Whether it’s ‘groundbreaking’ florals, sipping champagne trackside, donning outlandish headwear or sunny mornings and budding blooms, spring is synonymous with many things. Arguably the most undeniably spring-thing to do is clean. The change of season is the perfect time to declutter and organise your wardrobe.
As stylists, this is one of our very favourite things to do. Our resident de-clutter experts, share their expert wardrobe culling tips below to make your spring clean a breeze.
Enjoy the process
Take a cue from Sex and the City, get your squad together and make it fun. Blast your favourite music, break out the vino and get to work. Brief your assistants on what you’re wanting to achieve. Are you’re looking to cull your wardrobe significantly? Or, are you simply trying to get rid of a few items which no longer serve you? Come up with a voting system to eliminate bias, but trust your friend’s judgement. Don’t feel bad if you cannot part with one or two of your favourite things, despite the votes.
Create a sorting system
Separate your clothes into four categories; ‘love’, ‘maybe’, ‘donate’ and ‘toss’. These are the four categories to begin with; you can always reexamine your love pile for a few more culls, but try not to go back through your toss pile. Reframe from putting items in your toss pile unless they’re damaged beyond repair. Anything that can be donated and should be donated, provided it’s still in good condition. Also, if you’re environmentally minded, consider up-styling the item into something else. Get creative with your toss pile. Slogan t-shirts make cool cushion covers, knitted jumpers make cosy pet beds and repurpose your flannelette pyjamas.
Don’t be afraid to cull
Get rid of anything that no longer fits, that you haven’t worn in the last six months or that you no longer like. You don’t need to keep something simply because you paid for it. Too often we guilt ourselves into keeping things because we paid money for them. Let yourself off the hook by donating these items. Your buyers remorse could be someone else’s favourite finds.
Keep sentimental style involved
Get rid of clothes that you associate with bad memories, you don’t need that kind of juju. Similarly, don’t keep an outfit you’ll never wear again just because it has sentimental value. However, also don’t feel pressured to get rid of an item that makes you happy, or holds positive memories, just because you no longer wear it.
Build outfits
Now that you’ve sorted through the items individually, put together a couple of great outfits from your love and maybe piles. If you find something you can’t build an outfit around, it could be time to say goodbye. If you notice some gaps in your wardrobe, create a shopping list of a few hero items you might need to invest in.
Organise your wardrobe
Make a system, fold everything nicely and hang all your items facing the same way and on the same type of hanger. Our stylists love to use black slimline velvet hangers. Colour code your wardrobe or sort your clothes on occasion, this will make the OCD side of you incredibly happy.
Enlist a professional
Sorting and culling your wardrobe is no easy feat so why not consider hiring a trained stylist to help you? While your friend’s opinions are golden, they may be caught up in their own tastes. A professional fashion stylist can offer you a non-biased opinion on what you should and should not be keeping, based on what is best for your body shape, lifestyle and so much more.
Better yet, if you enjoy the process of your wardrobe clean out, maybe you should consider where a career in culling could take you! Learn more about our fashion styling courses here.
Written by Kaitlyn Wilson.
