Save. Spend. Splurge.

Why aren’t you wearing what you own in your closet?

Women-Shopping-Love-Closets-Clothing-Nothing-to-wear-Frustration

This image has never been truer.

But why do we think we do not have enough to wear?

Stats don’t lie… well. Almost never, unless you decide to interpret things in a certain manner instead of showing the truth 😉

Almost 50% of women have between $1000 – $5000 worth of clothes in their closet and yet still think they have nothing to wear each day they open their closet.

I am most definitely in the “lucky 9%” reported in the article that have over $10,000 in clothing and accessories.

My outerwear alone total over $6000 which is easily done if two of them are Burberry coats purchased at retail…

We clearly have enough, but yet still feel like we’re stumped when we stare at our closet.

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PROBLEM: We own duplicates of the same thing in the same colours

This is probably the most common problem, I’d wager.

We own 10 pairs of black pants, 10 black or grey t-shirts, and then wonder how we ended up with a wardrobe total that makes you feel like Imelda Marcos!

But the problem is obvious, we own the same outfit… essentially, so it never feels like if you wear THIS black shirt with THAT pair of black pants, that it is a different outfit.

It feels like the same outfit.

SOLUTION TO YOUR DUPLICATES PROBLEM

Assess what you own multiples of

To do this, you need to organize the wardrobe into like items and then like colours.

First group all the types of tops together (tanks, t-shirts, long-sleeved, collared)

Second, within each sub-group, group them by colour. I like using the rainbow spectrum as a guide, going from white to red to orange to blue to black.

Stop buying the same things

Make an mental note when you go shopping or get sucked into a store: No more [black] [pants].

closet-wardrobe-shopping-store-racks-clothes-clothing

PROBLEM: You have too much

Sometimes, it is just a big jumbled mess.

I know right? #FirstWorldProblems.

However when it’s a mess, you feel frustrated in the mornings and feel like there is NOTHING TO WEAR because… you can’t see anything because it is all disorganized, and you just reach into your clean laundry basket and wear the same… outfit… as.. last.. week.

You need to start editing your closet like it is your own Personal Store where everything fits you and looks great.

SOLUTION TO YOUR OVERABUNDANT CLOSET

Here are 6 quick tips on how to clean out your closet in a day and if you need motivation, this is how you get rid of anything in your life.

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(My actual closet)

PROBLEM: You don’t see what you own in an organized manner

You don’t even KNOW what you have, so you end up buying a second pair of bright blue trousers because you felt like you were missing that gap in your wardrobe completely.. when in fact you already owned those pants and they were shoved in the back with the tags still on.

SOLUTION TO YOUR DISORGANIZED CLOSET

You need to start seeing what you own in an easy and organized manner so you get the whole picture of everything you own.

You might even rediscover what you have forgotten.

10 ways to organize your wardrobe, and you can read how I organize my closet here (first question).

You need to be able to see your items in an organized manner. If you cannot see what you own at one single glance, you will be unable to make an outfit because you may be as visual as I am.

If I see a yellow silk top for instance, I think: I want to wear that colour today.

Then.. BAM! I build an entire outfit around that yellow silk top in a matter of seconds if I am able to see what is there in an organized manner and match a skirt or a pair of pants to it.

PROBLEM: It doesn’t fit, look good, is your current style or is worn out

Sometimes you don’t reach for that blazer because the shoulders are a teensy bit too tight. (True story.)

You don’t feel comfortable in it, so you pass it over each time you need a topper to finish an outfit.

So then… WHY ARE YOU KEEPING IT?!?!?

SOLUTION TO YOUR UNWORN ITEMS

Tailor it if it doesn’t fit. Set everything you need to tailor aside in a box and then review the box again before spending good money on tailoring or fixing it.

If it is not comfortable, get rid of it. You will never wear it if you don’t want to wear it. Y’know what I mean?

Clean it, and pack it aside in a clean, labeled, organized box if you feel like your weight fluctuates and you might wear it again, or if the style is not IN style this season but you may wear it again in a few years or rediscover it.

Toss it if it’s worn out beyond repair. Chub rub on pants, zipper has broken off beyond repair and it is not worth getting it repaired or replaced, etc.

You know exactly why you aren’t wearing each piece. Figure it out & take action.

Why do you think you don’t wear what you own?

12 Comments

  • The Asian Pear

    OMG! Totally me., I think my biggest three culprits are (1) having multiple similar items in the same colour; (2) having a lot of clothes that don’t fit anymore and (3) having items that do not reflect my personal style anymore but I just KEPT it. So now it’s taking up valuable space…

    I want to slowly take steps to change up my wardrobe eventually. I think it’s a big unweildly for me right now. Not to the point where I forget I have items though but I generally don’t need so much clothes or shoes or accessories. Also, there is apparently basic crucial items missing in my wardrobe!

  • Revanche

    I do wear most of my stuff rather than trying to buy more, except the one new dress I needed for a formal event post-birth but half my wardrobe is still Southern Californian and totally unsuitable for here. They’re perfectly good, even if I can’t wear them right now I can when we travel to warmer climates, so I don’t want to get rid of them. At the same time, they’re just taking up room. I’m trying new organization to see if that helps! Some things will simply have to go, though. Other than as a curiousity item, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to hold on to clothes from high school that I won’t wear again even if it is in decent shape.

  • Ksenija

    I had difficulties when I moved in a new country. Suddenly my whole wardrobe was totally wrong for the local climate. Slowly, I started to adapt to the perpetual spring weather in the NL, but I still find it hard to part with my old summer clothes. The outcome is that I wear exactly the same outfits in the summer for 10+ years, so sometimes when I look back on the photos, it looks like I am always on the same spot, in the same year cause I am having same outfits. It just doesn’t feel good to discard clothes in perfectly wearable condition just for the sake of buying new ones.

    • save. spend. splurge.

      That is an excellent point. You’re far more frugal than I am for sure, and I am working very hard on reining myself in and to accept and LOVE wearing the same thing over and over again.

      Oddly enough when I pick up Baby Bun, I always wear the same thing and love it. But at work, I get bored.

  • Cassie

    I know most of my clothes are going unworn because they don’t fit right now, lol. I tried to work on that recently with a closet clean out. Otherwise, I know I’m guilty of two problems: missing basic completion pieces (camisoles, nylons, coordinating basics), and a discrepancy between the wardrobe I want to wear in my head and the wardrobe I actually wear. Some of it is laziness on my part, but it’s a work in progress.

    • save. spend. splurge.

      I missed my basics too until last year — I bought 3 Stam All Saints tank tops to wear to cover up lowercut items.. finally bought them after realizing I didn’t wear certain dresses because it was showing too much.

  • Sarah

    Excellent post! I think most people have way too many things for what I call the ‘imaginary lifestyle’. I wrote a few posts on my blog about it. Items unsuitable for the weather, too dressy or too casual for real life.

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