I’m sure you’ve heard before that clearing your closet can shift a lot of things around in your life. You are about to discover the most effective way I have found as a professional personal stylist to clear your closet so you don’t waste time and get the best results.  I’m sure you’ve heard before that clearing your closet can shift a lot of things around in your life. You are about to discover the most effective way I have found as a professional personal stylist to clear your closet so you don’t waste time and get the best results.  

If are you ready to:

·        create a blank slate for clothes you love. Save time.

·        relieve stress caused by time and the extra clutter

·        gain clarity on how you want to be seen

·        define your personal brand style and wow factor

·        know exactly what you have and what to wear every morning

·        save money

I will tell you the exact steps you need to take. First, gather every piece of clothing in the house and place them into categories. This will make the process much faster. Put the clothes belonging in a dresser on the floor or on the bed into the following categories. Do the process in the following order: 

Tops, bottoms, handbags, jewelry, miscellaneous (swimsuits..), socks and undergarments.

The clothes belonging on a hanger in your closet can remain there.

To make the process as effective as possible, divide your clothes into the following categories by order:

Off-season clothes, coats, dresses, jackets, pants, skirts, shirts, tops, gowns, shoes and belts. 

Then you want to sort each category by color from dark to light. It will not take you long to rearrange your closet. Once you have experienced this, you will not go back to a confusing closet. Now is time to divide your clothes into six different sections. You will start with the pile on the bed or the floor and go through every single item and then you will place this item in one of these 6 piles:

yes pile, tailor, no – consignment, no – donation, no – trash, or the maybe pile.

I will explain in more detail what they are. The yes pile is the clothes you love and want to keep

Ask yourself:

1) Do I love this or does this piece bring me joy?

2) Does it make me feel good and beautiful?

3) Does it fit my brand style vision? Does it fit the message I want to send or project the image I want? Does it really represent who I am (especially when it comes to my professional clothes)?

4) Does this garment look high end or cheap on the cheap side? Is it a polyester dress that retailed for less than $250 full price? Or is it a classic quality staple that is in good condition? – refer to the fabrics module and fabrics price points table to help you with this if you need to. 

5) Does the cut and style flatter my figure? (I would recommend you don’t keep clothes that are somewhat unflattering especially when it comes to your professional/work clothes)

6) Does the color flatter me or wash me out? As I explained in the power colors module, don’t get rid of all the colors that are not part of your power colors as the garment could still be stunning and/or make you look high end and successful. Rather use this as a deciding factor if you are not sure about the item.

7) Do I wear this? As a rule of thumb, if you haven’t worn the garment in more than a year or two, you might want to ask yourself why that is and consider letting go of it. Keep clothes organized by category so it’s faster to store them back where they belong. Once you are done with one category, go ahead and store it back where it belongs. For the hanging clothes, you can leave them in the closet in their newly categorized section.

8) Is it age-appropriate? This varies from person to person and is a matter of personal taste and brand style. If you think it might look too sexy, chances are, it does.

9) Is it current-looking or outdated? There is nothing worse than looking outdated. This makes you look like your work might also be outdated and no one wants to give that kind of impression. Yes, even classic blazers can look outdated. Look at the shoulders, more than two buttons going high up at the neckline are signs it’s time to retire that “classic” investment. If you are not sure whether something is outdated, pay attention to what is the market right now. What kind of blazers are in the stores for example? The same goes for boot cut jeans, they are not in style right now. They most probably will be back, but haven’t been for a while. 

The tailor pile is clothes you really like but don’t fit perfectly or need repair. Put these in a different area of the room or in another room so you know where to find them when you are done clearing out and ready to take them. In this pile you can also put garments you don’t wear but could transform such as:

·        hem a gown to make it a dress to wear on stage or on camera

·        alter a dress into a tunic to wear with pants

·        change the buttons of a jacket to make it more fun

·        takes sleeves off a long jacket or blazer to create a vest and pair it with a dress or pants to create a stylish outfit

·        wear a dress you love under a skirt or transform the dress into a top by altering the bottom out. This way your dress is now transformed into a top and you just created a whole new garment from a dress you already own.

The no pile the clothes that do not bring you joy or make you happy or clothes that did not pass the yes test above.  Let go of them as they are only mucking up the energy and affecting your life on a subconscious level. Divide the nos into three different piles:

The consignment pile is for clothes and accessories that are in really good condition, high end or designer, and up to date and on-trend.

The donation pile is for clothes that are either outdated, lower-end, or in poor condition. If you prefer to save time and help charities, you can donate your consignment worthy clothes. Put all the nos in one single pile except for: The trash pile is for clothes with holes, damaged, or tired-looking – I would throw them away or sometimes I even reuse old clothes as rags the maybe pile is for clothes you are not 100% sure you should get rid of. This could be because of the high quality of the item, the color, you wore it recently maybe so you’re not sure if it’s safe to let it go, you like it but don’t wear it or it doesn’t match your vision. It could be many different reasons. You can create a big maybe pile on your bed or the floor. For clothes in the closet, you can leave the maybes hanging next to the yes clothes and put a tag on them if need be that says “maybe”. If you really like something in your closet but have a hard time figuring out what to wear it with like a maxi skirt, for example, I have a pretty awesome style trick for you. You can go on Pinterest and do a search with “maxi skirt” to see how someone else styled it. I always get a wealth of ideas this way and you might be able to keep the garment if you find the perfect way to wear it.

If you are doing this process on your own, a good rule of thumb is to let go of any “maybe” items that are lower in quality. Keep classic and high-quality items which could be that it has a nice fabric or it’s an expensive designer item. Unless it’s been two years or more since you wore them. If this is the case, then you need to ask yourself some more questions.

When you come across something hard to let go of, is it an emotional tie to the past or a fear of lacking something in the future, or a combination of both? If yes, then you know you should probably let it go as it’s mucking the energy to open space for new and better things in your life. The same principle goes for emotionally charged items. If you have some of your mom’s old clothes or jewelry, but you don’t necessarily like or wear them, they are not doing you any favor by sitting in your closet and cluttering the energy. In this case, I would keep two or three of the most important items and discard the rest. You can always take pictures of each item if you want to look at them later.

If the discarded items have monetary value, consider selling them. Someone else will love and appreciate them. Remember that what goes around comes around. Nothing is ever lost and whatever you send out will come back to you, usually exponentially and better. Giving your unwanted belongings to someone who will appreciate them can only reap benefits and good karma.

Happy clean-up success tips:

·        drink plenty of water as clearing the old to make space for the new is demanding energetically, which means no alcohol as we want your head to be completely clear.

·        make sure you will not get interrupted by kids or family members that might need your attention. 

·        set aside a full morning or afternoon to do this. This is a big task and tiring as it will shift a lot of things and energy in your life.

·        play some good tunes and don’t forget to make it fun! 

You just learned the exact steps you need to take to clear your closet, which will in turn clarify how you want to be seen and the personal image you want to project. To clarify and develop your personal brand style, even more, you can click here and take this quick personal brand style assessment I created. In it, you’ll learn what personal brand style you are, what inspires your brand, and specific stores you should start paying attention to.  You can also check my video here on how to look put together all the time to get more styling tricks on how to look polished and sophisticated.

Au revoir! Xx

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