"I have nothing to wear"

How often do we say this?  I read a comment recently from a friend (you know who you are) and she said ‘I hate all my clothes’ and I thought what can I say to help?  Then I thought, we have probably all felt this way at one time or another so I should write some tips on my blog to help her and others too.
 
Firstly we all end up with way too much in our wardrobes, we hang onto items ‘just in case’ or ‘it might come in handy’ or ‘I just need to find something to go with it’ and of course the most common one ‘I will slim into it’.  We should only keep clothes in our wardrobe we LOVE!  And we should have regular clear outs – monthly at the least, sometimes more often.  I have done this exercise with another friend – she felt so much better about her wardrobe after I encouraged her take several bin bags to the charity shop.
 
I love the book ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying’ by Marie Kondo and it is well worth a read or her companion book, Spark Joy.  Alternatively a quick google search will bring up lots of advice on the KonMari way of tidying.  But basically she advocates only keeping items in the house that ‘Spark Joy’, in other words things we really love and that really make us feel happy to touch, use or wear.  She suggests de-cluttering in a particular order – starting with clothes.  Empty your wardrobe completely and clothes from everywhere else in the house, bring it all together in one big pile (overwhelming I know) and then hold each item one at a time – do I love this, does it spark joy?  Sometimes it is easy – yes, some things you have to put to one side and come back to, and others it is an obvious no!  Don’t keep things to ‘wear around the house’ or ‘for cleaning in’ etc.  If it sparks joy then keep it.  Keep going until you have your ‘keep’ pile and your ‘charity or sell’ pile. 
 
Then enjoy putting the rest back in your wardrobe, treat yourself to new matching hangers, take anything to the dry cleaners that needs repairing etc, wash, iron and enjoy your new pared down wardrobe.

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My wardrobe with new hangers

​Once you have done this you can really see what you have and what you need to buy.  You should only have items in there now you love but if you really do ‘hate all your clothes’ then it might be quite bare but don’t worry too much at this stage.  I am going to do a post soon about capsule wardrobes and what basics we should try to have in our wardrobe so hopefully this will help when you next go shopping.
 
KonMari says it is important that when you let items go that you ‘thank them for their service’, even if an item of clothing was unworn and a mistake, you had fun buying it but you learnt that it was not for you – let it go! 
 
I have carried out this exercise myself and I am still doing it regularly.  At first it was hard to get rid of so many bin bags but as soon as I had walked out of the charity shop I felt so much lighter and knew it was the right thing to do.  I also sell on eBay when I make time to do so.  Now I try to have a ‘one in - one out’ policy so if I buy something new, then I let something go that is not as loved.  My aim is to have a streamlined, capsule wardrobe that I love – it is a work in progress!
 
Incidentally the friend I mentioned above always looks lovely and I certainly don’t dislike her clothes at all – we are just too harsh on ourselves!

Michelle x