when you’ll need that item! I’m definitely holding onto stuff just in case. Because who wants to be ill prepared? The women I’ve spoken to told me that they hold on to accommodate weight fluctuations. This goes back to the three separate wardrobes — skinny, normal and fat.
I remember working in a woman’s closet, and there was a huge pile of black pants. When I asked what they were, she called them her fat pants. There were about 20 pairs.
Sometimes we hold on and it has nothing to do with our weight. It could be as simple as a cashmere sweater that you haven’t worn in 2 years. It stays in the closet because what if you do need it someday? Then what will happen??
TOO MANY BAD CLOTHING OPTIONS
I’m not an advocate of getting rid of something because you think you should. Yes, I love a streamlined style. But I also understand that women don’t want to feel ill prepared. Or even worse, they don’t want to feel regret over something they gave away.
To help my clients streamline their style without ever feeling like they’re sacrificing, I’ve created a simple process. First, I show them how to make the most of what they have. And then they see what’s diluting their closets and creating too many bad clothing options. It’s a two steps process that I’ll share now.
EVERY ITEM NEEDS PURPOSE
My first goal when streamlining my client’s closet is to find a purpose for everything. This means that each item needs to belong. There’s no room for randomness. For example, I’ve got this floral jumpsuit. On the surface it may seem random as I don’t have anything else like it. But it stays in my closet for two reasons.
- I still love it.
This is an absolute must for anything that stays in your closet. If you don’t love it, get rid of it! (I should also note that anything that is worn out and has stains or holes also needs to go.)
2. It serves a purpose in my wardrobe.
The garments in our closets need to fill a purpose. This helps you know what to do with those items. The jumpsuit serves my one-and-done purpose— it’s an easy outfit! All I have to do is accessorize and add shoes, and then I’m dressed. One-and-dones are a good purpose to fill in your wardrobe. Just be sure you still like the garment, and it looks good on you.
Click play to watch the video where I show you how to find the purpose of specific pieces by using examples from my wardrobe.
Another example of a garment’s purpose is to accommodate weight fluctuations. My criteria for this is that you need to put yourself on a timeline. If you’re holding onto a pile of black pants just in case you gain weight, and you still haven’t touched them in 5 years…you may never wear those pants.
In this situation, clear those pants out of your closet. If you do end up gaining weight in 6 years…treat yourself to some new pants that are more current. It’ll make you feel better about gaining the weight to know you’re still dressing your best.
By figuring out the purpose, you’ll gain more insight into your items. If you can’t figure out its purpose, it doesn’t belong in your style.
PUT YOUR CLOTHING OPTIONS TO USE
Once we know what each item’s purpose is (and we still love it), the next step is to put it to use. This means make an outfit. I give all my clients outfit formulas so that makes it easier to put their items to use. Simply pop the piece into the look, and it’s done!
One and done garments easily become outfits. For the floral jumpsuit, I put on my metallic clogs to complement the color palette and added simple jewelry. When it gets chillier I could also throw on a blazer.
An outfit formula for one of my clients is a top tucked into high waisted pants with a cropped blazer. When we streamlined her style, we looked at all her pants to make sure they’d go into this formula. Anything that wasn’t high waisted, she either needed to clear, or find another outfit formula. We decided that low rise pants weren’t a great silhouette for her so she ended up clearing all those pants.
It’s crucial that you’re able to make outfits with your items. If you can’t, then you may be dealing with a random that has no business being in your style.
I hope this helps you streamline your style. But I understand that sometimes it’s easier to have someone help you decide what to do with your clothes. If this is you, let’s talk. Book a complimentary call and we’ll look at what’s really going on with your style and why you feel like you’re not dressing your best. We’ll also discuss your next step for having a wardrobe you love and that makes you feel excited to get dressed everyday. Book your call by clicking here.