Over the past few days I've had a closet sorting experience and it has been such a fun and uplifting time. When I find my shelves and storage baskets have become disorderly it's great to have a tidy up and sort through. Surprisingly (to me), it doesn't actually take that long and I uncover some real treasures. Not treasures in the sense of, 'Oh I forgot I had a Chanel bag', but more so in how I put outfits together.
My favourite way to sort my closet or any organising project is to take everything out, put back only things which are my favourites and which give me an excited feeling inside. It's fantastic to see how good the decluttered area looks when I do that! I then look at the items which are left and decide what to do with them.
Some are seasonal items that I still like so I'll check they are clean and in good repair and put them in a different closet. Some might be a bit snug but I love them so I save those too. Other things might have never been any good on me, too scratchy or just plain worn-out looking and those ones can go.
I'll donate the things I don't like and perhaps take my not-pristine items and use them for everyday wear at home or loungewear if it's appropriate. An example of this are a couple of tee-shirts that I loved over summer, but now they are every-so-slightly pilled and it can't be shaved off with my lint shaver, so I'll use those for days at home and I don't have to worry about the dogs jumping up and snagging a new tee-shirt (it's happened more than once...). Anything that has a mark, stain or hole goes straight into the bin or is chopped up as a cleaning rag (depending on the fabric it's made of).
I also brought back into my closet winter clothes that I want to use now and it's exciting to see my winter wardrobe coming together.
My final satisfaction as I was finishing up today came from looking through my scarves. Instead of thinking, 'I'll put all my wooly scarves out since it's winter', I went through them and took out the ones that made me happy (a la Marie Kondo's 'spark joy'). Some of them are wooly; some are silky (and the fur collar is faux). I selected about a dozen or so favourites from my scarf stash and it's exciting to have a curated collection for the season. I ironed the silk scarves and folded them so that they look beautifully neat, and enticing for me to choose for an outfit.
As I went, I did a few running repairs such as snipping out scratchy labels, lint shaving jerseys, sticky-rollering some items which attract fluff and I even had the brainwave to sew belt-loops like jeans have onto a pair of pull-on stretch jeans that I was going to donate because they slide down and I'm forever pulling them up - unchic :) I'm so happy with my belt-loop project because I love those jeans!
But back to the treasures thing; now that I've gone through my clothes, pruned them out and hung all my current season items, there are new pairings which pop out. Items such as a red v-neck long-sleeved tee-shirt that I never wore (despite being beautifully soft, a good fit and in excellent condition), I am now wearing with my light grey-wash stretch skinny jeans (of the belt loop project) and a cozy grey scarf with a penguin print (better than it sounds!).
I've already bought a few new items for winter, but in doing my closet tinker I have found that I really don't need anything else for winter which is quite thrilling. It's not that I am banning myself from shopping, but I'm just really happy with what I already have, and I also prefer to have a free-swinging closet (versus a jam-packed closet where you can't move anything along the rail).
I know for most of you it's coming into summer, but it doesn't matter, summer or winter we're all looking at our wardrobes for the season. Please tell me, what has been your experience with your closet this season - exciting or frustrating?
~~Fiona
If you need a bit of a boost, I
invite you to peruse my 30 Chic Days Series. There are four in total, so you won't be
short on inspiration. I had such fun writing these; who knows, maybe
there is a fifth around the corner...?
The original series in 2010
sparked off my book of the same name. It started off as a spur of the moment
thing where I wanted to re-remember my chic principles for a whole month.
It's amazing the kind of momentum you can gather when you stick at something
for thirty days in a row, and obviously being chic is a worthy goal :)
I hope you enjoy them, and if you'd prefer, there is a Kindle or print version. All four series are in one volume and they are inexpensive too - $2.99 for the Kindle eBook and $9.99 for the
paperback.
I have had requests to put all the series together into an eBook and I
thought this was a great idea. I have polished everything up and also
added a chapter at the end with different ideas on how to curate your
own '30 Chic Days' experience. Such fun, and I hope you enjoy
having this on your device or in paperback for enticing snippets of
inspiration. The print copy is 278 pages long so there is lots or
inspiration to be had!
~~
