Changing Season, clearing wardrobes.

My sister posted on facebook at the weekend that she was spending her day clearing out her wardrobe.  Next day she reported that her wardrobe looked great – but her spare room was now a disaster area.  She had done a lot of thinking, but not made many decisions.  With my help she’s finally getting there.  Her facebook post generated a huge response – lots of people are digging out their winter clothes, so here are some helpful tips.

Before you start

• Realise that this could take some time, and plan accordingly.
• Try and enlist the help of a friend.  The more brutally honest, the better. It might make sense to offer a reciprocal deal – this weekend we tackle my clothes, next weekend we’ll do yours.
• Go shopping.  Things you’re likely to need include: hangers, laundry detergent, moth deterrent (Britain is suffering from a plague of clothes moths at the moment – luckily moths hate strong smells and natural deterrents include lavender, patchouli, mint, cedar, rosemary and cloves), vacuum storage bags  and wine.  The wine isn’t strictly necessary.
• Clear a space to use as a dumping ground.

First Steps

• Empty your wardrobe.  I mean everything – clothes, hangers and all the stuff you have dumped at the bottom.  Put it all in the space you cleared earlier.
• Hoover out your empty wardrobe, then wipe the underside of the top and the bottom with lavender oil.  The lavender is for moths.

Tackle the clothes

There are 5 categories and each and every single item in your wardrobe needs to be allocated to one of them.  The categories are ‘Hang’, ‘Store’,  ‘Clean’, ‘Repair’ ‘Bin’.

So pick up your first item and look at it – properly! Now put it on. Then ask these questions:

1. When was the last time you wore it?
2. Does it fit?
3. Is it still fashionable?
4. Is it clean?
5. is in good repair?

General guidelines are that you shouldn’t have anything hanging in your wardrobe you haven’t worn in a year.  That doesn’t mean you have to throw out everything you haven’t worn in a year – outfits bought for weddings or formal events by their very nature get worn less often.  If you haven’t worn it in a year, ask yourself why.  Would you ever wear it again? Are you just keeping it for sentimental reasons (you were wearing it when you met your husband, for example) Does it fit? Is it still in style?

To quote my friend Michele  ” Last week, I did a clear out and gave him a fashion parade to decide if I should keep or toss various items. When you hear words like ‘frumpy’, ‘dumpy’, ‘dated’,’fat’, you tend to lose your connection with the clothes and before you know it, you have two black bags for the charity shop and a wardrobe that can breathe again!!!”  

or Ros, whose friend ” helped me chuck by telling me most of the stuff was “hideous” or “old lady” or both. She wouldn’t even let me keep favourites and take them in!!”  Honesty really is the key here!

If your friend agrees it’s worth keeping, check it for any marks and for cleanliness (and that includes giving it a good smell!), is the hem ok? Any buttons missing?  If it’s in good nick, and you’ve worn it recently, and it’s in season (so, winter jumpers, not sundresses) hang it straight back up.  Make sure you use a decent hanger. Otherwise put it in the right pile – storage, clean, repair, bin.

Reasons to keep, but store, are as follows: sentimentality (you get a maximum of 4 items in this category!); wrong season; occasional wear.

Keep repeating the above until the dumping ground is clear.  You might find wine helps.

What to do with the stuff that you aren’t keeping

• Have a clothes swap night with a group of friends – you all bring the stuff you don’t want, and take away items from your friends.
• Any ‘work’ clothes might be gratefully received by Dress for Success who help women getting back into work.
• Some charities only welcome clothes they can sell in their shops.  Others, like Oxfam, will also take items (including bras) that they can sell to traders who export them for sale in third world countries.
• Expensive, barely worn items sell well on ebay, as do vintage items.

Well done!

Last step is to put moth repellant sachets into your drawers and wardrobes.  If space is still at a premium, I pass on this advice, from facebook. “Switch to thongs and pop sox – then there’s plenty of extra room in your undies drawer for all those cardies you just can’t bear to chuck :)”