Managing my wardrobe.

I've decided to do a proper house clear out this year, partly because I will be moving and it's a daunting prospect that all the stuff I currently have at home needs to be taken elsewhere (there's just too much of it), partly because I've become interested in minimalism and owing less.

I've started with paperwork and in one evening I've got rid of two folders full of old notes, printouts, advertisements and who knows what else. This was an easy fix, though I still want to digitalise most of the paper documents I have lying around.

My bookcase also got hit with the clearing out madness and many books which I have already read and would not read again, or those which I've started reading but never finished got sold or given away. I love books, but I have so many, and I spend insane amount of money on books each year that I've resolved to use the local library more.

Now the time has come to tackle my wardrobe.

This was my pile of clothes after I've emptied the wardrobe and suitcases. Loads and loads of stuff.  Dresses, jumpers, trousers, tops, skirts... The good thing is, I actually remembered that I had every single item here. So no surprises when the contents of my wardrobe was sifted through.

To aid sorting, some organisation was necessary I've made piles of types of clothing: this seemed like the only system that will work and will give me an overview of what I really have.

Now, I didn't think I had loads of stuff, I actually pretty regularly donate unwanted clothes to charity, but after I've counted all the clothing items that I had, I was rather shocked. This is when all the surprises came. This is my list:

13 pairs of bottoms?! I don't even like wearing trousers! Also, 19 dresses, I knew I had loads, but didn't quite realise that it was so MANY. It's insane! And the thing is, very few of those items were actually weather-specific. Apart from winter coats (yep, multiple >.<), the vast majority of my clothes can be worn all year round, with the exception of some summer dresses and such, so why do I need so much?!

Making this list of all the things that I possess made me quite uncomfortable. I don't need 3 different hoodies. I really don't, I barely ever wear sportswear. I don't need all 19 dresses. Or 17 tops! Oh my... And this is AFTER I've done some wardrobe decluttering already. I seriously got rid of so much stuff already. Insane.

I have managed to downsize massively now, although I still have a bunch of things that I'm not sure about. Those occasion dresses have been listed online, little bits and pieces taken to charity shops. I've realised that I have a lot of bold pieces but not so many neutral staple pieces that could be easily mixed and matched. This will eventually become my focused, to build a more functional collection of clothes.

Here's my wardrobe now, minus a shirt, a dress and a couple of tops. Most categories of items on my list have been halved in quantity.

For the time being, I'm testing whether the items that I've decided to keep are actually items that I wear regularly. I put all the hangers backwards and they only get turned around when I wear that item. Hopefully after a few months all the hangers will be turned around. But if not, then I will need to reconsider certain pieces.

I would recommend to do a wardrobe purge to everyone. It really does make you re-evaluate your possessions. Do I want to have loads of clothes of often poor quality or do I want fewer clothes that will last? Do I want to spend loads of time trying to work out what to wear or do I want to have a set of outfits that I can rely on?

I think now it's a nice to do it as well, because the winter season is coming to the end so you can go through your warm clothes and declutter those which you didn't wear at all. And you can go through your spring/summer outfits and really ask yourself: do I want to wear this in the next few months? This will only take a couple of hours in the afternoon. Listen to a good podcast while you're doing it (I really recommend Hidden Brain on NPR). And afterwards, treat yourself to a good cup of coffee and a hot cross bun or whatever else you fancy.