I Really Wanted to Make an R.Kelly Joke About Closets

(This isn't my closet. Not even close. But we all have to dream!)

     In the spirit of making fresh starts, and because this week looks like it's going to be HOT in a major way this week, I decided it was time for a very belated closet clean out. This time I tried to do double duty with it. I'm trying to get a system in order so I'm not just donating a bunch of stuff to Goodwill to replace it with a bunch more stuff from Goodwill. I was inspired by the wardrobe rehab at A Pair and A Spare and the waste-reducing strategies at GOOD but I can only aspire to be as chic/ environmentally-conscious as the bloggers at either of these sites. This is a method that works for me and is slllllllooooooowwwwwwlyy getting me to the point where I'm ditching less and less every time.
    First, prepare yourself! Get out some laundry baskets and slap some labels on them. These are mine:

     These categories should be pretty self-explanatory. Now you have to go through your closet piece by piece. This is the worst, suckiest part. Look at everything with an editor's eye. Even if you loved it in the past, if it's not in wearable condition you HAVE to chuck it. If you don't remember how it looks on you then try it on in good light and if there's anything less than perfect about it put it in the pile to be sold/ donated so someone with different tastes or another body shape can get some use out of it. The general wisdom is that if you haven't worn it in a year you should get rid of it, but I don't always agree.  Closet cleaning presents opportunities to rediscover awesome pieces that got hidden under clutter. The best rule of thumb is to think of how much every. single. piece. will help you be the effortlessly chic individual you want to be.

     Look at this giant pile of stuff that I pulled out of my closet! Most of it is being saved for a neighborhood sale next month, but there are a bunch of other ways to get rid of things in wearable condition. Garage (or stoop) sales are a great option, as are Ebay and Plato's Closet. Usually I prefer just to donate and skip the hassle. It's easy just to drop things off at the Salvation Army and Goodwill, but also try looking for a local charity that matches up with something you support or believe in (for me it's the Treasure Chest, an awesome thrift store run by the Albany Damien Center) 

    Now that things are organized it's time to get obsessively organized! I keep dresses, bottoms and blouses on one side of my closet and sweaters and outerwear on the other. Within these categories I organize by color and sleeve length. This sounds like some crazy-pants activity but it serves double duty: it will be easier to find what you're looking for at 7 a.m. before you've had your coffee and it also helps you look for gaps and redundancies in your wardrobe. I have WAY too many tops and WAY WAY too many short-sleeved blue-based blouses. I'm also pretty sadly lacking in non-jeans pants and white tops (the most frequent victims of clumsiness + coffee).

   As you're noticing what you don't have in your closet start making a list. This can also include things you've been thinking about but never seem to have enough money for at then end of the week. Cut a few pictures out of magazines to serve as inspiration. Mine looks a little something like this:

    This list is an ongoing project. Buy something? Cross it off. See something you feel like you neeeeeeeed? Add it to the list, let it sit for a bit and then get it if you still are thinking about it after, say, two weeks. By putting a little more thought into things before I buy them I'm hoping to avoid pulling out another freakishly large stack of ill-fitting clothes come November!