Planning a wardrobe assessment day

Okay, Fabbers. After probably a couple of years on YLF, I am finally taking the plunge and doing a wardrobe assessment. Not an 'I'm sick of all these clothes and must purge everything in sight' kind of assessment, as is my wont, but a cool, calculated, organized assessment a la Suz, Cerinda, Jenn, Smittie, and many others who have inspired me!

Here are my steps:

1) Book a day off (oh, how I wish I could just do this on a whim! But two small kiddos + crazy work schedule right now means I need to book the time. Which is probably better, as I will be fresh and ready. I am looking at August 27th tentatively.)

2) Do NOT buy anything until said wardrobe assessment. Any ideas/gaps/wishes I have go into Evernote. (this so goes against the very core of my impulse shopping self.)

3) Refer to Angie's wardrobe planning posts and review before the Big Day.

4) On the Big Day:
- Take EVERYTHING out, Try it on.
Put it into categories
- either Tanya's love/like/neutral or what I've worn/haven't worn in the past year;
- also track when I bought something so i can understand what is new vs. old; I think this will help me understand why I don't feel current sometimes

Decide what to keep in my closet and count the numbers.
Everything else: donate or (more likely) put in my holding zone until I live with it for a few months.

5) After the Day:

Analyze:
Why do the ones I kept work?
Why do those in the donate/holding zone pile not work?
Any patterns I can identify?
What gaps do I have that may make everything else more wearable?

6) Monitor and Track (maybe)
IF i feel I can keep this going, I may load everything into an app and track wears for a season or a year, to help me understand:
- wear and churn
- what I wear most and why
- gaps

So far, I have a few hunches:
- A lot of my wardrobe is too big/slouchy. Since the baby weight is off and I've been on a new workout regime, I've gone down a couple of sizes and things that were slouchy before now feel sloppy, which is making me feel unfab. I've been resistant to letting go/buying new tailored things bc I am so afriad the weight will come back, but I need to move on now.
- A lot of my wardrobe is colourful (bought during my J Crew infatuation) but now I am drawn to more neutrals, so i need to get these out of my sight as they just create visual clutter
- I think I am missing 'wardrobe cohesion pieces' - those magical things that tie an outfit together and make me feel current

Phew! Well that is a lot. But I am excited to embark on this and excited to get your input! Thank you for inspiring me Fabbers!

9 years ago

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

It sounds like you have a solid plan going on. Good luck (and congrats on the weight loss!)

Anonymous

Ooh heck...quite an undertaking...and I'm actually going to plan something similar myself. I hope it all goes well for you. Be sure to get some music sorted and plenty of snacks!

I am impressed. It sounds like you are on track to successfully assess your wardrobe.

Janet

(website)

Wow, that's an impressive plan, and I am a little envious. I need a full weekend to do a project like this, and ideally, I would have Angie here to help me. My closet needs a good review. I have too many nice things that are going unworn. I also have the opposite problem from you -- I've gained a bit of weight back and some of my stuff feels unfab because it's a little too tight. But I don't want to pitch everything that's a little snug and resign myself to my current size because I know I can do better. I've been too complacent with eating habits this year, and menopause is kicking my metabolism's ass. Meh.

Looking forward to reading about your progress!

Roxanna

@Janet I feel exactly the same way and that's why I am doing the review - I have too many nice things that are going unworn, and when I am bored, I buy more.

I totally hear you on the weight thing - I fluctuate regularly and have been sized out of my wardrobe more times than I can count. That's why I'm holding on to my bigger clothes - I don't want to pitch them in case I need them later. I regularly have at least 3 sizes in my closet for weight fluctuations!

Cerinda

Great plan. Remember snacks and water!

Sara L.

What an organized plan! I think my problem is that I just hope I'll have a little extra time and want to use that time to clean my closet (instead of all the fun things I could use that extra time for). Surprise, surprise - the time and inclination never seems to happen and my closet only gets cleaned in fits and spurts. I look forward to reading about your progress and insights you get from The Big Day.

