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Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

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carter

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General

27 replies

Latest reply was from Laura (rhubarbgirl)

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I fold some shirts and line them up in a drawer. Layer tees and tanks, turtlenecks, lounge stuff, exercise wear, uniform tee shirts for work, polo shirts for other job (golf course). This way, only my 'fun' tops are hanging, not utility type stuff. (tops seen in right side of drawer and on the right 2/3 of closet rod.) Workout pants and leggings on left side of drawer and dresses on left side of closet.

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carter

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Great looking closet, Mo. These would be my version of your "fun" tops, although mine are mostly for work. Layering tees/tanks, loungewear, gear, etc are already folded (some in drawers and some in shelves).

Mo

(website)

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Hmm, if it's purely a space issue, you could try the soda pop top trick. It can create cascading hangers if you use them to loop one hanger onto the next. I tried it but found it a little cumbersome to get shirts easily off the lower hangers.

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rabbit

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I don't know if this would work for you, I'm just brainstorming and it might involve thinking too far ahead for weather, but what if you pulled out one or two weeks of color-cohesive outfits at a time? And put the 'really not part of this color capsule' ones at the front of the hard to reach closet, so you can make the next weeks capsule out of them.

Alternately take out any tops that are gear or lounge wear, and put them somewhere else. For me lounge wear goes with the PJs in a bedside nightstand, and gear goes in another storage drawer/closet in another room. ETA: it sounds like you already have done that.

carter

Veteran

Hmmm, Mo. My hangers have slots in them, so I could probably accomplish this without encouraging my husband to drink more Jack and Cokes;-). As you said, though, it may prove frustrating removing and re-hanging the stacked shirts. Worth a shot, though.

Rabbit, I love your idea, but I'll have to figure out if it's plausible. The back side of my closet is much smaller and currently full of bulkier winter items. Maybe I could find somewhere else to stash out of season clothes, although closet space in my house is ridiculously small.

unfrumped

Veteran

I sti toss as I go and thereby whittle things a bit even after a big edit. Only you can tell what standard you want to use for K/ T.
Let's say the remaining tops are all keepers. But, they're crammed.. Then, is it 20tops in space for 10, or 40 in 20, or what?
The idea is, you can't wear ALL your tops in one week, or 2 , I imagine. So then an option is to set up capsules or mini- seasons where you have only a dozen or so in the closet and the rest off- site. A form of choosing outfits for a 2- week block but not as rigid. Whatever is the mini- season, you can have an item or 2 " warmer" and cooler for freaky weather changes. Your space dimensions will tell you how broad or narrow are your goals for time # 's.
Ideally you would have a spare closet for hanging storage. But at one point I was using a type of under- bed container that I could actually lay my tops in flat, full length ON their hangers so no wrinkles, no re- hanging -- easy to swap out.
Also if you take time to sort by mini- season ( temperature, really) you can see where you have you mich or too little.
Part of me wants to keep everything out all the time so I'll remember items and so I'll remix more , AND not overexpanding to other closets. Instead I've focused on storing and swapping out winter wool sweaters ( which need moth protection anyway) and items for July- August heat, but trying to keep most mid- weight items out year- round.
I do swap around sections. I brought out a few summery things to a less- convenient section so they would be easy to try on when I had a minute and was trying other combinations.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I don't know if I am going to be a lot of help, since my solution to this issue is simply to get rid of stuff and make my wardrobe smaller. And to do the seasonal change out. I do the two big seasonal changes and then smaller ones as temperatures graduate up and down. But you live in a more temperate place so it's a different situation for you.

ironkurtin

Veteran

I think the only solution is to be brutal. "Fine" doesn't seem like a high bar.

SarahTheWhite

Veteran

I don't know if my experience will help you, but I was recently in a weird wardrobe place where I have added some new items and have gained a little weight, so there wasn't room for all of my clothes, but I haven't given up on losing a few pounds, and I am not completely sure how all of my new purchases fit with my old things. It was as jumbled up as a it sounds. I did a really fast sweep of everything that doesn't fit or was just ok, or I wasn't sure about for any reason. I threw everything together and put it out of sight but didn't get rid of it. This lightened my closet up considerably but didn't make me feel badly about getting rid of something permanently that I wish I still had.

deb

Veteran

I am with IK, fine is not good enough. Do you love all these tops? What about moving those that are only fine to a pending spot, say a bag, then you will know if you miss them.

