Angie suggested a closet edit challenge for October. I decided to take this on and worked in categories rather than doing everything at once. This worked well, but might not for everyone. Categorical editing may increase the risk of creating closet orphans, and may make hamper discovery of wardrobe holes. In my situation, limited free time and a large wardrobe made breaking the edit into categories more convenient. In my wardrobe, a tight color palette and limited silhouettes prevent most orphans.

The categories I used were: Jeans, winter boots, coats and jackets, hats, gloves, scarves, socks, tights and hose, sleepwear, exercise gear, skirts, hanging tops, knit tops/sweaters, dresses, jewelry, belts, handbags, makeup, nail polish, underwear/bras, dresses, fashion boots, booties, and shoes. I reviewed each category twice or possibly three times. The first time I went through and pulled out anything that was obviously not in keeping with my current style, not in my color palette, unworn or worn out. I relied on my style adjectives which are fresh, classic, polished, light and soft. I also tried to keep the concepts of graceful movement, texture, and staying true to my lifestyle in mind throughout the edit. My first edit was typically largest, but not always. Trying everything on is very important, and helped me figure out a lot about items that went unused in my closet. One of my biggest discoveries was how much I hate wearing large amounts of white. To me it feels cold, crisp, and clinical and reminds me of the white lab coat I wore as a medical resident. Not all whites were problematic.....it was the whites that were too warm, and or had little texture to break them up. So I kept a white lace top, but not plain white button up shirts. My second edit included trying things on, making sure they fit, and that I still liked them. When I tried things on I would occasionally see a stain or pull that I didn’t see when examining a garment previously. My third edit included a trusted friend, to help with items I was not sure of, and to help me spot anything I should remove that I had missed. The extra eyes turned out to be very helpful. My friend gave me honest feedback, which is key. I am lucky to have a good friend like this, and know she is special. (Many thanks dear friend XO!). DH also helped sometimes, he’s good with color, but he gets picky about symmetry and if I listened to him I wouldn’t have any of my beloved Moto jackets!

165 items were in good enough shape to donate to a fundraising rummage sale taking place this weekend. Whatever doesn’t sell will go to a local charity. The women running the sale pull out items appropriate for DFS and then send the rest to either the rescue mission, one of the local refugee support organizations or the Salvation Army. I gave my daughter 13 pairs of lower rise yoga pants, which work better for her build, and she also took two dresses, two handbags, a cardigan, and two of the white blouses. So the total number pulled out was around 185. I am not counting items that went into the trash bin, like plain whit tees that were worn out or had those pesky yellow deodorant stains, or old pajamas, etc.

It’s amazing I still have anything left right?! I learned some good lessons from all of this. 1. No more purchasing white! 2. No more horizontal stripes unless they are low contrast and continue all the way down a dress. I don’t like a block of horizontal stripes on my torso. 3. I do not need more formal dressy clothing, that section of my wardrobe has more than enough. 4. I love sweaters, and I wear them, so I should not feel bad about spending a good portion of my wardrobe budget on them. 5. My belt collection needs an update. I prefer rounded buckles, and probably would favor silver hardware with my coloring. I have mostly gold hardware square buckle belts. 6. I need to focus on making things a tiny bit more casual while retaining polish. The job shift I had back in January 2018 resulted in my wearing fewer sheath dresses to work. I have tried to make them more casual by adding long cardigans, and I like the effect. 7. I love luxe fabrics like silk, cashmere, and merino wool. I don’t wear many of my silk tops however because of the need to dry clean them, so I want to look for something that looks as nice, feels as nice but is easier to maintain. 8. I also need to shift to lighter weight knit items and dressing in layers because the buildings where I work tend to be overly warm, but there are pockets where it’s freezing cold. The opposite happens in the summer where the buildings are freezing, but there are areas where it is too warm. So light layers.

I have very few wardrobe holes. I need a warm jacket or coat to wear over my new puff sleeve and bell sleeve tops. I already have a wool cape, but it isn’t going to work once temperatures fall below freezing. I could use a shorter trench coat, and if possible would replace my long dressy trench with one in a better color. In the meantime I am looking for a scarf that pulls my palette in along with the color of my trench. I have figured out that I am not someone who needs a lot of variety in footwear colors. I have navy, grey, metallic silver and raspberry red/fuschia as my main colors. While I have some brown and taupe footwear, it’s old, and as it wears out I will not replace it. I also prefer my footwear to be very comfortable and practical, so I have very few statement pieces compared to the number of shoes and boots in my collection, The same is true of my coats. Almost all of them are grey, although I do have one or two colorful pieces for variety. I am not a handbag person. I kept only 6 handbags including my work tote, to carry me through four seasons, My handbags are generally simple, large enough to hold what I need, and light weight. My work tote needs replacement, and I am looking around. I think something metallic would be nice, because it would work with everything, I might also pick a mid intensity grey. My friend thinks I should get both a raspberry/fuschia cardigan and blazer. She was surprised I didn’t have either. I told her I have looked but not found them in the correct fibers, color and style I like. She says a lighter blue blazer would also be nice, and I have looked for that as well. Turquoise/light teal, periwinkle, and fuschia/raspberry are the colors that seem most prominent in my wardrobe. Grey and indigo the two neutrals.

I asked my friend what adjectives she would use to describe my style. She said: eclectic, colorful, polished, rich (she clarified that this meant the textures and fibers, not the values), simple with unique details, and semi casual. Her adjectives were different from mine, but it was interesting how they do echo features I try to look for when I shop.

The entire process was fun, although a bit nerve wracking for DH as he watched the unwanted items grow in number. My closet is much neater, and I feel energized.