Wardrobe demons?

This month’s feature is a guide to banishing your wardrobe demons for good!

Do you like your wardrobe? Is it a joy to open the doors in the morning and choose your clothes for the day?

For most people, the opposite often happens, when every day, we stare at the hangers and just wish we had a stylist on hand to pick out our outfits, so we don’t have to think about it.

Studies have found that getting dressed in the morning is one of the most stressful things we do in our day!

Through helping many clients to a perfect wardrobe, I have created a formula that will help you change your daily experience.  Instead of starting the day in an ‘it’ll do’ outfit there are some easy ways (without spending money) of creating a wonderful wardrobe.

The first step is an obvious one but with a less obvious twist.

Weed your wardrobe by emptying it, completely!

If you have a lot of clothes and most of my clients do, before you start to weed empty out your wardrobe COMPLETELY! Take every single item out and put them all on your bed.  This does two things.  It shows you how much you really have and secondly it allows you to perceive each item as just another piece of clothing. This is the key to good wardrobe weeding.

One of the reasons why we continue with jammed wardrobes is because each item has its own story.  Every time we look at an item it tells you ‘I was £££ and you’ve only worn me once’, or ‘I’m a little bit tight but ten years ago I fitted a treat’ and so on…!  All these stories shout at you when you open your doors causing confusion, moral obligation and uncertainty.

The good, the bad and the maybe.

Once everything is on your bed you can start to weed into 3 categories.  1 – the things you love to WEAR NOW aka the good pile; pile 2 – the things you’re not sure of and finally 3 – the things you no longer wear or have never worn that you know you don’t like, that are faulty or were just a bad choice from the sale rack.

Be instinctive and ask your heart not your head which pile the item should go on.  The number 1 pile put straight back into your wardrobe without any debate.  Number 3 goes into black sacks with love and gratitude knowing that you can say goodbye to them and ideally take them to a charity shop or clothes bank feeling good that they will go on to help raise funds for helping others.

Pile number 2 needs the time.  Take each item and ask yourself:

When did I last wear it?  If it was more than a year ago the odds are it can go straight to pile 3. Why do I want to keep it?  And this can be the tricky one.  UNLESS you are absolutely appalled at the thought of saying goodbye to an item because it was your loved one’s or has incredible sentimental value, you are likely keeping it because of guilt.  You feel guilty that it cost a lot and is hardly worn, it was bought by your other half and you feel mean getting rid of it and so on.  In my experience as a stylist of many years guilt is the reason why we have too many clothes and we hate our wardrobes.  There is no point keeping an item just because it cost a lot of money, better to allow a charity to gain from it or better still, sell it on.

Opening your wardrobe which is full of clothes you love and love to wear creates a positive start to your day.  You can easily create looks and will wear your clothes more often without the guilty messages of the 80% that you don’t wear!  When you buy a new item, let go of an old one – one in – one out.

And if, like me, you have a colour blending wardrobe, too, everything goes with everything else, so you never have to worry about it making an outfit!  My question to my wardrobe every morning is what colour shall I wear?!

If you would like more help with weeding your wardrobe (and don’t worry, I have seen it all!) or any other help with style or image then please get in touch on 07867728656 or by email info@jobaldwintrott.com.  My website is www.jobaldwintrott.com or you can follow me on any social media @jobaldwintrott

Enjoy your weeding and let me know how you get on!

Happy New Year,

Jo