Liz A.

Veteran

What ever happened with your color analysis? Can anything go based on that? I recently made the decision to have a black and navy centric work wardrobe so things on the brown spectrum had to go.

Vildy

Veteran

Curious: how do you get dressed? Where is the start to the outfit? Is it a top you want to build around or something else? For the "fine" tops, have you heard Tim Gunn's remark: How many times do you have to say No to something before you can get rid of it as being in your way?

carter

Veteran

Unfrumped, I need to get better at tossing as I go. So often I'll put something on in the morning, determine it's ok but keep looking for something better. The morning rejects probably need to at least go on probation (so I don't have to spend my mornings deciding if the particular top is "fine" with this particular outfit but perfect with another.)

Suz and Unfrumped, this is my Spring wardrobe (incl year-round items). As summer draws near long sleeve tops can move on but linen and sleeveless tops will take their place.

IK, I think "fine" is the problem too. Although, I need to distinguish the "fine but perfect with" category for things like neutral tees and woven shirts. For me, these are entirely unexciting (aka, fine), but they make a great backdrop for fun colored pants or accessories.

STW, I can jump up or down a size (5 pounds either way) in a flash, so I have done what you did. All of my pants that don't fit now (but could next month) are stashed in the guest room closet. It was a huge relief for my pants rack and made getting dressed so much easier without the frustration of finding a pair of pants that fit.

Deb, no I don't love all these tops, but as I'm trying to think this through, I think I'm ok not loving something like a white or black tee, but they're so darned useful and get worn all the time.

I have just moved a bunch of winter things from the back side of my closet to the guest room bed. I think I'll try Unfrumped's under the bed hanging storage idea. I now have one whole hanging rack on the back side to use for the "fine" category, leaving only the tops I like the most on the active side. I think I'll see how it goes for awhile, pulling from the "fine" category as the need arises and moving those back to the active side. Hopefully, I'll have plenty I never reach for and can ditch.

carter

Veteran

Liz A, I was thinking of you when I moved my orange, peach and lime green tops to the "fine" rack! I'm trying!

Vildy, fantastic Tim Gunn quote! I think I'll print that off and hang it in my closet. Interesting question about how I get dressed. To some degree it depends on what I have to do that day and whether it is raining/freezing/super hot. Usually I start with the pants and/or shoes. Please expand your thought. I'm not sure where you're going with it.

unfrumped

Veteran

carter, I can relate to having a few things that work brilliantly with one outfit even while seeming a bit meh. Like top lengths for certain skirts, or having 2 black T's but each for different outfits( only women's clothes would do this to us!) I have taken to labeling the hanger so I won't toss it out in a purging frenzy.

rabbit

Veteran

Just adding that, if you've just done a big purge (which it looks like you have), taking a breather and letting a little time pass to let the next set of clothes sort themselves out on the 'okay to great' scale makes sense to me.

Sometimes I just need a little time to resee a piece in a new way and realize it plays an essential role sometimes (like unfrumped says), or realize that all it's uses are being duplicated by a more fab piece and I've gotten a lot of use out of it already.

Also if your personal style is very consistent from year to year, it doesn't always make a lot of sense to me to immediately get rid of things that work well, but maybe aren't a current color or something.

DonnaF

Veteran

I have nearly all my clothes on stacking hangers. Since one end has two bars, usually this means a stack of only two tops/jackets. Those plastic hangers that stores use are stackable, but I like the fuzzy slim line ones the best since they take up less room and unhook easily. At the moment, my BB&B doesn't carry them, but the SA said that style usually comes out in college/back to school season.

AJ

Veteran

Wow, I think your closet looks nice and neat already!

If you must narrow further then may I suggest picking the best of similar items? From the picture, it looks like you have 5 white long sleeved button downs. Can that be whittled down to 2? How about the 4 blue button downs? I also spy 5 black & white striped tops.

I suspect you have a good laundry routine, so how many similar items do you need between loads?