@Sara - that's me too. Then I spend those 15 minutes on a Wednesday night hemming and hawing over keeping 3 tops that I am too tired to try on, and end up shoving them back in the closet. This is why i needed a systematic way!

unfrumped

I wrote a long reply but my phone froze and ate it.
Basically it was, the big attack is the right idea but it still takes me more than a day, so, you might want to identify some priority categories or some off - limit areas for focus, to be sure you get a sense of compleyion even if you need to attack another area later.

UmmLila (Lisa)

Make sure you have a good playlist for the day!

Style Fan

This is a great plan. I will be doing something similar in the Fall.

Good luck Roxanna!
This sounds like a big undertaking but a day off will help motivate you.
You are looking great and I can see you wanting to wear more fitted things.
I'll be interested to hear what wardrobe 'cohesion pieces ' you need.

Fern

Active Member

I'll be interested to hear about "cohesion" pieces as that's where I fall short (I think). But I should have a plan as organized and well thought out as yours before jumping to conclusions!

Susie

Your plan is an ambitious one but I love how detailed you are with it. A holding zone has helped me with pieces I'm not sure about, though I almost never move anything back into my closet.

Please let us know how it goes!

Tanya

That is a great plan and wishing you good luck! I think that it is very ambitious to try and do it all in single day. I will be doing something similar in couple of weeks, but I have taken a whole week off work and will thus spread the process over 3 or so days.

Suz

This is an excellent plan! As others have said, it may take more than a day. Keep in mind that I was able to do my recent big reorganization/ clean out in a day because I edit regularly, on an ongoing basis, and I also regularly do these bigger seasonal edits. Plus my wardrobe is still moderate sized. So it was pretty much in hand already (and even so, I took 2 big green garbage bags to donation and threw out a lot of socks without mates and undies that had seen much better days!)

So you might need to think in terms of categories. Also maybe make sure you've prepared the space for the "holding zone" if storage is at a premium where you live. Otherwise you might just stuff it back into the closet!

I'm really interested to hear about the "glue" pieces that you may be missing. Do you prefer to buy "statement" items? I have noticed there are two main kinds of shoppers (well, there are probably lots of kinds, but these two kinds jump out at me):

Those who are brilliant at finding and buying beautiful statement items (whether expensive or not) or "thoroughbreds" and always gravitate toward the special details or features.

Those who are excellent at buying "essentials" or backbone pieces (which may in fact be quite luxe as well) and always have a core wardrobe but lack that special sizzle.

I am the latter type of shopper and it has taken me an awfully long time to see that thoroughbreds are important and a good idea because all work and no play makes for a dull style! But the other type of shopper sometimes has trouble making great outfits out of all the fabulous pieces.

@unfrumped, @tanya, and @suz - hmmm. I think you are right. This is too ambitious for a day. I amplanning to take a few days off, so maybe I should spread it out, I have a habit of biting off more than I can chew. I also think i will need mini check-ins on a monthly basis to understand hwo well my wardrobe is workign for me, what needs to come back from the holding zone, what can be purged, and where the gaps are.

@Cerinda and @ummlila - you are spot on! I am no good if I am not rested, fed or without music Thanks for the reminder!

@Susie - I have had mixed luck with a holding zone before - sometimes stuff creeps its way back in - but I'm going to try to be disciplined about it this time!

@fern and @smittie - yes, I think cohesion pieces is where I am falling short. I'll be interested to see what I discover during this analysis too!

@Suz - as always - such brilliant advice. I didn't even think of clearing out my holding zone (which alrfeady has stuff in it!) so perhaps I start there.

And you are so spot on with your statment vs. essentials analysis - this could be a whole post in itself (perhaps you should start it?)
I think in the past I have definitely fallen into the 'statement pieces' category (case in point - I do not own one. single. plain white blouse. (or black for that matter.) As you identified, this makes putting all my wonderful pieces together a challenge. In the past, when my style was more maximal and I liked juxtaposition, it didn't matter as much as i liked throwing on offbeat combinations and making them work. With my new pared down style and desire for a pared down wardrobe, these cohesion pieces (like your Vince turtleneck) are becoming more and more important, though they are not where I gravitate.

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