2021 year of rebirth and how to start fresh

2020 has been a year of significant shifts and for some of us, a year of major changes. Our daily life switched completely and we all spent a great amount of time in-house. Our home has become our safety place and cozy refuge. Personally, I was never as grateful for my house in the beautiful town of Baden-Baden. Thanks home!

The good news is, there is always a chance in change, starting a fresh chapter and creating new ways of how we see things. In order to move on to new projects, we have to clean our table first. As a professional wardrobe organiser, I recommend using the momentum, take advantage of the rest of this current lockdown and use your downtime as a chance to take inventory. Honestly, can you imagine a more perfect time to get organized?

Streamlining your closet is like therapy, but figuring out what goes and stays can be difficult. Therefore I decided to provide a three steps program followed by some inspiration links and useful literature.

This is how you make the impossible possible:

1. CLEAN

2. SELL AND DONATE

3. THE AFTERMATH: RESTORE AND REPAIR

CLEAN

1. Items which are more than12 months old with tags have to be put aside. Try them on and if they don’t excite you they have to go (unwanted presents, bad purchases…)

2. Define your colour palette alone or with some help by a stylist (This one hour is the safest investment you’ll ever make). Is the garment part of your own individual color palette or does it make you look weak and unhealthy? If you opt for weak and unhealthy, let it go…

3. Clothing which is damaged and unable to repair has to leave.

4. Items which are either too small or too big have to go. You live now! Don’t waste your time waiting.

5. Items you haven’t worn in the last year. Before you toss them, try and think about the rest of your wardrobe and how you would pair them. If you can’t find a solution…well bye.

SELL AND DONATE

By now you should created a significant pile of clothing for sale or donation. Items which are irreparable have to be tossed. The rest, according to brand, can go on sale or donation. When we lived in New York City my favorite source to sell and buy was THE REALREAL. In Germany the equivalent is YESTERDAY DOMANI (look at their brand list first, it’s strict and selective but en vogue keeping up with the fashion game). If your item is part of their list, text them and you’ll get a prepaid shipping label. Their site is beautiful and a great shopping experience as well. There is nothing compared out there in Germany and I’ll write about them in a more detailed post this week. Garments which are not part of their list can be sold easily via VINTED or DEPOP. Expect some more effort here, because you have to take care of the pictures, communication and shipment yourself. All of the rest can be donated or recycelt (find sources at the end of this article).

THE AFTERMATH: RE-STORE AND REPAIR

The key to an organized wardrobe is the appropriate storage of your treasures.

• SHOES - I like to keep shoes that I’m wearing all the time on a rack and the ones that I don’t in shoeboxes with appropriate dust bags, so they stay in good condition.

• BAGS - in matching dust bags in my closet for the bigger bags. I like to keep small clutches for nights out together in one canvas box.

• BELTS - in a belt organiser on display. I always need to see pieces, otherwise I won’t wear them.

• JEWELRY - There are many great solutions out there. Plexiglas boxes (I’m a sucker for Muji and as I said I need items on display), wooden boxes, or classic solutions.

• MAKE-UP - for me, again, plexiglas is it. I’ve had this one available via CONNOX since years and it’s not the prettiest but the most convenient solution.

• SUNGLASSES - sunglasses can have two places - your closet or depending on your space the entry hall. You can go for a hanging solution, plexiglas, or wood.

• SCARFS - I store thick wool scarfs in a canvas drawer as set with matching wool hats. For silk scarfs, I think these hangers by SKLUM are pretty cool.

• HATS - the most professional way to store a great quality hat is a professional hat box. I love the ones by MANUFAKTUM. If you have limited space, stack your hats and protect them with a big dust bag or canvas clothing bag for example from a hotel.

THE AFTERMATH:

• Bring all repairable garments to a tailor of your trust.

• Clean all your shoes

• Remove all laundry from the plastic cover of your dry cleaner (clothing can’t breath in plastic) and put them on appropriate hangers (trousers) and these hangers for shirts.

There are two options to organise the rest of your wardrobe. GROUPING (shirts, jeans, trousers…) or COLOURS (neutrals, black, red…).

If you still feel lost and see no light at the end of the tunnel, you can always contact me for an online consultation. I’m happy to help and offer my re-selling services. According to my opinion, the best, least radical and most inspiring literature for decluttering is REMODELISTA. I love their book because you have all solutions (not only wardrobe) condensed, but browsing through their web page is always and option, as well.