Need a closet edit - YouLookFab Forum

Category

General

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

Need a closet edit

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Today I was getting dressed to come in to my studio for a few hours (we have visitors coming to the building, so the manager asked if the artists can have our studios open for the visitors) -- nothing too demanding. It's a Sunday, we are a bunch of artists so most tend to be very casually dressed, so no pressure really. I ended up in shorts, a graphic tee, and sandals.

In the process of getting dressed, I decided to try wearing a top that for some reason I have not worn yet this summer. I pulled out a handful of tops that have gone unworn, and I quickly went through three, feeling very un-fab in each one. One pulled slightly across the bust, one felt boxy and made me look pregnant from the side, and one just felt too big and sloppy. Each one went promptly in the donate/sell pile now growing in the corner of my room. These were tops that made me happy enough a year or two ago, but I seem to have fallen quite out of love with them. There are a couple more tops that I tried on and felt underwhelmed by, but I returned them to my closet because I *think* they might be good for wearing under a jacket when the weather cools (that is a dangerous territory for me -- I have several tanks and tops in my holding zone because I keep thinking I might wear them under jackets -- it hasn't happened yet). Meanwhile, I have new favorite tops that I seem to be wearing to death.

I know I need to take some lessons from this, especially regarding my summer wardrobe, since summer items seem to get laundered more and somehow just don't seem to endure as much wear as winter items. I'm not sure exactly what those lessons are yet, but they will be making me consider my purchases more carefully in the future. None of these were terribly expensive items, but they weren't in the $20 category either. Meanwhile, I'm getting lots of wear out of some $20 tops!

One thing I'm taking from this: I'm not going to wait until the beginning of next summer to edit my summer wardrobe, as I've done in the past. It's too easy to keep hanging onto stuff, and next spring I'll probably have a hard time remembering why I didn't wear something. Right now it's very fresh in my mind what is working for me and what is not.

This is pretty rambling and I'm not doing a good job of distilling my lessons for future purchases out of this at the moment, but I certainly welcome any comments and suggestions. I'm mainly getting this out as it felt like a significant moment, and I want to be more mindful of my choices moving forward.

General

22 replies

Latest reply was from Angie

rachylou

Veteran

Yes, maybe the end of a season is the best time to cull...altho this summer seems so weird to me, weather-wise, here...I'm afraid my judgment may be off...

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Speaking of weird seasons... One thing I really need to keep in mind moving forward is that my seasonal needs have changed. The last couple of years I've spent two full months out of the year on the ranch, and that tends to fall in the early spring (March) and late fall (November). That seriously cuts into my wearing season for transitional *nice* clothing. I take a small handful of decent stuff to the ranch to wear for the occasional outing to Dallas or something, but really my needs there are very simple: rugged jeans, boots/shoes, tees and sweatshirts, and all of them need to be items I don't mind getting destroyed. Plus jackets, hats, gloves, foul weather gear, etc. I really have all that covered. I've even taken some of my running gear there and left it there so I don't have to shlep that back and forth.

So even though I live in a four-season climate with extremes on either end, my needs for the transitional seasons are really quite meager. This has really highlighted my tendency to go straight from sandals in summer to boots in winter, with barely any wear of my loafers, oxfords, etc., which are more spring/fall shoes.

I also think I need to cut off some chinos I bought this spring into shorts. I bought the ones below in blue, and in peach. The peach have not yet been worn! If they were shorts, I would have worn them by now. I have been scared to hack them for some reason. I think I'll bite the bullet later today when I'm back home.

Pilcro Pilcro Hyphen Chinos

Sale

View Info

Top Pick

3

Aida

Veteran

Culling while things are fresh in memory is a great idea. I do my quick edits at the end of each season exactly because of what you said: Next year it's going to be tough to remember what the faults were! This also allows for better planning each season because what's there is what's there, no need to factor in maybes.

deb

Veteran

I always cull at the end of the seasons. It just seems easier to me.

