The Closet Edit
live, laugh, love your closet.
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For wanting so desperately to escape corporate office life, I never imagined the job that would take me out of that environment would have felt more claustrophobic than sitting in a felted wall cubicle for two solid years of my life. The reality of being a stylist for a digital wardrobe management app was that I spent a good portion of my time heavily sweating on a step stool under recessed lighting or crouched in the dark, dusty corners of a wealthy stranger’s non-air conditioned, chaotically designed “walk-in” closet. (The amount of poorly designed “it’s giving HGTV and not UES penthouse” luxury closets? Astounding.)
The thing I never realized about closets, until one of those very moments, was how intimate they are. We never think that a stranger would be picking up and rummaging through that beloved purse we tossed back on our shelf, still filled with receipts, loose change and tangled headphones, let alone photographing, cleaning and then delicately placing it, perfectly staged, back where it belongs. Granted, this isn’t an experience 98% of us will have in our lifetime, because most of us won’t have our entire closets digitized into an app, but it made me realize how intimate clothes, and the space in which we place those clothes, can be.
From very, very specific fetish porn and giant dildos, to stacks on stacks of cold hard cash, I’ve seen just about everything one can see in a rich stranger’s closet. And while the discovery of those things can sometimes be startling, it was honestly most (I said most) times the thing that reminded me that even stupidly wealthy people are human, and closets, both literal and proverbial, are places where we can often times feel the safest.
So, let this guide be your motivation to clean and make your closet a space you don’t fear encountering when it’s time to dress or undress for the day. Closets take many shapes and forms in all of our very different dwellings, so stay tuned next week for a round up of cool vintage and secondhand things that can make your closet feel like a space of “self care” even if we don’t have the bougie walk-in closet of our dreams.
The process I’m about to share is not unique, original, or one-of-a-kind. There are plenty of videos floating around YouTube and TikTok with a similar method on how to organize your space. Do what works for you! I find organizing into categories is what works best for me and in previous styling life, for my clients, so without further ado, step one.
Pull the pieces of clothing, shoes, and accessories that you love, gravitate towards every day, feel are part of your “uniform,” and find you always reach for when you want to feel your best. Don’t pull things you want to wear or want to be or think you should like in your closet. We’ll get there. Pull the shit you actually put on your body multiple times in a week or month and look in the mirror and go, “I’m feeling this. I look good.”
You can hang these on a rack if you have one, or use your bed, place a sheet on your floor, etc. From there, organize into their categories (tops, blouses, shorts, jeans, etc etc.) This is a great way to pause and look for the similarities between these items and see if there’s a common dominator of what you generally lean towards. Maybe it’s a color, or a certain type of shirt style, or maybe it’s sweatpants and Birkenstocks. I find from this selection you can usually find, at least on a small scale, your current clothing personality. Maybe it’s super colorful and playful, maybe it’s more laid back and casual, or maybe it’s very timeless and slightly sophisticated. If it’s not really speaking to you in any direction, this is the perfect time to start imagining the direction you’d like to go from the items you currently have in front of you and love. There’s a reason “why” you love them, even if you want to grow from them into a space that currently feels daunting or challenging.
Personally, I’m in a bit of a style crisis. About 90% of my wardrobe has long sleeves, is a coat/jacket, or a crewneck sweater. The average temp for the next three weeks here in Austin is 90 degrees. I have plenty of clothes that *used* to be my favorite, but the climate here could not be more opposite than what I currently own from my life in Santa Cruz and San Francisco. I ended up pulling a slip dress, a linen dress, comfy tees, a mini skirt and two pairs of jeans I wear all the time. I like funky shoes and feel that’s an easy place where I can express myself even if the rest of my outfit is simple. I only own one functional handbag at the moment and use my Baggu fanny pack as a purse most days, so that’s another thing I need to tackle.
Next up, let’s pull the pieces you never wear, have literally forgotten you own, the ones you bought on super sale and still have the tags on, the ones you wish you wore but don’t know how, the ones that no longer fit you despite how much you love them, etc etc — you get the vibe.
This category can be emotional, feel soaked in sentiment, and is often times the most challenging. Clothes carry memories, directly reflect how we feel about our self worth and body image, and remind us of where we currently are and where we have been. But we! Can do! Hard things! Let me be your virtual cheerleader in embracing change, forward momentum, and finding peace in having clothes that fit and make you feel good.
This category will get broken up once you’ve pulled them out of your closet and brings us to our next step.
