The First Step To Loving What You Wear
With a new year underway, many people are planning closet edits in their efforts to get better organized. Out with the old, in with the new. Basically, a closet edit consists of going through your clothing and deciding what to keep and what to let go. Sounds simple, right?
Unfortunately, that’s usually not the case. Think back to the last time you went through your closet. The convo you had with yourself may have gone something like this:
Hmmm, should I keep this one? Well...
⇢ I know I don't wear it but I spent so much money on it!
⇢ It was a gift so I feel like I have to keep it.
⇢ I mean it's okay. I don't hate it, and I don’t really want to find a replacement, so I guess it's a keeper?
⇢ I don’t have anything else I can wear instead.
And you know what happens next...you end up putting it right back in the closet. Before you know it, your big closet cleanse project that you were so excited about ends with you having spent hours and hours going through your clothes to donate only a handful of items. The rest, you just shove back in there and shut the door.
The next day when you go to get dressed, you open that same crammed closet and wear the same 3 things you wore last week. Then you probably mumble to yourself something about having nothing to wear.
Frustrating, right?! There's a better way!
Instead of asking yourself "should I keep this?" try this powerful question instead - “do I love this?"
Why? When presented with the option to keep something or give it up, your natural instinct is always going to be to keep it. As humans, we see giving it away as losing something - and our subconscious will naturally resist "losing" anything. You can blame your hunter-gatherer ancestors for that one!
Your subconscious can come up with all kinds of reasons why you should hang on to a piece of clothing. You might need it eventually. You might not find anything better. Clothes are expensive and it feels like wasting money to let it go. You’ll hurt a loved one's feelings. And on and on.
You may not want to let your clothes go for a variety of reasons, but at some point, if you don’t do it, the situation only gets harder. The questions don’t change, and most likely, neither will the answers. In the meantime, you just acquire more. More clothes, more guilt. Less space.
Scanning through a ton of pieces just to find the few things you can actually wear (or actually want to wear) has your brain entering decision fatigue before you even leave the bedroom. And it can easily put a damper on your entire day. Mornings are hard enough. Why do that to yourself?
Both the questions of “Should I keep it?” and “Do I love it?” actually have a lot of subconscious cues going on - yet only one of those questions keeps the focus on what actually lights you up and allows you to curate your style from a place of abundance instead of scarcity. And when you’re focused on what you love, you can release the guilt of letting go.
That’s right, you don’t have to feel guilty about letting those pieces go.
Let me say that again. You don’t have to feel guilty about letting those pieces go! You deserve to look and feel your best every second of every day.
Need another reason? When a person is surrounded by things that make them happy, they’re less stressed and in an all around better mood. That means your family, friends and everyone you interact with will benefit too.
Asking yourself if you love a particular piece encourages you to see your closet as a space reserved only for pieces you love. This tactic actually works for everything in your home. Mari Kondo calls it “sparking joy.” If it doesn’t “spark joy”, you don’t need it.
The theory in a nutshell is that if you don’t love everything in your space, you’re wasting your time and precious energy avoiding it. Your closet is no exception. Why let clothing you don’t love clutter up your space?
Which is exactly why editing your closet is the first step to loving what you wear! Imagine what it would be like having a closet that is only filled with clothes that you look and feel great in. That’s the goal we’re going for here. And it’s a totally attainable one, too.
These questions are the foundation for how I approach closet edits with my clients and why I get results that are beyond anything that they could have imagined.
Wearing only things you love makes you feel empowered and gorgeous all day long.
After a successful closet edit, never again will you have to try on 6 different outfits before you find one you feel good in. Imagine that every piece in your closet, is a piece you can’t wait to wear. They all fit well, they all make you feel amazing, and they all reflect your personality. Every single time.
Another closet edit bonus is finding favorite pieces that you forgot about. Somehow they were shoved into the back or fell off a hanger - and finding your favorite pants after 6 months of looking for them is such a great feeling!
Your closet edit will help you save time getting dressed in the morning and you’ll start your day in a better mood. It’s a win-win situation. In fact, I’m willing to bet that if you edit your closet, you’ll feel so good that you’ll be inspired to edit the other spaces in your life (and look fabulous while doing it!) - for example, your kitchen. Goodbye, 7 wooden spoons!
Donating clothes that you don't love can also be a great way to make room for new items that you do love. Remember that dress you saw last week but didn’t buy because you didn’t have the room for it? Now you will!
It's a good idea to go through your closet and edit it every season or so to make sure that you're not keeping things that are no longer your style.
Want to experience the relief of having a closet filled with pieces you actually like and, heck, even love? I can help! Click the link below to sign up for your free Style Discovery call and let's make it happen!
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ABOUT:
I'm a Minneapolis personal stylist on a mission to eradicate outdated style 'rules' so women can unleash themselves in all their beautiful, authentic glory!
I offer personal styling services that empower women to wear what they love by helping them ditch any outdated style rules keeping them stuck, showing them how to dress in a way that embraces their beautiful body and, the key to it all, having fun! I believe in a liberated style approach so there are no style rules, body shapes, seasonal colors or dos and don’ts given out here. Rather, I help my clients tap into what lights them up and dress with the purpose of expressing their authentic selves rather than impressing others.
This is all done through a combination of styling services (including wardrobe edits, shopping trips and styling sessions) available in thoughtfully curated styling packages designed to help clients unleash their true self through the power of style.
When I'm not helping women take back their power style, you can find me reading (about a gazillion books at once), learning the art of pole dancing, making & decorating cakes, binging a random circa 2000's TV show with my hubby, Aaron, while playing with my adorable rescue pup or, of course, shopping! :-)