Overhaul and organise, get your wardrobe ready for winter!

Izelle du Pisanie Izelle du Pisanie
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Winter is coming to South Africa and there is no stopping it. It will be best, however, to get your closet set for the icy month before they catch you off guard. Now, this is easier said than done, and most of dread having to organise and re-organise our ever-growing clothes collection. At this point, it may just seem like too much work.

Well, it doesn’t have to be, and on homify today, we are going to show you how. There are some basic rules we need to adhere to when organising and re-organising our wardrobes, and if we stick to these, it will carry us through every season. 

So let’s not waste any more time and get right to the heart of the matter… Here are a few simple steps to organise your wardrobe!

One category at a time

Ok, so what you are getting ready for, is much like a detox or cleanse for your closet. You will have to prepare for getting rid of all the things you do not need or use (more on that later). If you’re getting your wardrobe ready for winter, you are naturally going to bring out the warmer things to the forefront, but before we do anything, we first have to get rid of the clutter.

If you think you don't even have all the space you need for a proper overhaul of your clothes collection, take a look at how you can: Transform an unused room into a walk-in closet!

The first rule, is to do your sorting one category at a time. If you are looking at a pair of pants and a dress and deciding which should stay or go, it will be like comparing apples with oranges. Rather start with pants only and work your way through, then move on the tops, dresses, skirts, etc.

Make (only) two piles

Now down to the sorting method. Obviously there will be times when you are unsure about an item or want to put it somewhere in between keeping and throwing away. This is, however, a toxic method. As soon as you leave room for grey areas, you make yourself vulnerable to ending up with exactly the same batch of clothes you began with. To make room for all the items you’ll need this winter (and, of course, to add to it), you will have cut out the superfluous. Don’t worry, we have some advice on how to do that later.

For now, just know that your decision about an items should be clear-cut: It either stays or goes. There is no space for grey areas. So, make yourself two piles for these two categories, and stick to it no matter what.

As there are a great deal of people who are not so fortunate to even consider which clothes to keep or throw away, make sure that your ‘going’ pile is earmarked for donation.

Have you worn it in the last year?

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Now we get down to how you decide whether a piece of clothing belongs on the ‘keep’ or ‘donate’ pile. We start with an old and familiar favourite, that rings perpetually true. The “one-year rule” is the golden standard of closet re-organisation. You can ask anyone about it, and they will tell you that this is how you measure an items status in your wardrobe.

If you have an item in your wardrobe which you haven’t worn for a year, there’s no way that you’re going to start now. We cannot live our lives by hypotheticals and it’s common knowledge that what looks good on the hanger does not always flatter the figure. If you do finally lose those extra pounds you think you need to fit into that white dress again, wouldn’t you rather like an all-new wardrobe to accentuate your transformation?

Double-ups

The next tip is to take a look at the things you have more than one of. We all like to have a strong staple of basics in our closets – those items that you can mix and match with anything, and that forms part of almost any outfit. This is especially important for the winter, when we often wear a bottom layer unseen to others.

We do have to be mindful, however, of how we define these basics. There may be a few things that we don’t actually wear that often, but that we have more than we need of. Or maybe you simply fell in love with a dress very similar to one you already have. In these cases, simply pick the one you actually wear when you do, and set the others free.

Does it work with other clothes you have?

The next rule concerns the bigger picture. Gestalt theory tells us that the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts. This applies just as well to fashion. A pair of pants may look fantastic, but does not fit with any top you own or that you’ve seen so far. Unless you’re prepared to walk around topless (and more power to you if you are), the pants will have to go.

A good rule of thumb in this case is the see how you can style an item in at least three ways with the rest of the clothes available to you in your closet. If you can’t make three, it’s time to move on.

Clothes that don't fit right

Now this seems like it should be common sense, but it is easy for us to get sentimental about clothes and have unrealistic ideals. We must, however, let go of clothes that do not fit right. A dress may be technically the right size, but accentuate all of the wrong places on your figure.

Look, we don’t need to lecture you on this part. You know yourself and you know your body. Therefore, you know what works and what doesn’t. Obviously you have to try everything, then decide whether it is for you or not. But if it doesn’t work, don’t try and fool yourself.

Organise

If you haven’t done so already, it is high time to invest in organisation. If you’re the type of person who reads articles about organising your wardrobe, you are certainly someone who cares a great deal for their clothing, and rightly so. Therefore, it’s time to get your hands of the proper tools for making the most out of your closet.

Get your hands on some very slim coat hangers, canvas shoe compartments and hampers for your laundry. You can let your imagination run wild with interesting colours and fun designs too. Just look at this quirky design from Elfa!

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