Think about your clothes for a minute. Where are all the places you store your clothes? In a closet? In a dresser? Under your bed? Bins in the shed out back? All of those places? Would you say you have space in your closet? Do you wear everything in your closet? Are there things in your closet you are keeping just in case __________(fill in the blank)
Men and women alike can struggle with clothing. And it usually becomes an issue when you’ve run out of space in your closet. Or you find yourself saying, “I have nothing to wear!” But the more you buy, the less it seems you enjoy wearing. Because of this, you might find yourself wearing the same 10 items over and over again.
In the book “You Are What You Wear”, by Jennifer Baumgartner, she says, “the majority of people wear 20% of their closet 80% of the time.” From what I have experienced, that is true! So many of us own clothes we don’t really like, therefore we don’t hardly reach for them. They stay buried in the back of our closet until we get fed up with the 20% again and decide to try that shirt ONE MORE TIME only to be reminded why you never wear it. But you keep it because it’s a really cute shirt! I have been there. So. Many. Times!
Then what should we do? Here are a few things to consider:
Keep less clothes.
If you have read any of my blogs or know me at all, you probably saw this one coming. We don’t need nearly as many clothes as we think. And I get it… this is controversial. And it’s not for everyone. Some people love having alllll the options. But with less clothes, you are more likely to actually wear what you have. Plus, it makes finding an outfit so much faster! You have a smaller amount of options to choose from every morning.
Only keep pieces you absolutely love.
I can relate to keeping clothes because they are cute, but not actually liking to wear them. It’s hard! It’s scary to dwindle your wardrobe down to the bare minimum. But think of it this way – you’re not wearing those clothes much (if at all) anyway! Take the risk and get the stuff out you don’t like!
Consolidate your clothes.
Try to store all your clothing in the space(s) you get dressed from. Instead of storing clothing under the bed, and in a shed, and in the garage, store them all in your closet and/or dresser. This is also controversial because many people like to switch out their clothes with the seasons – storing the off season in different places. But I would dare to say you don’t need to do that…. There are exceptions, but I would challenge you to only keep the total amount of clothes that can fit in those easy to access places. This prevents you from overstock, keeping you accountable to less clothing.
Use a Capsule Wardrobe.
This is what I am very interested in doing, but have not taken the leap just yet. The concept of a capsule wardrobe is to have a limited amount of very versatile pieces in your wardrobe that can all match each other. It makes for effortless outfit planning and a simplified closet. If that sounds nice to you, research capsule wardrobe to get ideas!
Finally, I decided to provide my own clothing stats, just for fun! But before you read them, just know that I am not a “fashionista”. I dread picking out outfits in the morning and so I have really simplified over the last few years to make it easier on myself. While I can’t say I’m completely happy with my clothing, (I would love to get to “capsule wardrobe” status!) just limiting my clothing has made things way simpler!
Shirts (t-shirts, blouses, sweaters, tank tops): 34
Jackets (pullovers, heavy coats): 9
Cardigans: 3
Shorts (athletic, dressy, pajamas): 4
Jeans: 4
Sweat pants/pajama pants/athletic pants: 8
Dresses: 3
Skirts: 0
Shoes (tennis shoes, sandals, slippers, boots, etc.): 15
There you have it! How does your closet compare? Could you make do with less?
If you have an issue you can’t seem to solve, I would love to help. Schedule a free consult with me today!
