Ask yourself ...am I ever going to wear that thong?
LUCKILY, I’ve got a name for tackling the bigger tidying tasks — the ones to save for when you’ve got a bit more time to spare. I call them hero tasks because they’re the ones that, after you’ve finally got round to doing them, make you feel like a superhero!
And the wardrobe is definitely one of them. I love shopping for clothes. The problem is, I find it really difficult to get rid of the ones I don’t wear.
I think, I might wear that one day . . . so my wardrobe can get out of control.
However, I’ve started getting on top of that now. If I haven’t worn something in the past year or if I can’t remember the last time I wore it, then I have to give it away because I’m not getting the use out of it.
With clothes, I do think if an item’s gone through every season of the year and you still haven’t worn it, then someone else deserves it.
WHERE TO START WITH WARDROBE CHAOS
JUST like tidying and organising anything else, first everything’s got to come out. But when it comes to organising my wardrobe I use a really slow and thorough process.
Things come out section by section. I’ll start with underwear, for example. I take it all out of the drawer, spread it over the floor and just look at it.
I’ve noticed with clothes — you’re probably the same — that I end up gravitating towards exactly the same things every day.
That means I have all this stuff that ends up never getting worn.
With my underwear, there might be three pairs of granny pants that just circulate in and out of the wash. I love them and they’re comfy and that’s what I want to wear. So, I will pick out those things — the ones I go for every day — and I’ll put them in my Definitely Keeping pile.
Once I’ve found a home for those, I’ll look through the remaining pile of stuff that I’ve been ignoring: the Maybes.
I’ll ask those allimportant questions, like: am I ever actually going to wear this? Is this thong comfortable? Do I like this matching set?
Then I’ll just get rid of anything I know, deep down, that I’m not going to wear. If it’s been sitting in there for ages and I’ve not worn it, then it really has to go.
You just keep going, section by section. Remove every single thing, lay it out, and look at it for a while. Do I wear it? Do I love it? Do I need it? Do I want to keep it? Is it worth me keeping it?
As you’re doing that, put aside the things that you’re definitely going to keep.
With the rest, instead of dividing it into Bin It or Recycle piles, the first thing I’ll do is say to my mum, my sister, Joe’s sisters, do you want anything?
They’ll have a rummage and if they don’t want it, it’ll go straight to charity.
I find some charity shops don’t accept clothes, or certain items, because they’ve got too much stock already.
So I try to find the places that need them and get it to them. There’s a good charity that collects bras (smallsforall.org), so I end up donating to them, for example.
ORDER CLOTHES IN A RAINBOW STYLE
I LIKE to hang up my clothes by colour. So instead of grouping together dresses, shirts, whatever, everything is organised by shade: white, black, pink.
That works for me, as most of the time, I’ll look and think, what colour do I want to wear today?
If you want to try it, sort your Definitely Keeping pile by colours before you put it all back.
Then, tackle just one colour at a time.
Put your whites back into the wardrobe first — hang the white dresses next to each other, then white shirts, white jumpers, white trousers — then go on to the next colour.
By the time you’re done, everything’s colour-coordinated, and each colour section is coordinated by garments, too. It’s so satisfying.
SORT YOUR DRAWERS
MY SYSTEM’S a bit different in my drawers: they are colour-coordinated, but first I group everything by what it is — it makes it easier to find things.
So, my top drawer is jeans and jeggings, arranged so they go from black to dark to light through to white.
The next drawer down is gym gear — leggings on one side, sports bras on the other. That’s the drawer that never gets opened, I’m not gonna lie! Then I’ve got a drawer for two-piece matching tracksuits and lounge sets, and another for swimming costumes and bikinis, and they’re all in colour order, too.
On the opposite side of my dressing room, my top drawer is for jewellery — I don’t use a jewellery box because I forget what I’ve got. Instead, I spread it out in a drawer and use a lot of little things to keep everything in place: ring holders, necklace holders, bracelet holders, and little plastic tubs with compartments.
Underneath that are my accessories — hats, belts, sunglasses — all in fabric boxes (I use IKeA ones) to keep them tidy. Next is underwear: bras on one side, knickers on the other, in little fabric boxes as well.
The drawer down from that is pyjamas, and I’ve also got a drawer of odds and sods: sarongs or random gilets. That’s a handy home for the bits and pieces you can’t think of a category for.