Wardrobe Management

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Closet Culling Advice for Aspiring Minimalists

About a month ago, I received an email from a reader who wanted some advice for her struggles in paring down her wardrobe.   She told me she hadn’t seen advice anywhere that fit her specific situation.  I could have just responded to her questions via email like I usually do, but since I’ve been blogging for a few years now and have read many comments from readers, I knew many of you could likely relate to this reader’s challenges.   I also believe that those who have overcome similar struggles in the past could offer her additional advice beyond that which I am able to give.  So I decided to answer the questions in a post rather than through email.

Summarizing the Questions

I will do my best to summarize the reader’s questions here, as her email was quite a few paragraphs long and I want to preserve her anonymity.   This reader is an aspiring minimalist who wants to own less but finds herself with a closet full of items that she either likes or loves.  However, she feels she owns too much overall, especially for someone who really wants to adopt a minimalist lifestyle.   She is hesitant to store some of her items in boxes because that doesn’t feel “clean” or minimalist to her, yet she also doesn’t want to get rid of anything that is still in good shape and which may be hard to replace in the future.  Compounding the issue is the fact that she plans to get pregnant soon and worries that if she stops working for a while, she won’t be able to afford good quality business clothes if she gives up the ones she has now.

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June “Love It, Wear It” Challenge Update – Part Two

I decided to split my June LIWI update into two parts because it was just getting too long.   I think I will change the structure of my future updates to streamline them a bit.   As longtime readers are aware of, I’m a big fan of numbers, statistics, and analysis, but I know that not everyone has the time or the inclination to read such a deep level of detail.   But I will definitely share information galore at the end of the year when I was wrapping up the challenge, so fellow detail fans will be sure to appreciate that post.

In part one of my June LIWI update, which went live on Friday, I shared what I wore during June and gave you a glimpse into my “working closet” halfway through the challenge, complete with lots of photos.  As a reminder, here’s what my working closet looked like as of the end of June:

June 2015 working closet

In today’s post, I do some analysis into what has yet to be worn and why.  There will also be quite a few numbers and photos in this post to help illustrate my points.  Since my previous LIWI update was also very detail-oriented, I will highlight what has changed between the unworn areas of my wardrobe in May versus June as well.  

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June “Love It, Wear It” Challenge Update – Part One

I have now completed the first half of my 2015 “Love It, Wear It” Wardrobe Challenge (LIWI).  I feel this project has been instrumental in helping me to feel better about my clothes, shop smarter, and cultivate a more workable wardrobe.   I continue to learn new things about myself along the way, as well as what types of clothes, shoes, and accessories work best for my life and my evolving style aesthetic.

As with last month, I am splitting this update into two parts. In today’s post, I will share what I wore during June and give you a glimpse into my “working closet” halfway through the challenge.  In part two, which will go live early next week, I do some analysis into what has yet to be worn and why.  In both posts, I will include lots of numbers and photos to help illustrate my points.

Love It, Wear It Challenge

I hope you will find this update interesting regardless of whether or not you are following along with LIWI yourself.   Those whose eyes glaze over with numbers will have many photos to look at, while those who like data and statistics will likely embrace those parts of the posts.   I encourage you all to see if you can draw parallels between my situation and your own and glean some pearls of wisdom from my mistakes and the lessons I’ve learned.

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Creative Solutions for Making Closets More Efficient

The following is a guest post from Dane O’Leary of Modernize.com. Dane is a full-time freelance writer and design blogger. He has degrees in psychology and anthropology with additional study in journalism, graphic design, and public relations. Dane is currently working on his debut novel.  

While many of us are looking to shop less and downsize our wardrobes, we still need to consider how to best use the closet space in our homes. The ideas in this post can work for both homeowners and renters alike.  I hope you’ll find some inspiration here that you can to make your closets work better for you.  

When shopping for a new home or even a new rental, most people have a list of criteria that must be met. The new abode must have a certain number of bedrooms and bathrooms, the preferred type of kitchen, some prefer a separate dining space or to have a formal entryway, and the list goes on. While the details may vary from person to person, there’s one thing that’s usually on everybody’s lists:  closet space.

Messy closet

If your closet looks like this, the tips in this post can help! 

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Lessons from My Outfit Journal – Summer Then and Now

It’s been a little while since I last shared some entries from my outfit journal (see the most recent installment here), so it’s high time for another post in the series.  For those who are new to the blog, I’ve been keeping a journal of my outfits since last summer.  In this journal, I write what I wore, where I wore it, how I felt about my outfit, and what I would change if I had it to do over again.   I also try to take photos of my outfits most days so I have both a visual and written representation of what I’m wearing.   This process takes me just minutes each day and has helped me tremendously in improving my personal style and wardrobe satisfaction.

Summer outfits

What do you like to wear during the summer months? 

I’m going to do a mini “series within a series” beginning with today’s post.   I will share two outfits from last summer as well as two outfits from this summer.   The outfits I’ve selected from last summer are ones that I don’t think work for various reasons.   I will share what I wrote about these outfits last year, as well as anything else I notice today about why the look didn’t work.   I will also comment on how I would change the ensemble if I were wearing it this summer.  The outfits from this summer are ones with which I was quite happy overall.   The reason for sharing the new looks is to highlight what I’ve learned as a result of keeping an outfit journal for over a year.  I have learned so much and I feel that it shows in what I’m wearing now and how my outfit satisfaction has increased.

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