Posts Tagged "closet"

By Leslie Willmott on Feb 12, 2019

  A few days after severe cold weather swept across much of the country, Mother Nature brought unseasonably warm temperatures to my area and had me thinking “Spring.” And with that the seasonal closet cleanout! I personally prefer to think about it as a closet “edit” because unless I’m pinched for closet space, I don’t like to throw the baby out with the bathwater! I never know when a favorite item that I’ve not worn in quite some time will be just right for a certain occasion. WHAT SHAPE IS YOUR WARDROBE IN? If you moan that you have a closet full of clothes but nothing to wear, then it’s time to seriously assess your wardrobe. If you’ve had a lifestyle change of any measure, your clothing choices might need to change with you. This doesn’t happen overnight, but taking time to edit your closet at least twice a year will help you build and maintain a wardrobe that works for you, not against you.   HERE’S HOW: A closet edit really has no season, although the beginning of spring and fall are typical, especially if you have a routine of switching closets seasonally. But why not set aside some time now, early in the year, to assess your wardrobe and gain control of the image you want to project? Not to mention streamline your closet and make getting dressed faster and easier.  Schedule a full morning or afternoon, if you can. If easier for you, take an hour a day over a long weekend. I like to set the mood with music and a cup of coffee or, if late in the day, a glass of wine! Style your hair and put on makeup – you’ll be trying on most of your clothes and nothing will look good if you don’t. You need to assess each item carefully, based on its fit, color, style and function and then decide to keep it, or let it go!  It’s an easy 3-step process: Pull everything out of your closet and “dresser” drawers. Your goal is to divide and conquer: What to keep versus what to let go of. Group like items together. I like to start with bottoms, then tops, dresses and shoes. (If you need to...

By Leslie Willmott on Jan 9, 2017

  Guest post by Alexandria Heinz   A New Year means time for new resolutions. If you’re constantly on the go and looking for a way to simplify your life, this could be the time to resolve to streamline your wardrobe. How? With a capsule wardrobe, a curation of stable pieces that you can mix and match. A capsule wardrobe can save you future time and money and assure that most of your clothing goes together. The first step to creating a capsule wardrobe is to clean out your closet. This might be something you dread doing, but with the help of the flow chart below created by American Eagle, it won’t be so hard! Just answer a few simple questions to determine if you should keep, trash, donate or sell your items. Make sure to dispose of the items that you’re not keeping within a week and store or organize items that aren’t seasonal in order to streamline your closet. If you travel frequently, organize your essential travel pieces in a certain section of your closet to make packing easier. Happy New Year and good luck!       Leslie’s note: The flow chart by American Eagle first appeared in a post on capsule wardrobes in AEO, the American Eagle Outfitters blog and is reprinted here with permission. Why not print it and tack it in your closest for ongoing reference? That’s what I...

By Leslie Willmott on Mar 2, 2016

  My wardrobe strategy for smart travel packing – pack a few versatile pieces planned around coordinating colors – is one that can help you streamline your dressing every day. It’s called a “capsule wardrobe.” I use this concept when planning what to pack for every trip I take. Taking a small mix-and-match wardrobe means fewer pieces, lighter luggage. When you pack the right pieces, less is more!  What does it mean in your closet at home? How many times do you go to your closet and feel like you have nothing to wear – in spite of the number of items hanging there? If you create “closet capsules” within your wardrobe, you’ll be able to put together several polished outfits that you can pick at a moment’s notice. When your closet door opens up to a well-planned wardrobe of coordinated pieces, you spend less time thinking about what to wear. First . . . what is a “capsule” wardrobe? Simply stated, it’s a small wardrobe made up of pieces that mix and match that you love to wear. Some would preach that instead of stuffing your closet with items you barely wear, take the Marie Kondo “Tidying Up” approach and strip down to a few key staples you love. I suggest you think more strategically: Minimize your wardrobe into a collection of pieces that not only mix and match but also streamline your dressing routine, especially for work or travel. It means you’ll no longer stand in front of your closet, wondering what on earth to wear! The concept goes back to the 1970’s and was initially referred to a collection of essential clothing items that don’t go out of fashion – classics – that can be built upon each season with new pieces. Today’s capsule concept refers to building groups of 5-12 related pieces that can be worn in several different combinations. Building a working wardrobe for your lifestyle is easiest when you think and build in terms of “closet capsules” by lifestyle need: work, evening, travel, etc. 5 Benefits of Having “Closet Capsules” Reduces decision fatigue – busy women have to make decisions every day; the removal of one – choosing your clothes in the morning – leaves you with more mental space...

