Cleaning out your wardrobe regularly, or at least every 6 months, will get you to a great position to build a fabulous wardrobe, where you love every item. Only having in your wardrobe what you absolutely love is such a powerful place to be in! Any casual, work or party occasion covered, showing up with confidence.
If you want to create a simple wardrobe that is filled with things you like to wear, this process starts before you hit the shops. Be aware of what you have and make no room for things you don’t like.
Only have space for what you love to wear.
Hang it, fold it, whatever the garment and your wardrobe space suit best. As long as you can see it. During this process, you will see gaps appear. Write them down.
You may have events coming up, travel etc, write what you need/want for that as well. If there are tops or bottoms you can’t match, take a photo of them so you have them ready when you venture out on a shopping trip. The work you put in at this stage with a pay off in many ways. You are in control of what you have and what you want. And that is powerful.
Knowing what is in your wardrobe is a must before you add more.
To be honest, how much do you love what is in your wardrobe right now? Recently, research was done amongst 100 women where they catalogued every item in their wardrobe, noted how much they paid for it, how much they wore it, and, out of 10, how much they loved the item.
The results of this study were pretty staggering:
- The average wardrobe had 145 items in it (including shoes, jackets and accessories but minus lingerie).
- The total value was on average $9,700 with the lowest wardrobe value being $2,000 and the highest $27,000.
- $70 was the average spend on an item
- Women gave their wardrobe an average “love” score of a 7 out of 10. (To put these are averages into perspective, the lowest total “love” factor of one entire wardrobe was a 3.91 out of 10, but most women rated their wardrobe a 5, 6 or 7 and then a few ladies had 8s and 9s and above.
That amounts to a lot of “I am not happy wearing this”. If you are not happy, it reflects on everything you do on that day. You deserve to feel good every day! Not talking Oscar glam squad, but loving what you put on that day, may it be your exercise gear, your work outfit or jeans a simple t-shirt.
Why settle for less?
It makes you feel low and it costs you money. The hidden cost of a wardrobe that is not rating high in the love factor can add up to thousands of dollars, gathering dust, not making you happy.
For years the simple equation of you wearing 20% of your wardrobe most of the time based on the above-mentioned averages you could have $7,000 (80% x $9,700) gathering dust.
Continue to shop in your wardrobe clearing out the things that really make you unhappy until you get to a point where you rate everything in your closet a 10 out of 10. Why else would it deserve a spot or your wallet to open up?
Angela Barbagallo is a mum of two young kids and a Sydney personal stylist, body shape and colour expert. With a personal styling career spanning 20 years, she has helped many mums create a wardrobe they love to wear. For private appointments or an introductory chat to see what is involved visit www.styleangel.com.
