‘I have too many clothes’ said literally no girl ever. Saying ‘I have nothing to wear!’ while being surrounded by enough clothes to open your own Topshop sounds more familiar, right? Without a doubt this was most definitely me last term. Even with the small uni wardrobes I still managed to cram in at least half of my home wardrobe to have as many options as possible. Somehow I could still never find anything to wear, using that as an excuse to buy even MORE clothes.
Unfortunately, after coming back from the holidays we had to park our car a little bit further away than I would have liked, which meant we had the not-so-wonderful job of carrying way too many clothes back up to my uni room because they were (in my own words) ‘completely necessary’.
Standing in my room again (I couldn’t sit because there were clothes, coats and shoes all over my bed), I decided that maybe my mum, dad, boyfriend and some of my friends were right. I did have way too many clothes and that was about to change.
Here’s what I did to organise and control my wardrobe in 3 simple steps (so if any of this sounds familiar to you, you too can control that wardrobe!)
1. Get rid
This is probably the hardest part because if you’re anything like me then you will find yourself keeping every clothing item, even if it’s ‘just in case’ or because it reminds you of a special day. But you have to be ruthless. Go by the need-want-love approach.
If you need it and its essential: keep it. SO that’s your jeans, leggings, basic t shirts, sweaters, and a few hoodies.
If you just bought it on a whim, or you don’t really want it anymore and don’t wear it often (if at all – shout out to the dresses you didn’t bother returning still brand new with their tags on) then get rid of it. You can either depop it, give it to friends or to charity. Honestly you don’t NEED everything.
Some items you don’t necessarily need but you absolutely love them: keep these. They are likely to be more unique pieces that make your style what it is. Just be sure you really do love them, be SPECIFIC!
2. Organize
Now you have your items you can start to organise your wardrobe (maybe it’s just me but I found this really fun?) This is based off what I did but obviously you can take your own ideas and make it your own!
- Start with a completely blank canvas: your bare wardrobe. Begin to hang up tops, I say this because tops get the most creased and to be honest: what even is ironing at uni? I haven’t picked up an iron since I got here because hanging up your clothes means you don’t need to. Colour coordinate this and it makes it so easy to put outfit together.
- Put your shoes in pairs and place them at the bottom where you can see all your options. If they don’t all fit here: you have too many. I keep one pair of black boots out as I wear them all the time.
- Free up drawer space and stay organised by putting your underwear in baskets. This makes it easier to find specific things on those early 9am mornings!
- Put tights and leggings in another basket to make them easy to grab.
- Fold any denim (jeans and skirts) and put them all together on a shelf where you can see all your options. Do the same with jumpers and sweaters. (These are less likely to crease and therefore don’t need hanging up.)
- Place any ‘going out’ clothes together. For me, these get used less than my other clothes so I put them at the top of my wardrobe but its useful to have them all together so you can address all options when it’s time to get dressed up.
- Because you freed up your drawer space by removing the underwear, use drawers for pyjama sets and workout/sports gear. Get some scented pockets for these drawers to make your clothes smell extra lovely.
TIP: Buy a set of matching hangers. Not only do they look pretty in your wardrobe but they help you to minimise your clothes if you have to stick to a set amount of hangers.
3. Control your spending
Now you’ve sorted out your wardrobe, that ISN’T an excuse to fill it back up again. This is honestly the hardest step for me: I’m constantly seeing stuff either online or in real life that I want. But that’s the point – I just want it. Remember the need-want-love approach from earlier? Try to incorporate that in your shopping. If you need it- buy it. If you love it (and I mean genuinely love it) then treat yourself (a girl’s gotta shop). But if you want it just because then don’t buy it – your bank balance will thank you!
How can you tell if you love it? – Every time you see something you ‘want’ write it down or take a photo. Wait a month and go back to the list and see what you still love and chances are you’ll have forgotten most of it anyway, in which case you only wanted it. If you shop like this you have more money for investment pieces to treat yourself and you’ll find yourself with a functional wardrobe that you LOVE!
P.S. I’m currently on a month’s shopping ban and although January is nearly over, I fully recommend this to cure the shopaholic in you. It’s hard, very hard, but incredibly satisfying when you know you can treat yourself with all the money you didn’t spend on random ‘wants’ throughout the month.
Have a great week! Han x
(All images from pinterest.com)