By Leslie Willmott on Sep 22, 2015

  Fall is in the air and I’m pouring through my favorite fashion magazines, store catalogs, and runway shows on YouTube, dreaming of all the new wardrobe pieces I’d love to have. I can’t have them all – my budget simply won’t allow it – nor do I have the lifestyle many fashions are designed for. Before you and I head to the stores, it’s smart to identify what we need – not just what we want – and to be savvy shoppers. The payoff will be a better investment of both our money and our time.           BEFORE YOU SHOP: 1. Inventory your fall/winter wardrobe to get a big picture of what you already have. There’s nothing worse than getting a new item home and realizing you already have something very similar…or that it doesn’t go with anything else in your closet. (How many orphans does your closet already hold?) 2. Determine what you need. Do some favorite basics need to be replaced due to wear? Does this season’s wardrobe need a little updating? Do you need to bring more of your best colors into your closet? Make a list of “needs” and also “would like to haves” – I find it helpful to make the distinction when shopping within a tight budget. 3. Shop your closet first. Can you restyle items you already have to create a new look? For example, belt a dress and wear it with leggings and booties. Will the addition of an “impact” piece – a new scarf, a belt, or shoe – give last year’s major suit purchase a fresh look? Did you keep that poncho you purchased way back when? Well…it’s “trending” again! NOTE: Here’s where a wardrobe consultant can save you lots of money! A trained eye can see new wardrobe combinations that you hadn’t thought of and give you guidance on what 2 or 3 items will update your wardrobe or compete the best look for you.   TIME IS PRECIOUS, USE IT WISELY: Set a realistic budget. It may be a ballpark number but many women overspend because they don’t set parameters. You don’t want buyer’s remorse when you look at your receipts – make sure you don’t spend more than you can afford. Shop online first. Unless it’s a brand I’ve...

By Leslie Willmott on Jul 14, 2015

  How many items in your closet beg to be worn but you have no place to wear them? Are they part of your past? Or, did you buy them with hopes they would be part of your future? We’re all dreamers and it’s easy to buy clothes for the lifestyle they promise instead of letting our lifestyle determine the clothes we buy. Lifestyles change at different stages in our lives – student, professional, working or at-home mom, re-entering the job field, retiring – and lifestyle transition can create a big change in wardrobe needs. A woman with young children who also works or volunteers could need a more varied wardrobe to take her from morning to evening than a business woman who spends most of her waking hours in an office. And the woman who retires from a long corporate career to adopt a more casual lifestyle of travel, volunteering, and golf might need to shift her wardrobe dramatically.   Chart Your Lifestyle If you never again want to cry “I don’t have a thing to wear!”, before you go on your next shopping spree, analyze how you really spend your time … then commit to making purchases that work for the activities in your current life. Do this periodically and the result will be productive seasonal closet edits and cost effective shopping excursions. Here’s how to get a clear picture of your lifestyle and needs: Ask yourself: What are the activities I spend my time in, and what is suitable and acceptable dress for those activities in the area where I live? Make a list of all activities you engage in during a month (either keep a diary and record this in real time or reflect back) and how often you do them – not how many hours you spend in each but how many days in the month you do it.   Note: You might spend 8 hours in an office and only two hours dining out, but they could require two different types of clothing. Group the activities into categories that require a similar type of clothing. For example: — Professional time (full-time, part-time or volunteer work) — Casual daytime (shopping, lunch with friends, travel) — Social time (church, entertaining,...