Clothing
What Season Is It Today?
It’s hard to know how to dress when the weather can’t make up its mind what season we’re in. I did my laundry yesterday, and I observed that over the past week, I wore one turtleneck, three long-sleeved shirts, and three short-sleeved shirts. There were two pairs of shorts in the load as well. We went from winter to summer (with a short stop at spring) in less than a week. And today we are back at winter.
I feel very fortunate that I have easy access to all of my clothing, regardless of the weather. That enables me to pivot from cashmere and boots on Sunday to shorts and sandals on Wednesday. But this doesn’t happen by accident.
I decided that I wanted to write an organizing tip about this, but I knew I had written about it in the past. I searched the archives on my web site and then I found it: “Making Our Closets Work Year Round.” I wrote that post on April 5, 2010, which was a surprise to me. I thought the seesawing weather was a more recent phenomenon but apparently it was common enough 16 years ago that I was motivated to write about it.
In that post, I gave some advice that I think is still sound: “As you make your spring transition this year, I recommend that you spend some time reviewing all of your clothes and getting rid of those that you seldom wear. This will free up space for the items of clothing that will help us through the awkward transitions between seasons. Identify which winter clothes you didn’t wear at all, or wore but didn’t enjoy, as well as the summer clothes that you forgot you had and really aren’t looking forward to wearing. Give those away, and use that empty space to keep more of your off-season clothes accessible.”
You can read the post to learn strategies about what to do if you still don’t have enough space to keep everything at your fingertips. Some apartments really are too small to keep all of your clothes available at the same time. But having fewer clothes helps a lot. The less you have, the more you can keep accessible — and the easier it is to find what you are looking for every time you get dressed. Having too many choices really doesn’t make you happier.
Take Your Own Eras Tour
Are you familiar with The Eras Tour? It was a concert tour undertaken by superstar singer Taylor Swift in 2023-24. It was, incidentally, the highest grossing concert tour of all time.
In Taylor’s lingo, each era referred to one of her albums. But we all have eras in our lives, and it’s always valuable to take our own eras tour through our possessions.
We may define our eras by the major milestones in our lives: childhood, college, single life, marriage, career changes, relocations, parenting, empty nest, retirement, etc. For many years, my husband and I have referred to events as happening B.E. and A.E. — Before Emily and After Emily, with Emily being our now-grown daughter. More recently, I’ve defined events occurring as pre-pandemic or post-pandemic. You probably have your own language to describe your eras.
Here’s what’s valuable about taking an eras tour through your possessions. Something that you used a lot during an earlier era may no longer fit your lifestyle. For example, I have clients who worked in an office pre-pandemic but now work from home, necessitating a different wardrobe. Or perhaps you’ve had a complete career change, and the books and equipment that were useful in your old career are no longer needed.
We all have clothes that fit us in a previous era but no longer do. Even if they do fit us, they may be embarrassingly out of style. Perhaps you have a kitchen full of appliances that represented an ambitious cooking era of the past. You may have a lot of gear for a sport you no longer play. Are you a woman who used to love high heels but can no longer tolerate them? That era is gone, although the stiletto heels might still be lying around.
You might want to keep some memorabilia from each of your eras, but most of the stuff you no longer use is just living rent-free in your home — and in your brain. Take your own eras tour through your stuff and figure out what you can let go. Make space for the era you are in right now!
Are You Wearing All Those Clothes?
When the season changes, I am always excited to rediscover the clothes I haven’t worn in many months. For the summer, that means short-sleeved and sleeveless tops, as well as shorts. (I have a few dresses for when I have to get fancy, but otherwise I’m not a dress kind of gal.)
At the start of this summer, I found myself gravitating towards my favorite summer tops. I went for the ones that were the most comfortable and the most flattering. After a while, I started wondering why I still had some of the others, because I wasn’t wearing them. So decided to wear all of my tops in order and make a decision about whether to keep them.
My summer shirts live in two places. Most of them are folded and stored one of my dresser drawers. For years I have been folding them so that they stand up. The short-sleeved tops go on the left, the workout t-shirts on the right, and the sleeveless tops and workout shorts go in the middle. When I do laundry, the clean shirts go in the back, so the ones I haven’t worn recently are always in the front.
I started wearing the short-sleeved and sleeveless shirts from front to back. I identified a couple of them that weren’t as flattering as others and I plan to donate them. I also have short-sleeved and sleeveless blouses hanging in the closet. I’ve now worn almost all of them, and have put a few in the donation pile.
