Get Your Closet Ready To Be Shopped, 10 Easy Steps
Nancy Goldblatt, “The Wardrobe Wizard of Baltimore,” Color 1, Personal Image Consultant
Is your closet dark and so crowded with clothes that you can’t really see what’s in there? Do you have wire hangers mixed in with plastic hangers hanging in different directions? If you have “huggable hangers,” in matching colors, congratulations.
In order to “shop your closet,” you need to clean your closet out first. Here are 10 easy steps you can take to get your closet ready to be “shopped.”
1. Install a light in your closet so you can see what you have. If there is a fixture someplace for a bulb put one in. If there is no fixture for a bulb you can install a battery operated light. You can purchase LED battery operated lights that last a long time. Battery operated lights for your closet will run you anywhere from $12 to $26. Go to Amazon.com/ for some choices. Also,if you room lighting is dim, get a few full spectrum bulbs and put them in table lamps or purchase one or two OTT lights, either desk type style or floor models. JoAnn Fabrics frequently has them on sale and you can find some good prices online also.
2. Once you have enough light to see what you have, its time to go exploring. Set aside a few hours to do this exploring.
3. If you don’t have a portable hanging clothes rack, use a bed or table. Recently, my friend Joy told me about a product she likes a lot that she purchased at QVC called the “Hang Up.” Its a portable, collapsible rod with 3 arms. (You can use it for storing, drying and sorting clothes.) Each arm holds a minimum of 30 hangers. You can get two for $58.26. The number is M12586 at QVC.com
4. You will need 6 boxes or 6 large garbage bags. Label them, “give away or consign,” “repair or alter,” “needs washing or cleaning,” ” too big or small” “sentimental keepsake,” and “never worn.” (Most women have three sizes of clothes in their closets. Unless you plan to lose or gain a lot of weight, I suggest you only keep clothes that are no more than one size too small or too large.)
5. The too big or small clothes,” can be stored away for now. You can separate these items into two plastic boxes labeled “too big,” and one labeled “too small.” If and when you gain or lose weight you can go through these boxes.
6. You can review the clothing that needs washing or cleaning now or later.
7. Try on the repair or alter items to see if they truly are worth repairing or altering.
8. Give away items that you can not consign can go to a friend or to Goodwill or Amvets. If you donate and itemize you can deduct this from your income taxes.
9. The “sentimental keepsakes,” are items you can’t bear to part with. Store them in a covered labeled container.
10. The “never worn items,” need to be evaluated for why you have never worn them. Are they orphans waiting for a second piece? Try to determine why you have not worn the item. If you think you will never wear it, take it to a consignment shop or donate it and get a tax write off.
You are now ready to evaluate what’s left in your closet. (There may not be much left.) What’s left is probably your “old faithful clothes,” that you wear regularly. Also, you may have a few “million dollar looks,” in your closet. What is a “million dollar look”? You always get compliments when you wear the piece or outfits. Because you look terrific, you feel extremely confident when you wear it.
Are you still unsure what to let go of or what you need to add to fill in the gaps in your wardrobe? You can try on everything left in your closet on and do the “Blink Test,” see Blog “Do You Feel Like A Beauty or A Beast?” Part 2. http://blog.wardrobewiz.com/?p=1880/
Are you still unsure what is really flattering? Wondering what you need to add to look current. Tired of wasting time and money on clothes that don’t work for you? Want more “million dollar looks,” in your closet?
Time to contact the Wardrobe Wizard, Nancy Goldblatt, at Nancy@WardrobeWiz.com or call 410-513-9496. Personal Image Consultant. She is a Color 1 Associate, with over 20 years of experience helping women whose size and shape has changed, to shop in their closets. She is now offering online consulting to long distance customers. WWW.WardrobeWiz.com. 410-513-9496, Nancy@WardrobeWiz.com/
I briefly mentioned hangers at the beginning of the article. “Huggable Hangiers,” were the original hangers that Joy Mangamo (sp) originated.
I believe there are some knockoff brands around now. This type of hanger takes up less space than plastic hangers and your clothes won’t slip off of them. They don’t cause those horrible pointy marks to appear in the shoulder area. I highly recommend this type of hanger. Get rid of your metal hangers.