Did you all have fun brainstorming yesterday?  Ready for another day in the series?  Here is Stephanie to coach us through a closet cleanout!

Here is where the real fun begins! Today we purge our closet. This is always my favorite part because I love seeing my bare closet. It reminds me of the beauty of simplicity. It reminds me how much having empty space in my closet….being able to see all my favorite pieces….putting them back one by one…brings me JOY.

So today you must take EVERY CLOTHING ITEM OUT OF YOUR CLOSET. Yup. EVERYTHING. The only things you are allowed to leave are exercise clothes, pjs, socks, and underthings (things that wouldn’t fit into your capsule).

Take out:

Sweaters

Tanks

Dresses

Tees

Leggings

Socks

Jewelry

Purses

Shoes

Belts

Coats

Swimsuits

Other seasonal wear

Let me know if you think I’m leaving anything important out.

I typically lay everything on the bed, but if you have a lot of stuff to go through, you should put your pile in a place where it can stay for a day without inconveniencing you terribly. When I did my big purge I laid everything on the floor in my living room. All day it looked like my toddler’s room after she has friends over.

Now, Marie Kondo might scold me for this, but I like putting on some classical music at this point. This is to prevent me from getting major decision fatigue after going through all my clothes. I find the music helps soothe me a bit so I don’t get overwhelmed by the large pile. DON’T use this as time to catch up on Downton Abbey or Serial’s latest podcast. You want to have all your attention focused on this task so you can get through it as quickly and efficiently as possible. Trust me.

So here is what you are going to do. You are going to pick up each piece of clothing and put them in one of 4-6 piles.

1. Love
2. Maybe
3. Seasonal
4. Donate
5. Maternity
6. Trash

1. Love. These are the pieces that bring you JOY. This can be hard at first, but you will figure it out as you discover your personal style. These are the pieces you wear constantly and bring you a sense of joy and confidence when you wear them. No, your Target yoga pants and VS hoodie probably aren’t going to be in this pile. Think about what you would wear if you were doing a runway fashion show of your closet. Also, think back at your brainstorming day yesterday. You don’t need three fancy dresses if the only fancy events you go to are the occasional wedding and Christmas party. Also, though you might like the variety in color, perhaps that shade of green does nothing for your skin tone.
2. Maybe. If you can’t tell if you love it, that probably means it has to go. But I totally understand wanting to hold onto your “maybes”. As you figure out what your loves are, it’s totally ok to have a pile of things you want to hold onto to see if you end up wearing them. The caveat here is that if you don’t wear the this season, then OUT they go! I do this for a lot of my basic pieces. Right. Is I have a basic black sweater in my maybe pile. I rarely wear it, but it’s a basic, so I’m going to hold onto it in case.
3. Seasonal. Swimsuits, short sleeves, fancy spring dresses, shorts, coats, flip-flops….you get the idea. Unless you live in a place like CA or FL, then put what isn’t in season into storage until you are ready to go through your next season’s capsule. I already have all my clothes divided by season, so I didn’t have anything other than my coats and a fancy dress for this pile. For those of you who can’t store anything or who live in a climate with constant summer, you probably don’t need/want this pile. One option for you guys might be to look into creating an all-year-round capsule….or maybe a two season capsule.
4. Donate. I think this one is obvious?
5. Maternity. Also obvious I hope! Lol! If it’s a piece you can and do wear when pregnant or not, keep it separate. But if it’s an obvious maternity piece and you don’t have a bun in the oven currently, then store it just like your seasonal stuff.
6. Trash. If you wouldn’t give it to your sister, it goes here and NOT in the donate pile.

I ENCOURAGE you to get through all of your clothes in one day. Even if it seems like a lot of work, you will feel better about not dragging in on for two days. Again, trust me.

Once you have all your piles divided the store, bag, toss, donate each one. Hang up or fold your “loves” in your closet. I fold my “maybes” and put them on a high shelf where I can see the, but have to make an effort to get them down. This encourages me to only get it down if I really need to add it to my wardrobe. You could also hang your “maybes” in a separate part of your closet. Or you can just put them in a box. Just remember to keep the separate so you can toss/donate them after the season is over.

Don’t worry if you feel like you still have too many clothes, you got rid of too much, or you don’t have any real outfits. Tomorrow we will go over how to sculpt your wardrobe with what is left.

For fun, post a pic of your pile/piles of clothes! Or take a before and after of your closet! Or post a pic of something you can’t decide on so you can get feedback.  Lets make this process as enjoyable as possible, since this really is the toughest part.

Thanks Stephanie!  Alright time to roll up my sleeves and get to work!  I’ll see you all tomorrow!