February 3, 2014

the great closet cleanout


i love shopping. i love clothes. i certainly can't claim to have any revolutionary sense of style, but i enjoy dressing myself, for whatever it's worth. but confession time: i tend to buy things on sale just because they're on sale. i can't tell you just how many jcrew tank tops lurk in my closet simply because they were 30% off clearance. i hold onto clothes that no longer fit because i have some denial about my post-baby body. i was holding onto clothes that no longer worked because i had a little denial about my post-baby lifestyle (i mean, how many cocktail dresses does a gal need?). my closet was full of ifs and remember whens and the results of a whole lot of retail therapy. it's was problem. and my closet needed some life and truth spoken into it. fortunately, this coincided with getting back into my post-baby clothes, and i've learned a couple of tips along the way:

+ be truthful about your current style. look, i'm a work at home mama. i play on the floor. i'm still nursing london. i like to get out of the house. i need clothes that work for all of this. i need effortless clothing. i hardly wear jeans-- jeggings, leggings, and maxi skirts work best in this season of life. i'm not wearing any precious fabrics because spit-up/nursing/mud/sweet potatoes. (i really wear the same two target t-shirts as often as i can, let's be honest) these are the clothes i need. i took everything else out of the closet and instantly slimmed my choices down. as it turns out, i had been holding on to bags and bags of business casual-wear from the job i had before kids. now, every once in a while i'll need to go to a dressy meeting or event, but i don't need too many of these pieces. out they went!

+ get a sarah. your sarah may go by another name but my sarah has great taste and isn't afraid to kindly tell the truth. get your sarah over to your house and trick her into agreeing to watch you try on every.single.thing in your closet. because she's honest and has great taste and always makes you feel great about yourself, you'll listen when she says, "you know, that shirt is just not working for you" or "do you think you have enough gray cotton long-sleeved shirts?" she'll remind you that while that top is cute, you'd never be able to nurse in it. at the end of the day, you'll end up with a closet full of clothes that you actually wear and actually look good in. there won't be any if, maybe or someday pieces; just clothes you actually wear. you might fight her on some of the choices, so she'll encourage you to fill up a bag with the 'maybes' and look at them again in six months.

+ wait six months, then text your sarah and tell her she was right. you didn't wear anything from the 'maybe' bag.

+ bless someone else. at this point, the clothes i'm clearing out of my closet aren't torn or worn; they just don't fit me or my current style. there are items from jcrew, anthro, gap. at first i was a little sad to let them go just because, but now i'm excited to bless someone else, pass them on, and let my clothes go to a new home!

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