Closet editing should be a straight forward exercise and I’ve written several posts on how to attack the process. If you’re not in the habit of editing regularly, set aside about 5 hours to create six piles. Here is a summary of the pile sorting strategy, which involves lots of re-trying of clothes, footwear and accessories:

• Pile 1 for items that stay in your wardrobe.
• Pile 2 for items that require alteration.
• Pile 3 is the holding zone.
• Pile 4 for items of sentimental value (stuff that you don’t wear, but cannot part with either).
• Pile 5 for items that aren’t great, but serve their purpose for activities like gardening, home improvements and camping.
• Pile 6 for items to pass on.

Unless the item is for Pile 5, get rid of stuff that’s soiled, ill-fitting, unflattering against your complexion, uncomfortable, doesn’t make you feel fab, or just not part of the current leg of your style journey. Seems simple, right?

For some people this process is dead easy, because they have a clear sense of their style preferences and what looks best. They also understand how items should fit, and don’t have trouble letting go of things that have seen better days, or never worked in the first place.

For others, closet editing is an overwhelming, time consuming and lonely process filled with doubt, guilt and the battle to pass on items that don’t work. It can even lead to negative body image, spinning people into a downward spiral because clothing doesn’t fit the way it used to.

There are many potential sources of frustration. Perhaps you’re not sure how items should fit or you can’t tell when they are dated. What if you can’t tell when a colour looks fab or drab? What if, heaven forbid, you get rid of things that have stylish potential? What if everything just ends up in the holding zone and you are back to square one? How are you going to get through the editing process without feeling like giving up all together? How are you going to find the time to do it?

These frustrating feelings are completely understandable and it’s one of the reasons I have a job. But hiring a fashion stylist or wardrobe professional is not essential. You can edit your own closet even if it’s sometimes hard to make the right decisions. Here are some ideas to ease the process:

1. Round up a savvy closet mate: It could be a friend, sibling, child, parent, or partner. Two pairs of hands and a sounding board are effective and efficient tools for this process. Discuss editing dilemmas and fit concerns along the way and keep up the positive body image talk. Boost and energize each other along the way.
2. Post questions on a style forum: If pairing with a savvy closet mate is not an option, post your questions and concerns on a style forum, like the one we have here on YLF. The help of a supportive community can make the closet editing process pain free and fun.
3. Tackle one closet section at a time: Setting aside the better half of a day to closet edit might not be an option. Divide the editing process into a few shorter sessions until you’ve finally worked through the lot.

Practice makes perfect. The more you closet edit, the easier and simpler this process becomes. I promise!

Spring often motivates us to clean-up and get organized. Have you recently edited your closet? What types of closet editing challenges do you face, if any, and how have you overcome them? Do you enjoy closet editing?

We took these pictures yesterday in a park a few blocks away from our house, which delighted little Yorkie Rosie to no end. But I am wearing this outfit today as I run a few errands and work downtown, and Rosie is wearing her apple green collar to match Mummy.

I know, I know – black over the knee boots are far too Wintery to wear in the middle of Spring. Unfortunately it’s still cold in Seattle and boots with socks are the only way to dress my cold sensitive feet. I do wear my light coloured boots more frequently at this time of year, but these particular black boots aren’t hibernating just yet. I rank them amongst my most comfortable footwear so it’s just as well that I can wear them for half the year.

I’ve popped the boots over white clamdiggers to make them look more Spring appropriate (I would not wear these boots with white bottoms in Autumn and Winter). I added a simple black dolman sleeve pullover and colourful crisp silk scarf. Silky scarves, although they aren’t seasonal, feel especially Spring-like to me. The top part of this outfit is relaxed and retro and far less buttoned-up than if I’d worn a shirt with the jacket.

The scarf has been tied like a man’s tie and pulled to the side so that one of the ends hangs down the front and the other down the back, just for fun. For extra warmth, I like my sharp shouldered boyfriend blazer with this ensemble. The grass green satchel is a Spring favourite, and my white watch and specs pick up the colour of the clamdiggers.

I look like I’m about to jump onto my horse in this outfit. Well, I spent many years riding dressage and showing horses so it makes sense that Equestrian style is close to my heart.

Update: These photos and a few outtakes are now in YLF’s Facebook photo album.

You are on Team Round Toe if you prefer closed toe footwear with round toes. You are on Team Pointy Toe if you prefer closed toe footwear with pointy toes. Some pointy toes are less pointy than others, like almond toe shoes. But they are pointy all the same and fall into the pointy toe category.

Square toes, peep toes and snip toes are not part of this poll.

I like both round toed and pointy toed footwear and wear both styles. Looking at my boot collection, I wear very pointy toes indeed. But by sheer volume, I am on Team Round Toe because I have more round toed footwear than anything else.

Over to you. Are you on Team Round Toe or on Team Pointy Toe? Tell us why and no batting for both Teams.

I’m sure this sounds familiar: you look in the mirror and there’s something not quite right about your outfit. It’s NOT the horizontal fit of the items, the colour, the personality of the style, or the fabrication – but something else, and you can’t pinpoint the problem. I’ve found that I can usually identify the problem with my own outfits (and the outfits of my clients) using these three trouble shooting questions.

Is it the length of the items?

I’m not just talking about the vertical length of tops, bottoms, dresses and sleeves, but also how the lengths relate to each other? So often its a question of lengthening or shortening an item of your outfit. For example:

• The layered tops aren’t working because the bottom layer is too short.
• The skirt doesn’t work with the boots because it’s too long.
• The jacket is too long for the dress.
• The trousers aren’t cropped at the most flattering part of the leg.
• The dress would look more elegant if it covered the knee.
• The blouse makes me look dumpy because it’s too long.
• The boxy blouse doesn’t work with these trousers because its too short.
• The sleeves would look better if cropped to the elbow.

Is it the contrast between the items and your skin tone ?

I can’t tell you how many times we make an outfit work on the YLF forum by paying closer attention to the colour contrast between clothing items, between clothing items and accessories, and how the colour contrasts work against your skin tone and hair colour.

Sometimes you need to create a lower colour contrast between items, accessories and your skin tone, and at other times a higher contrast is in order. For example, a short jacket isn’t working over a tunic and skinnies because all three items are high colour contrasting, which causes too many vertical lines across the body. Create a lower contrast between two of the items and things will start to look better. Or, the item doesn’t work with your complexion unless you add a high contrasting colour right up against your face.

Do I need to wear heels?

Sometimes an outfit looks better with some sort of heel. It takes a lot for me to say this because I bat for Team Flats! The heel needn’t be very high, but sometimes a little extra height can help you look and feel more pulled together and streamlined.

The next time you get the feeling that something isn’t quite right in the mirror, ask yourself these three questions. In some instances you’ll need to address all three trouble shooting questions in order for the outfit to look right. In others you’ll solve the problem by actioning one fast tweak, like swapping out a high contrasting item for a low contrasting one.