Anonymous

Janet -- I found that my need for transitional items is also very slim. I discovered this quite by accident when I began the orphan challenge (inspired by you). My question was I love this garment, why don't I wear it? The answer was that some of them are transitional items (e.g., long sleeve cotton sweater). It was then, and only then, that I realized I rarely wear them for the same reasons you mention above. This was invaluable information.

Maybe you'll come up with another clothing challenge?

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I think I am usually so anxious to get out the new season of clothes when I'm doing the seasonal switch, that I just sort of cram all the past season stuff into storage without doing a serious review. I know that in the past I've thought, "Well, I didn't wear that this summer, but maybe next summer." Instead, I really need to take a better look at WHY.

El Cee

Veteran

Janet -- I think you just hit the nail on the head with this statement: "I am usually so anxious to get out the new season of clothes when I'm doing the seasonal switch, that I just sort of cram all the past season stuff into storage without doing a serious review." Thanks for your insight here. This is exactly the problem I run into with every seasonal closet changeover. First -- I always feel cramped for time, so I never get to really think about an item's usefulness before packing it up. It is literally just a fold and pack operation. Second -- I am usually sick to death of the season I am coming out of and looking forward to a quick, pain-free wardrobe transition. I am just not in the mood for heavy analysis of the clothing I am boxing up. My mind has already transitioned to the new season. I think that the only way to keep myself from falling into the same trap is to start the evaluation process a few weeks earlier... and that would be now for my summer stuff, even though the Fall things will not be coming out until late October. I need to do this in manageable chunks (perhaps by clothing category) so I do not get overwhelmed. Thanks for inspiring me to think ahead about this process.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

El Cee, I'm nodding along with you. I'm always so sick of looking at ALL the summer stuff by the end of the season that I resist the wise thing, which would be to do an evaluation then. This year I will do differently!

Great idea to start this process early. I think that's what I inadvertently did this morning. Maybe I'll do a bit more when I get home.

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

too bad I'm not closer

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I know, Anna! I bet you could help me figure out what really needs to go, and open my eyes to some new possibilities for old stuff.

Sal

Veteran

I think trying to wear an item and failing, is a good way to finish the season. For these sorts of everyday tops - in at least 80% of cases if they have not been worn so far this year they are not worth keeping. There are exceptions - some years I might not be in to a certain colour but the next year after a break I like it again.

I need to try on my top/jacket combinations as this is a good spring look for me. And I have added some new tops that may or may not work with a jacket...

I seem to live in trans-seasonal clothing and need to be careful not to overdo high summer and mid winter pieces.

catgirl

Veteran

I have been feeling similarly and have bagged up several tops after wearing them and deciding they just don't meet the "save in a fire" criteria, nor do they spark joy, nor are they precious or irreplaceable. Buh-bye annoying tops!

For me it is much easier to purge this way than to go through everything at once and ruthlessly cull. It's slower but I'm such a waffler until I'm DONE, and then I am done!

As far as lessons learned, I need to realize that not all tunics or boxy tops are alike or interchangeable, that color matters even if everything else is great, and that too much of a single silhouette bothers me even if I have a pretty limited repertoire. Don't know if any of that resonates with you since we seem to be on similar wavelengths lately!

Anonymous

I like El Cee's idea of evaluating by clothing categories. In a way I have already started because I have been pulling out my button-down shirts and slowing deciding on their future in my closet.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I edit like Angie...all the time!

Seriously -- I do...if something doesn't make me happy within a season, I put it in the holding zone.

But my major edits happen at the end and at the beginning of the season.

This may be more intuitive because my storage situation means I have to "switch closets" -- i.e. the bulk of my F/W stuff goes into the hall closet in S/S and vice versa. So I get an opportunity to examine items in turn as I make these switchovers.

