SHEfinds | Justine Ingersoll Schwartz
Raise your hand if you are guilty of keeping clothes because you *might* wear them again. The going-out top from college you think you might be able to fit into again if you start doing SoulCycle more. The boot-cut designer jeans you can’t let go of because they’re 7FAM or Citizens of Humanity – but when was the last time you wore anything but skinnies? The cashmere sweater with pit stains. The 21 things from Forever 21 that were just too trendy when you bought them. And so on.
The hardest part is letting go of the “maybe” factor. How do you give something away that you think there’s even a chance you’ll wear again? The answer is the Closet Strategy. Prepare to have your mind blown.
What is the Closet Strategy? Well, depending on who you ask, the methodology might change – but the underlying process is the same: Change something about how your clothes are stored/hung, then every time you wear something, put it back in the closet the regular way. After a specified amount of time (two seasons?), whatever is still hanging the weird/new way means that you haven’t worn it and you should get rid of it. Kind of genius, right?
So, what are different techniques? Some people turn the actual hanger around so the hook is facing out (then put it back the right way). Some people wrap a piece of tape or string or rubber band around the neck of the hanger and remove it after wearing the item. Some people even hang the clothing so it’s off-kilter on the hanger (like one sleeve off). Etc.
You get it – the idea is to create a way to identify whether something has been taken off the hanger and worn at any point in six to nine months (because it’s often difficult to try to remember whether you’ve worn something over a long time frame).
Some organization experts even suggest making it a tighter window – 28 days per season – to really thin out the clothes you don’t love-love. This will depend on how ambitious you want to be: Do you want a really carefully curated, slimmed-down wardrobe and a closet where you can see everything and access it easily? Ask yourself what your perfect closet looks like, then set the parameters from there. If you really are making a lifestyle change that will affect your body in same way (going on Weight Watchers or training for a body-building contest) or if your weight consistently fluctuates between two sizes (like if you need a pregnant wardrobe and a non-pregnant wardrobe), consider doing the experiment at both sizes.
Once you’ve determined which clothes you no longer wear, don’t forget to sign up for consignment apps like Poshmark that make selling your clothes really easy and give away anything you can’t sell to your favorite local charity.
