Closet Help - YouLookFab Forum

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Well Lisa. This is hard. Why are you adraid of?

17 years ago

shiny

Veteran

Take everything out. Try everything on, one by one. Have a friend with you to help you decide to "keep" "toss" or put in the "undecided" pile.

Take a digital photo of all the undecided items - photos often can help you see yourself better than a mirror!

If you still have lots of undecided items left over, bag or box them all up. It helps to organize tops vs skirts vs pants when you do this. Then stash them away someplace dry (not the basement).

Give it a year. If you miss something, go ahead and pull it back out. At the end of the year, if you haven't missed it, you won't ever, and you can safely toss the entire bag without looking in it again.

If you don't trust yourself not to look in it one last time... then have someone else toss it for you.

Lessons curtesy of flylady.net.... for anyone who wants to learn how to declutter anything...

17 years ago

carrie

(website)

Active Member

I move around a lot and one way I deal with keeping my closet in it's prime is having only a limited number of hangers. When I buy something new something either has to get tossed or go into a plastic storage bin. Things in the closet I haven't worn in a year and a half get tossed. Things that I absolutely can not part with go in the storage bin. When the bin gets too full it has to be cleaned out too, which is the really hard part. I can't afford to cart around clothes that never get worn.

17 years ago

lisahead

Active Member

Thank you ladies! My life is a quest to de-clutter, so I am especially excited to check out flylady.net.
I buy most (90%) of my clothes on ebay, so I often end up with things that don't quite fit or are just slightly "out". Today I wore a J Crew suit- thought it would be good becuase it would keep me warm. I couln't fiure out why I felt funny in it- when I looked on the site tonight I realized the pants were too short.
I am afraid that I have wasted a lot of money and I still don't have comfortable, happy clothes to wear. Often I will try and get things altered- still doesn't come out right.
I have been giving clothes to Kidney Foundation every month .
Here is a perfect example- I have a silk Marni skirt- I paid $80 for it and I have worn it twice! I hate to part with it because I love Marni and it is the only thing I have ever been able to buy of theirs. Same with a cropped Chanel sweater-it feels too tight, but I love to look at it.
My husband has been telling me to cool it on the ebay stuff and now I am afriad that he was right.
I get intimidated in clothing stores and make-up counters, so I shop online.
I want a comfortable wardrobe- age appropriate but cool. I am 47-
Thank you so much ! I love this site and it is replacing ebay as my nightly computer fix.

17 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Brilliant suggestions from Shiny and Carrie. May the closet cleansing commence and keep us posted. Also, have a look at this entry:

http://youlookfab.com/2008/01/.....rritation/

17 years ago

Nicole

Veteran

If you have not cleaned out your closet in a long time, here's a great way to get started. Get rid of anything that you have not worn in a year. Regardless of how it looks on you or what sentimental attachment you have for it. If you don't wear it in a year, then it's not worth the space it's taking up in your closet. Then you move on to Shiny's step of trying things on and taking photos. This may sound bothersome, but the photos will really help you.

It sounds like shopping on line isnt working for you. As we get older our bodies change and something that we knew was flattering can suddenly become something we should avoid. Try to do most of your shopping in stores, so you can at least try them on--you can always buy them online, just try them on in person first. Or, if you do buy something one, try it on and take a photo of yourself in it before you wash it or cut tags off. As long as you didn't buy it on ebay, you should be able to return it.

17 years ago

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