This is the first major declutter that I've done in a very long time because I like to keep my clothes for as long as possible and I really try to put a lot of thought into every purchase. That I make with the intent of having it around for many years. So I don't like to really clear things out too often but lately, I've been feeling slightly overrun I've been feeling like a couple pieces have been kind of in interim waiting periods for too long.
Now and it's time to go ahead and release those from my wardrobe. So I want to walk you through the process. I'm going to go over my decluttering mentality what I like to keep in mind and then really quickly the steps. That I take and then I'm going to walk you through the couple pieces. That I am parting with and then some things that I'm moving over into temporary categories. So I can test them out for the next couple of months or maybe the next year and then ultimately decide. If they are still serving me or not so let's get started let's start off with my personal wardrobe decluttering ethos. This is something that I've figured out over the last few years and I've trialed and errored a couple different methods and this is definitely the one that works the best for me and the one that I also find the most helpful for long-term personal style development and wardrobe curation and ultimately with the idea of having your clothes for as long as possible to decrease waste and kind of close that loop.
When it comes to clothing and fashion so what I like to do is I like to buy things and keep them. So I very rarely will buy a trendy piece or a classic piece with the idea of getting rid of it. So I try to find high-quality things even if it is going to be something trendy and then I also really try my best to find trends. That I think I will like for more than just one season and then ultimately a trend that really speaks to me. So I can keep it for many years and then pull it back out when that trend kind of recycles. So that approach has become really helpful for me and it's a departure from what I used to do when I first started wardrobe curation and this whole process.
I did a lot of the traditional wardrobe decluttering methods. Where every couple of months I would take everything out and then go through it all and then get rid of things and that served me well for the beginning because it really helped me focus on things that truly worked for my style and figure out. What I loved to wear and what I didn't love to wear but now that I know that better I can more adequately fill my closet with things. That I don't need to get rid of so I really recommend that for you as well depending on where you are in this process try your best to create a closed closet and fill it with things that you have the intention of keeping because that ultimately does serve.
I think our wardrobes and the environment the best way possible now let's go over. How I personally declutter my closet the actual steps. That I take I've done videos about this in the past that go into a lot of detail. I'm going to keep it really a top-line but I do want to go over the steps. That I take because I think it can be helpful because I've figured out a system that makes it a lot less overwhelming and a lot more manageable. So I find it to be enjoyable rather than really stressful. So the first step is to always categorize my clothing. I like to keep everything organized in my closet in my drawers by category anyway and I find that decluttering by category makes it a lot more manageable. So I will always do all of my sweaters together all my pants together all my boots etc and I will take everything in that category out of my closet and then try it all on and go through the process of determining whether things fit me whether they need to be mended altered in any way or whether it's time to potentially part with those so throughout.
That I will organize things into four basic categories so those categories are to keep donate sell or temporary on hold now my on hold category refers to anything. That I'm on the fence about so maybe I'm not sure if it's still part of my personal style maybe it kind of needs altering in some capacity but I don't know if it's worth it or I don't really wear it that often or maybe it was trendy but now it's not but I know I don't want to get rid of it. So I will put those things in one of two places I've tried both and they both work really well the first is the back of my closet. So they're out of sight but they're still there if I want to reach for them and then the second place is in a separate container either under my bed or on the top of my closet.
So the same principle applies is if I want to reach for it or I think of it it's still there and this has saved me. So many um mistakes get rid of basically because when I first started this I was really aggressive and I would get rid of things and then regret it. So this has saved me a lot of regrets and I really really recommend this part of it because it's a lot better. I think that you don't get over-excited and get rid of too many things and then end up regretting it wasting money and having to rebuy something a year or two from now. So I really like that part of it so I will then repeat that process for every single category and as I'm done with each category I put them back to where they belong so whether that's in my drawers or my dresser or in my shoe rack the bottom of my closet and then once that's all done and all the categories have been worked through over a couple days.
Maybe a couple weeks at some times even I've taken my time doing this in the past once that's all done all that's left to do is enjoy your new wardrobe and your newfound decluttering. So now I want to go over the things that I'm going to get rid of now I've broken this into two categories. They're going to be things that are going to be leaving my house they're things that no longer serve me. They've been living in my temporary on hold category for a while sometimes even a couple years. I've pulled them back out experimented with them and have ultimately decided that they no longer serve my style but they're still good enough for someone else to enjoy and then the other category is anything.
That I'm going to be moving to the on-hold section of my closet. So I'm going to walk you through each piece and a little bit of the reasoning. Why so that hopefully it can help you kind of apply that thought process to your own wardrobe and your own process let's go through my on hold category first and the first item in this is my fitted black blazer. I've had this blazer for a while now I really love it I've worn it a ton I've brought it with me on vacation it's a really great piece because it's a great material. It's a wall but it's thin so it's breathable it's lined it fits me really well in pretty much every point but I bought this second hand and it was a spot.
That I needed to fill in my wardrobe the price point was perfect for me and it served me perfectly well as long as I rolled up the sleeves and the reason for that is because I would ideally have shorter sleeve lengths to suit my petite frame but these are regular length sleeves. So they come a little bit long so I don't really get to show off the sleeve of my shirt or my sweater and it's just not as perfect as it could be so I would love to have it tailored and have the sleeves shortened but the problem is that I haven't been able to find someone. Who can do it the way that I want yet I've had blazers altered this way in the past. Where they have functioning buttons on the sleeve and I want to keep those intact so the tailor will actually take the jacket up from the shoulder. It's really kind of intensive to do it that way it tends to be pretty expensive and when I was living in new york I had a couple tailors that did that really well and didn't charge a lot but I'm finding it harder. Where I live now to find someone who can do that and the only person that said they could be going to give me an insane quote. They wanted to charge 250 to do that and that's ridiculous. I might as well buy a new blazer at that point so ultimately I'm gonna keep searching for a tailor who can do that and then if I'm unable to find one I will probably donate this blazer because it's still in really beautiful condition someone else will be able to wear it and enjoy it and then I will fill that spot with something else in my own closet the next thing.
That's going on hold is this blue silk dress this is one of the first things that I bought when I first started to redo my wardrobe and focus on material and construction and actually find my personal style and I think this dress is maybe eight years old. Now at this point and it's perfect it's really in perfect condition no stains no tears nothing everything is held up really beautiful but I don't really wear it that often anymore. So I want to challenge myself to style it in new ways and to do that I'm moving it to my on hold category to see how often I reach for it how much i think of it and how much I actively go to style it. So the challenge has been accepted on my behalf and we'll see how it goes but if it of course doesn't continue to serve me in the next year or two I will then make the decision to either donate or sell this to a better home but can enjoy it a little bit more moving right along the next thing.
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