my first ever blog

by Tracey

Sorting out my wardrobe

My first ever blog. What to write…So this blog today is about my wardrobe; not the physical wooden construction but the components that make up what I wear.

I told my sister I wanted to look more put-together, and I often feel that I have nothing to wear. I wanted to be more organised with what I wear and be able to make seasonal changes. My sister set to work to solve my problem. That’s what she is, she’s a problem solver by nature. I’m …I’m not.

My sister helped me go through my wardrobe previously, a few years ago when we looked at my style and colours. Back then I got rid of clothes that I no longer wore and were the wrong size or colour. It was quite traumatic to get rid of some well-loved pieces and I felt unsettled for some time after. I was afraid that this would be a similar experience.

My colours, we decided then included primary and jewel colours: black, blue, red, and other accent colours to keep it fresh.

The other goal I had was to make choosing an outfit easier. It turned out the answer was simple: I needed to reduce the amount of clothing available to choose from. It was funny, all of my bottom pieces: trousers and skirts are black or blue, no red or light colours at all, although I had top pieces in every colour of the rainbow.

Before I did anything else I decided on a process to follow. I would sort my clothes into colour and then type/category. Then I would go through each pile and decide whether it was appropriate for this season or not. Here in the UK, we are transitioning from winter to spring. This meaned that I didn’t need thick, heavy jumpers and heavyweight denim jeans but neither did I need thin summer tops and skirts. All out of season items were set aside to be stored.

Again, before I started the physical sorting, I looked at how I spend my time. I wear a uniform at work but get changed there, so I need ’to and fro’ clothes that I could also wear to run errands and walk the dogs. This was going to be the biggest outfit category. I decided 8/9 outfits would be enough at first. Then I decided on ‘out and about’ days that are spent shopping or meeting friends for coffee. These are smart casual days and I decided three outfits would be appropriate. Then I needed a special occasion outfit as my husband’s birthday was coming up shortly.

When all this was decided upon, I got out all my clothes and put them into piles. Black, blue and teal were dominant but accents of red and purple too. As planned, I packed away summer and winter items. Storing them ready for me to go through nearer the start of that season, when I could decide what the colours would be and which outfits I would need at that time. I would also assess if the balance was right or if I needed to change the number of certain outfits.

Sorting my clothes into colours helped me to determine my natural preferences and which colours I feel comfortable wearing. I had thought I had several multi-coloured items but I don’t. Only two tops were more than two colours, and the base colour was black.

My summer wardrobe may well have similar colours but may not and so has me lookingforward to choo sing a whole new wardrobe of clothes without having to buy anything.

This process would have highlighted any gaps in the clothes I had available to choose from. There are a few gaps but I am going to think about any potential purchases before buying anything. I will consider a dark teal or wine-coloured bottom piece in the future.

As I went through the piles of clothing, I changed my mind about what items I was keeping out for my current wardrobe frequently as I came across another piece I wear at present.

Conveniently, this gave me the opportunity to decide if what I currently wear is really appropriate: for me, for the season, was I keeping it for sentimental reasons or did it need repair or alteration?

I kept 4/5 pairs of black trousers, one pair of blue jeans and one pair of navy trousers. I also kept one blue denim skirt and a check skirt with red, black, and grey. Most of the items were able to interchange with most of the tops I kept out. Only the check skirt had limited outfit potential so, that is an item I might swap out so that I have more outfits available.

I had three dresses as my 'out and about' outfits: red and black; blue and black; and plain black.

My special occasion outfit is a teal dress. I like to wear dresses when I can as I am not so likely to wear them to work in this season. Then I went on to choose jumpers and cardigans that I could layer easily to suit the changing weather in complementary colours to my other items. I thought it would be a more traumatic experience but knowing that I still have the clothes I kept and that they're handy if I need to exchange something made it an easier process.

Blog Update

Having sorted through my clothes earlier in the year, it was much quicker and easier to do it again for my spring/ summer clothes.

I didn’t change my categories: ‘to and fro’ and ‘out and about’ but I added ‘gardening and diy’.

I changed the number of clothes available to become outfits as I only have three pairs of summer trousers (I’d included 9 pairs in winter/ spring) and three summer skirts, but I do have some pairs of shorts that I can also use.

I made sure everything was clean and in good repair before storing the heavier winter clothes that were not the right season.

I was shocked that my colours didn’t change: the change was to brighter tones of the same colour. Blue: navy is still present, but peacock and turquoise have been added. Wine red has changed to a brighter scarlet shade.

I also found it easier to discard clothes that didn’t fit, looked wrong in shade or didn’t suit me, these went in the charity or upcycling piles.