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Five Simple Ways to Organize Your
Closet Today!
Renu Dalal-Jain
Do you have an
overstuffed, bulging closet (or two) full of clothes, and yet wear the
same three or four outfits repeatedly? Do you have few clothes and
despair every time you put something on because you know it just does
not look quite right? Would you like to be able to wear EVERYTHING you
have in your closet? And know that you look good every time you do?
Renu Dalal-Jain, a certified image consultant and the owner of Flair
Consulting in Philadelphia, PA, works with men and women to help them
put their best personal face forward in social or corporate settings.
Renu teaches her clients how to organize their closets and shop smart so
that they always have the right clothes to wear for the right occasion.
Renu teaches five easy steps that you can follow today to organize your
closet so that you can understand what you have and what you need to
purchase to complete your wardrobe!
FIRST Prepare! Set aside at least three to four hours for the task, and
make sure you have access to a full-length mirror. Wear neutral
undergarments, as you will be trying on everything you own. All hangers
should be of the same size and type (all plastic, or all wooden) and
made for specific clothing items top/dress hanger, pant hanger, etc.
This will save you precious space in your closet. Hangers.com is a
wonderful website (www.hangers.com) that sells all types of hangers at
less than one dollar apiece.
SECOND get organized! Dump your entire closet out onto the floor of your
bedroom and be brutal with yourself. Those bell-bottoms from 1973 get
rid of them! The shoe with the broken heel that you never got around to
fixing… gone! You will be surprised at how much you can get rid of, and
how little you really need it.
One rule of thumb that
Renu always use is that if you haven’t used it in at least one year, YOU
DON’T NEED IT. Some of you might think, “Well, it’s got sentimental
value I have to keep that old sweater that I got in fifth-grade band
camp!” Well everyone understands sentimental value but it doesn’t belong
in your closet. Put it in a box with your scrapbooks and old photos and
put it in the attic. Now you will have room for the key things that you
are always going to wear, and always going to feel good about. Wear
clothes that make you feel radiant, not reasonable!
THIRD Divide what you have kept of your wardrobe, into business, casual
and evening wear. And if you are one of the lucky ones who actually got
that long-promised Caribbean vacation, make a section for
vacation/resort wear. By organizing your clothes this way, you will know
what section to turn to in a snap. When you are dividing your wardrobe,
pay attention to your “comfort zones”… do you wear only black slacks and
sweaters to the office? Do you have sixteen white button-down shirts?
Make notes for yourself so that when you next go shopping, you are aware
of what your comfort zone is, and resist purchases within that zone.
Stepping outside your comfort zone will help you expand your wardrobe
and experiment with other styles.
FOURTH Try on each item… this is the most important step! Make sure it
still fits well, with no pulls, tears, or unseemly tucks or threads. If
it’s too tight, too bright, or just plain outdated, even if it’s in mint
condition, get rid of it! Make notes of what you no longer have in your
wardrobe and need to purchase. For example, if you’ve gotten rid of
every old pair of chinos you had, put it on your list of new purchases.
If you had one black sweater (a staple item that goes with everything)
that was completely worn out, make sure you replace it. Put aside the
items you want to keep that need to be mended or cleaned, and make an
agreement with yourself to have that done within one week of your
personal closet overhaul.
FIFTH Put everything back in your closet and dresser. Renu’s rule of
thumb is to hang pants, skirts, shirts, thicker sweaters and jackets.
Fold very heavy items like jeans, and very delicate items like
undergarments and cashmere or other loose knits, which will lose their
shape if hung. Hang your clothes according to business, casual and
evening wear. Within those categories, you can further hang all pants
together, all shirts together, all skirts together, etc. Hang pants and
skirts on clip hangers; folding them over a wire hanger will cause them
to wrinkle and become prone to tearing at the bend.
Don’t worry if your closet suddenly looks empty to you. You are just
creating the space to build the type of wardrobe you’ve always dreamed
of having. Now you can make knowledgeable purchases by understanding
what you already have, what your comfort zones are, and what items you
really need.
A bonus: feel good while you organize donate your clothes to any of the
many great organizations in your area. In the Philadelphia area, some
organizations include:
City Team Ministries -www.cityteam.org/philadelphia/
Career Wardrobe -
www.careerwardrobe.org/
Junior League of Philadelphia -
www.juniorleaguephila.org/fund.html
Philadelphia Cares -
www.philacares.com/donate.htm
Renu Dalal-Jain,
a certified image consultant and the owner of Flair Consulting in
Philadelphia, PA, works with men and women to help them put their best
personal face forward in social or corporate settings. Five Simple Ways
to Organize Your Closet Today Copyright © 2004 Renu Dalal-Jain, MS, CIC
Flair Consulting ~ Philadelphia,
www.flairconsulting.com
http://flairconsulting.blogspot.com/
Source:
ArticleTrader.com
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