The things you know it’s time to say goodbye to. If you haven’t worn it, thought about it, even remembered you own it — create a donate and/or resell pile. I have purchased so many shorts since moving here and I hate them every. single. time. I wear them and have accepted shorts are not for me. To the donate/resell pile they go!
The things you love, have sentimental feelings for, but just don’t wear anymore. We all have those things! Maybe it’s maternity items, something you wore to a wedding years ago, or your favorite sweater that has so many holes in it you can’t even wear it anymore. Pull these items and pack them away. Consider buying an under the bed storage bin or vacuum compressed bags, but most importantly — get them out of your closet!
The things you want to love, want to wear, but you don’t know how to style. We’ll come back to this pile next.
I wish I had a visual representation for you, but Jasper had other plans —
This is the part where having a stylist comes in handy, but you can be your own stylist with the power of the internet! Or, make it a party and invite over a friend you love and trust and see what you can create together! Or email me! I have a saved folder on Instagram where I literally save any photo where I like someones style or outfit. You can also make a Pinterest board of looks you like or want to try. This is the time to get out of your comfort zone!
From here, take one of those pieces you aren’t sure about and see if you can mix them in with some of your favorites. Maybe you’ve wanted to try wearing a pair of trousers you recently purchased, but you don’t want them to feel preppy or stuffy. Try pairing them with your favorite worn in t-shirt and go to sneakers. If you like the outfit, lay it out, snap a pic and create an album on your phone where you can reference these pictures when you’re getting dressed in the morning.
I recently thrifted a full pleated midi skirt and denim mini skirt that I haven’t really been sure about. (I see denim mini skirt and have immediate 2006 trauma of Uggs and Hollister polo shirts.) Looking over my “style” Pinterest board, along with my saved Instagram folder, I pulled together some outfits I can now try out the next time I get dressed to go out! Having a reference point of any kind can help with the direction you want to go.
Now for the visually pleasing, but laborious part — putting your closet back together! At this point in the exercise, you should only be putting items back in your closet that you love and wear often and the pieces you are now going to try out with items you already own and love. Anything currently not in season, pack away or up in your closet so you’re less distracted by them when you’re getting dressed. I should honestly pack away most of my long sleeved everything but holy heck I was not prepared for that literally being 2/3 of my closet…. so do as I say and not as I do lol.
I prefer to organize by category and color within those categories. Don’t hang your knits! They will stretch and deserve to be lovingly folded. I think hanging pants is an easier way to determine what’s what, but everyone is working with different spaces and brains, so do what makes the most sense for you!
And now, the part we’ve all been waiting for — making a thoughtful shopping plan! When making outfits for my clients, this is the part where I looked for “holes” in their wardrobe, things that are typically considered “essential” in the functioning ecosystem of your closet. Did you want to make a casual outfit you loved on Pinterest but realized you didn’t own one plain white t-shirt? When you get dressed for dinner with friends is there something you wish you could reach for and throw on but you don’t have it?
This is where I would recommend making a note in your Notes app on your phone and make a living document where you can make a shopping plan that works for the seasons, your budget, and outfits you’d like to try as you discover your personal style.
If you have an iPhone, you can copy subjects from photos and paste them in directly into your notes. This can be a great tool to directly reference inspiration when you’re online shopping or thrifting and keep you focused on what you actually “should” be looking to buy rather than going back to what you always buy.
So, what have you discovered from this process? Let me know! This is obviously a very summed up version of an exercise that usually took one to three days depending on the person and what they owned. I hope this can be a jumping off point for beginning to make your wardrobe something you love as an extension of your personality.
Is there anything you’re now looking to shop for as you reinvent your closet? Let’s look for it together! Reply to this email or leave a comment on Substack and let me know what you’re on the hunt for and how this process went for you.
In the following weeks, I’ll be doing roundups of things people have requested and what I’m personally on the hunt for. If you’ve made it this far, thank you, as always, for reading and supporting this tiny baby corner of the internet.
I’ll be back next week with secondhand goodies to make your closet space more personal, and a round up of dozens of vintage tees I’m currently eyeing around the internet.
If you learned anything from this, share it with a friend!
Until next week,
xo,
G
I slammed a Yerba mate and tackled the steps you outlined and heyyy I can see my closet floor hooray! Struggling now with updating my wardrobe post-pandemic... I still have love for so many pieces of yesteryear (aka 2019) but what’s left in my closet is feeling a tad dated (and not in a good way). Thrift/budget tips are needed!
Seriously your timing could not be better! About to finally get everyone’s clothes into their own closets after ten months of suitcases/boxes/one single closet for all four of us and am so pumped to get organized! (My “forgot I even owned this” pile is going to be massive… 😅)