Fashion

How to spring clean your wardrobe

7th September, 2020

It’s officially spring so it’s the perfect excuse to do some spring cleaning! I like to do a closet swap around this time and pull out my winter things and swap them for my spring/summer pieces, but it’s also the time when I schedule a wardrobe overhaul.

I like to go through my wardrobe every few months just to go through everything and cull pieces that I may no longer need. It also allows me to re-organise and make sure that I’ve got a tight edit of clothing and looks for the new season ahead. So, are you ready to do some cleaning? Here’s my plan of how to do it.

Mood board your wardrobe

Before you dive into a closet culling session it’s important to hone in on your look. You can easily do this by saving images of outfits you like on Instagram or Pinterest, or you could go old school and flick through magazines and collage it up. The most important thing is having a clear vision of what you want your style to entail which then makes it easier to identify the pieces in your wardrobe that will and won’t work.

Do a closet Q&A

Ask yourself key lifestyle questions like “Where do I spend most of my time?” or “What do I during the week?” By doing this you can look at the kind of wardrobe you actually need. There’s no point hanging onto a closet of dressy pieces if you spend most of your time in playgrounds with the kids or you’re now working from home indefinitely. Your wardrobe is there to fit the kind of life you lead and the clothes in it should reflect that.

Block out a good amount of time

A thorough cleaning session won’t be a quick endeavour so make sure you set aside a few hours to do it. You could even diarise the event so you know you’ve committed to it. Being able to focus on the task properly also means you’re able to do it more efficiently, and hopefully, get through it in a steady manner as opposed to stopping and starting due to distractions.

Take everything out

Pull out every single article of clothing you own. From coats to t-shirts and shoes, take out everything in your closet and pop it on the bed or floor where you can go through everything one by one, trying on pieces if you need to to assess their fit. (Yes, you need to go through it all piece by piece!)

Categorise your items

Be honest

Look at everything with a critical eye and be brutal in your assessment of it. A word of warning: this will get a little tiresome at some point, but persevere. If you do this properly you won’t have to do it again for awhile and you will end up with a more functional, wearable wardrobe. Look at your mood board of your closet goals and ask yourself whether an item of clothing fits into that vision. If it doesn’t, relegate it to either a ‘to fix’, ‘to donate’ or ‘to bin’ pile.

Pile it up

Everything you have set aside needs to be dealt with individually. If there are items that are broken but are still in great shape then block out some time in your diary to take them to a tailor. The same goes for things that perhaps can be functional once again with the right kind of tweaks. If you’ve got a big pile of clothes to donate to charity, firstly make sure they’re still in good, wearable condition. Once you’ve done that, bag them up and pop the bag(s) in the car to take to a charity bin immediately. This removes the temptation to dig through the bags and pull things out again, essentially leaving you back where you started! The same goes for anything that needs to go in the bin. Assess the items and see if you can give them a second life such as turning them into rags that can be used for cleaning. If you really can’t repurpose them, then pop them in the bin straight away so you can clear your space and get onto organising what’s left of your closet.

Take stock

If you’ve done this process in an honest and systematic way then you should be left with clothes that you love, are flattering and work for your lifestyle. This will leave you with a tighter edit of clothes, making for an easier time to get dressed every day. The added benefit of this is that you’re also able to see the gaps in your closet and see what needs replacing.

Make sure everything has its place

Put everything away—but make it organised

I’ve found one of the key things that can minimise wardrobe dramas is having an organised wardrobe. What does this entail? You should be able to see what you have at a glance, and also everything should be categorised making it easier to find things. Invest in baskets, hangers and drawer dividers to make sure that everything has a place and that you can easily see what you own. I’ve found categorising similar items together means I know where to look when I’m after a pair of workout leggings or when I need a jumper. It’s not just one big jumbled mess. You can then take it one step further and organise according to colour within each category but that’s personal preference.

Enjoy your new wardrobe

Doing a wardrobe spring clean can be a cathartic experience as you can purge all the things that you’re no longer using. It also opens up new wardrobe possibilities once you rediscover things you had forgotten about, or reinvent pieces that were not getting used as often as they should. By doing this you can also save your hard earned shopping dollars by not buying multiples of something you already have or purchasing things that may not necessarily work with your lifestyle. The best bit? Less wardrobe dilemmas and more great outfits ahead.

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