Vildy

Veteran

People often have a pattern to where they start putting an outfit together. I might guess that having a dependable good-looking starting piece would be important and then as far as a top - if that beginning piece to build around isn't usually a top - then it determines what top(s) are in play. They may all be very wearable but are probably not all a preferred item.

http://into-mind.com/2013/04/22/method-dressing/

http://theviviennefiles.blogsp.....g-out.html

Lisa

Veteran

I've been slowing readding clothes to my working closet from a holding zone, dubbed the DH closet challenge. This has helped me slowly build up my working closet with items I love, so that I can purge the items I enjoy, but are not working with my core pieces. The latest recap is here.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

I suggest working backwards from what you love. Make a weeks worth of outfits from pieces that you LOVE. See how you feel about the "fine" pieces after that week.

carter

Veteran

I agree, rabbit. Something I shouldn't try to do in the morning before I'm properly caffeinated.

DonnaF, thanks. I'll keep an eye out for them. Hopefully I won't need them by July/August when they come out!

Thanks, AJ. I have a bad habit of duplicating! I would like to cut back on this and stop doing it in the future. I will work on it!

Vildy, I love intomind and the vivienne files. Off to re-read!

Lisa, I've been following your DH challenge. Trying to learn from it!

Caro, I did that towards the end of Winter and I loved it. It's probably the main reason I was able to purge so much more this week. It didn't occur to me to do it at the beginning of a season. Duh! I will do it.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

Gigi

Veteran

Hmm...I haven't read all the responses in detail, but the ideas I like are (1) taking the "fine" items (i.e., "OK," but you don't really look forward to wearing them) out of the closet and stashing them somewhere else where you can get to them if need be, and (2) whittling down to the "best of the best," at least for maybe a month. With the latter idea, I'm thinking you could pull, say, one or two button-down white shirts and wear them for that month, then switch them out for a different two white button-downs for next month. Then you could compare and see if you felt noticeably more fab wearing one set or the other. Over time, this may lead you to be able to give away certain items that don't meet the grade.

Good luck! I am in the same boat. It's funny--I about died when Mo posted her picture of her closet, because it is almost exactly like mine in setup, even down to the shoe rack size, style, and placement. But I have the top shelf doing storage duty for the rest of my apartment (suitcases, sewing stuff, bedspreads, etc.), since there is next to no storage where I live. So I'm having to find out where to put stuff too, as it just feels too crammed in. Even my dresser is crammed. Pants take up a lot of room, darn it!

Adelfa

Veteran

I've always had what I thought was a fairly pared-down closet. But when I moved and went from 6 closets to one, I had to purge a lot! I'd been using some of the extra closet space to store clothes I wasn't sure about.

Now I have a lovely but small walk-in closet and I found that I absolutely was not willing to clog it up. I wanted everything to be organized and uncrowded, and I wanted every item to work really well. I agree that you should look at your multiples and see if you can pick one or two in each category to have in your primary closet. I also agree that you should create interim storage for a lot of the stuff you provisionally purge, so you can experiment living with fewer options without feeling like you're making decisions you can't undo.

Another thing that's been helpful for me is playing with a "33" framework. I do 32 for each season because that makes a box on a spreadsheet. I do 32 for work and then I account for casual clothes separately. (I'm not trying for extreme asceticism.) I do four items each of Neutral 1, Neutral 2, Neutral 3, Solid Tops, Patterned Tops, Accent Color, and Print/Patterned Skirts/Dresses. Hmm, that's only 28, and I have several blank spots too! Tees, bags, and shoes don't count. (I purged a lot of tees too because I tend to buy a bunch of gray or black tees and then only wear my favorite.) It might be fun for you to do the exercise, even if you don't plan to have so few items, just to organize your thoughts about your wardrobe.

Good luck and have fun!

carter

Veteran

Oooh, Adelfa and Gigi! Great ideas. I could potentially combine the two and do a different set of 33ish for work each month, along with some smaller capsule for casual. I'm excited to get back in my closet tomorrow. Some combination of favorites and basics, I assume is the way to start? I like the 4 item categories. Renewed closet excitement here...thank you!

Adelfa, how in the world did you go from 6 closets to one? My last closet was 3 times the size of the one I have now, and I'm still struggling with it almost 7 years later.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

Re the hanger thing, why not add something onto the hangers of what you've worn or not worn - maybe a rubber band? You can also buy those section dividers like they have in stores for sizes at places like The Container Store.

Weird question, maybe: do you really want to get rid of things, or do you just feel like you should? I know that sometimes I get obsessed with culling or with making a perfect capsule when honestly a little time and things wearing out will do the trick for me. But then, I look at the pic of your closet and think it looks perfectly tidy, not overcrowded at all.