Most women wear only 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time.
Here are my top tips to help you fall in love with your clothes again and to make your wardrobe work harder for you in 2020 and beyond.
Start by taking everything out of your wardrobe — vacuum it and wash it down with a damp cloth.
Add lots of lavender bags or hooks to keep moths away from your knitwear. Top up with a couple of drops of lavender oil.
Invest in good quality, non-slip hangers. Those from the dry cleaners will ruin shoulder lines. Place the hangers the right way round and hang only clean clothes. They should be zipped and buttoned up.
Create enough hanging space. You want to hear a swishing sound when you move hangers, not a scrape and a heave of a bulging wardrobe!
A good balance of neutrals and colours in your wardrobe; usually a 50/50 split is ideal.
Group your wardrobe by clothing type — jumpers, tops, trousers, skirts, etc., and by colour — red jumpers, black jumpers, blue jumpers, etc. That way you’ll see where the colour and item gaps are.
There have to be key pieces in your wardrobe that work hard throughout the year and suit your lifestyle, whether that’s work, rest or play.
Once you’ve identified the gaps, write a shopping list. Then shop for those missing items – and only those. This requires resilience and self control — good luck!
Avoid over washing or dry cleaning your clothes as this causes colour loss and can damage the fabric and mis-shape the clothes through shrinkage or stretching.
If you haven’t worn something for over a year, ask yourself why not? If it’s too tight, too big, doesn’t really suit me, an heirloom, a gift you’d feel guilty giving away … store it elsewhere. You want everything left to be the right colour and size for now.
Get your clothes altered so you fall in love with them again. I use The Wardrobe Curator in Clapham Junction – they can turn their hand to anything. It’s cheaper than buying something new and anyway, you may not find a suitable alternative for an item you once loved.
http://www.thewardrobecurator.co.uk/
Why not rent or sell clothes or accessories that you seldom or no longer wear? That way you’ll make room for key pieces. Try https://www.mywardrobehq.com
Special offer: 10% off wardrobe consultations with code ‘DARLINGWARDROBE2020’ until 1 May 2020.
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