Most of the culling typically happens at the end of a season. But I find I also get rid of stuff as a season begins -- especially if silhouettes are undergoing a major change or if I realize I've been wearing most of my items for 3 or 4 years and even if they are in good shape and still "in style" and still fit, I am bored by them. If I keep something through its "off" season but feel no joy when I go to hang it back on the main closet hanger in its proper season, that's when I know it has to go.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Like, Suz, I edit all the time - and do LARGE edits at the start of the new retail season.

Janet, do you have place for a HUGE holding zone? If so, be RUTHLESS and put items that stir even the slightest doubt THERE asap. Have a good look at what's left and try dressing from that section only. If you miss anything at all - you can walk over and grab it.

Also, may I suggest a TX ranch capsule that you keep separate to your regular clothing.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Angie, most of my TX ranch capsule stays in TX. i only take a small amount back and forth -- some favorites for when we are getting out of ranch mode and going to the city, or out for a date night.

I do have a significant space for a holding zone. It's in a basement closet and it's where I keep three hanging storage bags: one for formal/dressy wear that rarely sees use, one for out of season clothes, and one for a holding zone. The holding zone has two "sections" -- things that I love but that currently do not fit, and things that I'm, well, holding. I have one more hanging garment bag with some nice pieces that are sentimental or very dated (a couple of old leather jackets come to mind -- I posted them a couple of years ago, I think, and I'm still holding onto them!) that comprise a sort of extended holding zone.

Tonight I tried on all of the summer tops that I had any question about, and some were winners (I thought "why haven't I worn this recently?" and hung a few on the valet bar to wear this week). Some went into the donate/sell pile. I have more empty hangers now, and a better sense of what's going on, at least in my summer wear.

I have a number of silk tanks and sleeveless tops, which I really like, but I have been reaching for tees and cotton tops this summer because I tend to be a little afraid of "ruining" the nicer silk ones. My existence this summer has been more casual than ever, and I've really been kind of sartorially lazy -- the sight of those silk tops makes me realize they are not so precious that I can't afford to sweat in them a little.

I also realized that when I wear a skirt in the summer, I feel too dressed up if I combine it with a silk top -- I'm way more likely to pair a skirt with a tee or more casual top. I prefer to wear the silk tops with denim, but our summer is too hot for jeans, so I need to try wearing them with my clamdigger length cutoff denim shorts.

So, even just this little mini closet edit gave me some insight into how my summer wardrobe fits together!

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Oh, Angie said what I forgot to say. It sounds as if you have had an unanticipated or not fully recognized lifestyle change. This make it tougher to anticipate needs and to edit.

Now that you've figured out when you're mostly at the ranch, you can prepare a capsule that will work for that. Keep most of those clothes there, in a capsule, and scale back on the transitional items you no longer need if you are going to be in Texas rather than Baltimore.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Suz, we cross-posted!

Yep, you're both right on what I already do with ranch wear. I have plenty in TX (in fact, a bunch of stuff that's there needs to be donated too -- I don't love it, but it's not really appropriate ranch wear). My closet in TX has been a holding zone of its own!

Barbara Diane

Veteran

Love that you've started analyzing what you are wearing or not, and why. Besides on a regular schedule, I find that whenever it comes up to do it, it is good to follow that instinct.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

I can relate to the lack of transitional weather needs here in Texas.

I do try to cull often -- I just think my wants for new things are bigger than my closet needs and have been that way for a long time. I could probably live with about 15 tops and bottoms for the entire year as long as I had a few jackets, belts, shoes, handbags and jewelry. But that amount would not keep me happy from a creative standpoint. Or maybe it would if I shopped and replaced often and maintained the "happy" 15 so to speak. This doesn't count my work tees that I would wear gardening or doing other home projects.

Anonymous

Heh heh, if you decide to weed out that fabulous blue leather jacket, let me know. (Just kidding -- it's WAY too fabulous to even think about weeding out! I can't remember if I've seen a picture of you wearing it, but I can see why it's a fave.)

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

These are GREAT insights, Janet. You are making good progress. And don't save those silk tops for good - WEAR THEM!