Do you have a closet full of clothes? You might even have several closets, a walk-in closet or several dressers full of clothes? If you closed your eyes, would you be able to list every single item of clothing you have? And yet, you often stand there in front of your closet and think, “I have nothing to wear.”
The reason we feel this way is that we have clothes that are not really us, that don’t fit perfectly, that are perhaps too small or too big. The fact is that if you save clothes that are too small because you think you will lose weight (a difference if you are pregnant), then you will not lose weight. It is when you start to accept yourself as you are that miracles happen.
If any of the above applies to you, you probably haven't found your basic wardrobe yet. Those clothes that fit into all everyday activities.
If you want help with what colors you should wear, there are people who are trained in this, but most often you end up with eye color because that color of clothes highlights your beautiful eyes, skin color and hair color and contrasting colors to it.
A good basic wardrobe consists of colors and garments that you feel comfortable in, that you enjoy in and that make you feel confident. It is important to always feel good in your clothes because it increases your radiance, while clothes that chafe and that we don't really like reduce our self-confidence and make us shrink in front of other people.
One piece of advice is to never shop for clothes when you are in a different mood than your usual mood. The risk is if you shop when you are, for example, angry or sad that you will buy something that you are attracted to right then and there but which is really not you when you are in your usual mood. At certain times in life we are attracted to different colors of clothes too and there is of course more to read about but is not something I will cover in my blog so far.
So how do you think you should proceed?
1. Start by laying out all the clothes on the sofa or bed, or put a large blanket on the floor and put the clothes on it. Yes, all the clothes should go out. It is best to do this after laundry day when most of the clothes are in the closet and clean.
2. Sort them into piles with different categories. T-shirts in one pile, pants in another and so on. This will give you a good idea of how much of each type you have.
3. Think about how often you wash your laundry. This will help you decide how many of each type you need to have left to get by between washes.
4. Remove the clothes that you absolutely do not want to keep that you already know should go. Here I want to raise a warning finger. If you treat yourself like a second-class citizen, the people around you will do the same. That said, you might want to consider disposing of worn, washed, torn clothes in an environmentally friendly way.
5. The clothes you decluttered should either be donated, thrown away, given away or sold.
Give to charity, secondhand or similar, there are such places everywhere.
Dispose of in an environmentally friendly way according to your country’s recommendations for old clothing.
Only give away things that you borrowed and are going to return or that you 100% know that your friend or similar has asked for, but make sure that they are done relatively immediately so that it doesn’t take too long and the garment is still there for the next cleaning.
Selling is a great way to make money but usually takes a lot of time and energy, not to mention all the people who will try to haggle over the price. My advice and many with me is to set a money limit and if you think you can get more than your limit, sell the garment and if it is worth less, don’t waste your time on it but just donate it to charity. The money is already spent and cannot be undone.
6. The next step is to pick out the clothes that you wear every week. The ones that are always in the laundry every time you wash. Don’t cheat here, I’m talking about every time you wash. These are the ones you are most drawn to and are most likely very comfortable.
7. Test ALL other clothes. Yes, you have to test them all to know for sure. I will give from my own experience. I had two favorite pairs of jeans and thought I would never get rid of them. I didn’t test them but let them go with me every time even though I had been sick for a long time and couldn’t wear them. One day I decided to test them and guess what. All my medications had made me gain so much weight and stayed there for over a year that the pants didn’t come any further than my hips. It was just a fact of life, I would never wear those jeans again, I got rid of the jeans and bought new pants instead that were exactly who I was when I needed them. I also realized another important lesson. I am not even a jeans girl anymore but a woman who likes soft, flowy, flattering pants for my new healthier lifestyle.
8. Once you have tried on your clothes, remove any that fit uncomfortably, any with holes that you don’t intend to spend time fixing, any sweaters that are itchy, etc. Keep the clothes that your body feels comfortable in.
9. Still unsure? Hang the hangers the other way around and every time you have worn a garment, turn the hanger over. That way you can see, after a set amount of time, which clothes you have worn and which you have not. Remove all the ones you have not worn as long as the opportunity to wear the clothes has been during the period you have decided. Let’s say you have your trial period in December and you are unsure about a Christmas sweater. You will never wear this Christmas sweater again during the year and if you didn’t during Christmas, it has had its chance and that chance is over. Get rid of it.
10. Sort out the remaining clothes and see that the colors suit you. In a good basic wardrobe, you can mix and match your clothes for new outfits even though you have limited clothes. Look for inspiration on Youtube, many minimalist youtubers seem to have new clothes in every video even though their wardrobe is minimalistisk with few items of clothing.
11, Make your wardrobe nice.
12. Good luck!
