Welcome to Step 1 of the new Wardrobe Rehab series!
As I mentioned last week I’m super excited to be kicking this new series off with you, and hope you’ll join me in curating your closet. I’ll be bringing you 5 detailed steps, as well as all the tips and tricks I’ve learnt in the last 5 years of curating my closet. Along the way I’ll be working with the new fashion marketplace app Shedd (where I’m currently selling a few items from this cull!), to show you how to curate your closet so it’s easy to get dressed every morning, and you always look and feel great. Thanks for all your questions last week too, we’re going to make sure to address those in this series too. The first step today? We’re talking about culling!
How To Cull Your Wardrobe
The foundation of a well functioning (and chic) wardrobe that is conducive to quick and easy dressing begins with culling. Culling meaning removing damaged, non-essential or mis-matched pieces and helps create a clean canvas to build the perfect wardrobe upon. Check out the video below of me recently culling my wardrobe!
Take a morning out to try on every item in your wardrobe in front of a mirror and be ruthless about every item’s wearability. Ask yourself the questions below and sort your clothes into two piles, those that are going and those that are staying.
Ask Yourself
• Is it worn out? Remove any items that are ripped, stained or worn beyond repair.
• Have I worn this in the past year? Remove any items you haven’t worn in the last 12 months. (Although, allow yourself to keep a small number of ‘sentimental’ items, just be careful that pile doesn’t grow and grow).
• Does this make me feel confident? Clothes that make you feel your best will make you look your best. Remove any items that are the wrong shape, colour or cut.
• Does this fit properly? Check the fit of each item by trying them on and moving in them, lifting your arms, sitting down, walking and bending over. Remove any items that are too short, too tight or when wearing, require you to adjust too frequently.
• Is this item out of date? Often fashions, prints and colours of a past trend will date quickly and while this doesn’t mean they can’t be incorporated into your wardrobe, remove any items that you haven’t worn recently.
• Does this need altering or repairing? If a piece of clothing is slightly damaged or ill-fitted it may be worth taking to the tailors. This is especially so if the garment is well-made and of a quality material like silk, wool or cotton.
After going through your whole closet, including shoes, accessories and underwear, your clothes should be divided into two sections, those that are staying and those that are going. Put the ones you want to keep back in your closet, and for those that you don’t want anymore split it up into the following sections.
Section 1. Altering (or DIY)
If they need altering, take these garments to the tailors or if you have access to a sewing machine, you can also alter them yourself.
Section 2. Donate
These are pieces that are a bit worn, dated and not worth selling. Take these items to a thrift store or give them away to family or friends. It’s best to avoid throwing away garments if they are still wearable because they can be easily reused and will avoid ending up in land fill.
Section 3. Clothes to Sell
Selling your old clothes is a great way of both recycling them (they’ll get a new owner) anddd making money from that which has been collecting dust in your closet. Who wouldn’t want to turn that hand bag into wine/a trip away/another bag? But selling your clothes can sometimes be time consuming which is where a fashion marketplace like Shedd is really great, because uploading items and selling them to people in your city is really quick… As in 5-seconds-flat quick, making every single item worth it. A tip from me? If you curate your Shedd profile well, and focus on high quality photography and flatlays, it’s possible to gain a lot of traction with the community and sell your items quickly. As a matter of fact I’m selling a few things over there now, go and take a look!
It might sound like a lot of work but a closet cull will be the best thing you do all year because it allows you to see what works and what doesn’t. Trust me. Stay tuned for the next step in this 5 step journey, Defining Your Personal Style. I hope you’ll join me in perfecting your closet!
This post is in collaboration with Shedd. See here to download and try it for yourself – I’m selling a few items from my cull over there as we speak :).
Photos by Bryant Lee. Illustrations by Annie Huang.
