Wear This Not That How to Clean Out Your Closet | EP 106
Do you ever wonder what might be blocking your style and holding you back from fashion happiness?
Almost everyone makes the same ONE major fashion mistake, and it’s called Closet Chaos. There is literally a name for it.
This week, your favorite personal stylist Holly Katz holds your hand and guides you through “How to Clean Out Your Closet” (without crying). This episode is fabulously fun and informative, and is just the pep talk we all need!
These are the ULTIMATE Fashion Crimes:
- Disorganization
The number one reason your closet looks crazy is disorganization.
If you think you are an organized person, but you can't find anything to wear or it's taking you too long to get dressed, guess what? You are not organized.
Clothes are energy. What you wear and how you feel in your clothes all starts with how they are presented to you every day.
You need your clothes to be organized so they make sense to your eye and your brain. If they are hanging in a way where you can’t recognize what is what, then you either aren't going to take the time to figure it out, or you will take too much time trying to decide what to wear.
Are your clothes in piles on the floor? Stuffed into a tiny closet? Shoved inside your drawers?
Messy closets will make your morning dressing routine chaotic, and leave you stressed out before your day even gets started!
“Here is an analogy: ‘Eat this eat, not that.’ Holly heard this on her favorite TikTok feed (where everyone goes for important info). And she had an epiphany! You know what? We all need to be an adult at some point and eat vegetables with every meal.”
Same goes for keeping your closet organized. Be an adult.
2. Inconsistent Laundry Practices
You need a laundry plan: start it, finish it, put it away.
Do you forget to put your clean clothes in the dryer?
Do you leave your clothes in the dryer for days to get wrinkled?
Do you have piles of clean clothes in laundry baskets?
Do you send everything, or nothing, to the dry cleaner?
If you answered yes to any of the above, you have inconsistent laundry practices.
You need to know HOW to do your laundry: read the care labels, know what to send to the dry cleaner, put your clothes back where they belong, and remember to always iron/steam when needed.
3. Over-shopping
Do you know what you have in your closet? News Flash: You do not need to buy a new outfit every time you have an event or occasion.
Repeat that to yourself at least once a day.
You most likely have what you need in your closet right this very minute! But you can’t even see any of it, because of your chaotic closet.
Yes, shopping is thrilling! And it often seems easier to just buy something new than deal with issues like a chaotic closet, or the real reasons why you are shopping too much, or spending money you do not have.
Do not shop to fill a void.
“It could be something as small as a pair of earrings. If you have 78,000 pairs of earrings that are all over the house, and you can't find them, you are just going to buy more because you don't want to deal with finding them.”
You can stop this madness. And try going shopping in your closet first. More ‘stuff’ only adds to the chaos.
You now know the reasons why your closet needs help and why it could be holding you back on your style evolution. We've identified the reasons why, now let's talk about the solutions.
SIDEBAR: If we were to look back at pictures of you from 15 years ago, and you look the same in the exact same clothing, you are stuck in a style rut and you need to clean out your closet. Jussayin, boo!
So, how do you clean out your closet on your own?
- Change all your hangers.
We swear to God, Holly could scream this from the mountaintops for the next 20 years. You need to change all your hangers. Right the second. Right now. Not yesterday, not in two weeks, not tomorrow.
And, you must change all your hangers to velvet, slimline hangers. If you have shitty-ass plastic hangers, hangers from dry cleaners, or plastic tube hangers or wooden, this is your first issue.
Please understand that this is the most common issue. And the easiest one to fix!!
No matter how you hang your clothes, when you use these types of hangers, they take up the minimum amount of space. You're not only going to save room, your space is going to look so much more organized.
2. Make 3 Piles.
- Keep.
- Giveaway/Sell.
- Throw Away.
To start, everything comes out of your closet, and then your drawers. Everything. Make it look like you're about to move.
Keep:
Put on a velvet hanger or back in your drawers...(not overstuffed)
Giveaway:
Put these items in a bag, put them in your car, and drive them to the donation center. DO NOT leave them sitting around in your home...you will be temped to go back through the bags! Trust me, we've witnessed this.....
Sidebar: Please consider people who are coming back into the workforce after jail time, homelessness or poverty, places like battered women's shelters, local churches or religious programs that provide support for refugees just arriving in this country, or anyone who needs aid. Drop off your items at your local community services, and always consider the programs in local your community first. Here's a list of others you might want to consider!
Sell:
Post on a resale app like Poshmark, The RealReal, or THREDup or you can take them to a consignment store locally. It’s super easy and you can make good money.
Did we mention that if you leave these items in your trunk or backseat, or in your closet, we will find out? You do not want a visit from the fashion police. Trust us.
Throw Away:
Do not give items you do not want to someone who has not asked for them. A trash bag of clothing dropped off at your sister-in-law’s house just made a bag of junk her problem. This is a major fashion crime. We can hear the sirens from where we are. Do not do it.
“Just so you know, before you throw things away, please remember that somebody else can really benefit from bras, socks, underwear, or pajamas. As long as the item is clean, gently used and in good condition.”
How to Organize Your Closet and Drawers
You must put your clothes back into your drawers and closet in a way that makes sense to YOU. Not to Holly, not to your husband or your partner, or your sister or your kids. YOU.
REMEMBER: When hanging things back up...like goes with like. All short sleeve tops, long sleeve tops, short dresses, long dresses, etc.
When putting things back into your drawers, store like, with like. Bathing suits and underwear together. Some like socks, sports bras and pajamas together. Even more like workout pants with workout shirts together. Or, sweaters with sweatshirts.
Regardless: try to get as much as you can in one drawer - but do not overstuff it.
Don't forget......
- Get your shoes off of the floor, for the love of GOD!
If you have shoe overflow, this means you have run out of shelf space if you have shelf space for shoes. It also means you most likely have too many pairs of shoes.
However, here is the fashion crime: Do not, do not, do not, do not, do not keep your shoes in shoe boxes. Did we say DO NOT?
Here's why it doesn't look neater, and it does not save space: Boxes actually take up more room. Do yourself a favor, get rid of the shoe boxes and put your shoes out.
Bonus: you can actually see them so you know what shoes you have.
You can donate shoes boxes to a preschool for art projects, or please recycle them.
2. PLEASE do not use your closet for a dumping ground.
Nothing should be in your closet that does not belong to you. No Halloween baskets, no Easter baskets, no kids’ stuff, no diapers, no toys for Christmas.
Nothing should be in there that you do not wear. This is a sacred space for YOU. Your closet is not a storage room.
So now the rest is up to you! Clean out, clear out, keep it clean. Your brain with thank us, we promise.
Want to really join in on the fun? Holly has a challenge:
Whoever has the most garbage bags full of items to give away, send us a pic at holly@fashioncrimespodcast.com
Please send a description of what you're giving away, the number of bags you're donating, and the name of the charity where you're donating to.
The winner will win an exclusive phone interview with Holly, LIVE on the show, to tell all of our fashion crimes podcast insider besties about your closet clean out experience.
YOU CAN DOOO IT!!
FASHION CRIMES PODCAST
Hosted by your favorite personal stylist, Holly Katz.