I also had an interesting experience with my dressy pants. I wear jeans most of the year (blue or black) and only break out the nicer pants when I need to be a little more dressed up. I wear those nicer pants so seldom that they tend to collect dust. I solved that problem by getting some dust covers for them (see my post Clothes You Don’t Wear That Often.)
I recently decided to put on a pair of nice black pants for my anniversary celebration. The first pair I put on were less comfortable than I remembered. I decided to try on all of my nice pants to see which ones still felt good. I ended up giving away three pairs of pants. I am thinking of giving away more, since those pants are worn so infrequently.
Are there clothes you own but are not wearing? (Hint: if they still have tags on them, that’s a good clue. One of the pants I gave away still had tags on!) Try the exercise of wearing everything in order. See what feels comfortable and looks good. I guarantee that you will find some things that are ready to check out of your home. Life is always easier when you have more room and fewer choices.
Don’t Buy It Unless You Need It
I’ve told a few clients that they are not allowed to buy any more clothes for the rest of their lives. They always laugh when I say this, but I’m kind of serious.
One tip-off that you might already have too many clothes is when some of them still have the tags on. If you buy something and don’t immediately put it into the wearing rotation, you apparently didn’t need it.
I myself fell into that trap earlier this year. A client alerted me that my favorite shoe manufacturer, Munro American, was going out of business. I immediately got on their website and ordered two pairs of shoes. One of them was the same model as the pair I was currently wearing, and the other was made from the same last. When they arrived, I tried them on to make sure they fit, then stuck them in the top of my closet.
I got very busy with the musical I directed earlier this year and did give any further attention to these shoes until after the show was over. In April, I pulled them down from the closet and started the process of breaking them in before I could wear them outside. I was a little embarrassed that I had fallen into the trap of buying something and then ignoring it, but I made up for it by devoting attention to it once time allowed.
It took me several weeks to break them in, but now I am very comfortable in both pairs and wear them on most days. In keeping with my policy of “One in, one out”, I donated the pair of shoes I had been previously wearing, since I now had an identical (but new) replacement. (I know that I brought two in and only sent one out, but my shoe collection is so lean that there isn’t a second pair that I can spare!)
When you buy new clothes or shoes, are they filling a wardrobe void — that is, something you need but don’t already have? If so, then you should be using it immediately (or at least very soon). If not, then you are probably just impulse shopping.
When those new items arrive at your home, look for similar items that might be past their prime, that might be getting a little faded or worn out. Make room in your closet or drawer by donating or recycling the older items and putting the new items into your rotation. Let’s face it, those new items are never going to fit you any better or be more stylish than they are right now when they are new.
And maybe you should consider not buying any more clothes for the rest of your life.
How Many Coats Do You Have?
I got a new winter parka a few months ago, and I love it. Unlike my previous parka, it is made with synthetic stuffing. But it’s very comfy and warm, and has pockets big enough for my gloves and my iPhone. It’s also teal green, which makes me happy. Too many people in NYC wear black jackets in the winter, making the dark, bleak season even darker.
Getting a new parka made me take a closer look at my entryway closet. I switch up my outerwear every time the temperature drops 10 degrees. So I have a favorite jacket to wear in the 40s (and below), 50s, 60s, 70’s, and even a very light one to bring along when it’s in the 80s because I’ll be going into the excessively air-conditioned subway.
Since I have my favorites, there are some jackets or coats that get worn very infrequently, or not at all. Adding one more puffy parka to my closet is pushing me to get rid of those unworn jackets. This is a great time of year to donate winter coats that you no longer wear. Here in New York City, we have a seasonal coat drive called New York Cares, with drop-off locations all around town.
I’ve picked out 2 winter parkas and 2 fall/spring jackets that are going to leave my home this week and be dropped off at the coat drive location two blocks away. I even washed my old down parka for the first time in anticipation of giving it away. (Thanks to my on-line research, it came out great.)
Take a look at your coat closet and make sure that you are wearing all of your coats and jackets. If not, make someone happy by giving some away. Even if you don’t have a local coat drive, take them to the nearest thrift shop. This is the time of year to get those coats into the hands of people who need them.
While you are at it, look at your hats, scarves, and gloves. I bet there are some of those that you never wear. Giving those away now will make it easier for you to find the ones that you do wear. And your life will be simpler this winter because you won’t have to face a myriad of choices every day.