It’s Monday morning. You’re standing in front of your wardrobe at 6: 30 am wearing your least favourite workout leggings and a pair of incongruous satin bralettes. You cheque your watch.
You’ve already been staring at your clothes for twelve minutes. You’ve got clothes. Loads of clothes.
But somehow you have NOTHING TO WEAR. Sound familiar?
Search your phone for selfies from last weekend and I’ll bet you’ve got pictures where your outfit is the same as today’s but you looked happier to be wearing it.
There’s always that one morning.
You’ve painstakingly selected something seemingly-appropriate. But when you look in the mirror your heart sinks.
It’s not YOU. Those trousers are too high-tech to wear to the grocery store. That shirt is too nice to fold around a handlebar.
You love that jumper, but it’s screaming “weekend!” when you really need to look like you can work. Yep, been there. Bought the too-small jeans as consolation.
Blocked off that ill-advised bright pink jumper from my mind. We’ve all been there. Except I haven’t gone there for months, maybe even years.
And it’s all thanks to performing a wardrobe audit. It started like this… Like every Monday morning, I stood in front of my closet nearly crying, half naked. I was late.
And already upset that I didn’t know what to wear. This had happened WAY too many times. It wasn’t until I was once again wearing something the second I walked out the door that I decided enough was enough.
I marched back into my flat cancelled my day and went home. I was sick of spending precious mornings scrambling to get dressed. Stressed I didn’t have enough outfit options to feel like myself.
I didn’t want to waste money on clothes that didn’t make me feel good. It was time for a change. For me to TAKE CONTROL of my wardrobe instead of it controlling me.
What I learned: I didn’t need MORE clothes (spoiler: I LOVED buying clothes). What I needed was a good staring contest with everything I OWNED. One belt at a time.
So I grabbed a notepad and got started on my very first REAL wardrobe audit. Ready to see how you can do the same?… Warning: this isn’t one of those cute closet makeover posts where you empty your closet on the floor, take Pretty Pictures®, and voila! everything’s better! In fact, if you’ve tried the minimalist wardrobe trends on Instagram you’ve ALREADY done the audit that’s inspired this post.
You know the one: Empty your closet. Hold each piece to your heart and ask, “Does this spark joy?” Put the ones that do back organised by colour. Please stop.
Go throw out ALL of the things that “don’t spark joy” and come back here. Sure, there’s some truth to that. But also, no thanks.
The problem with the KonMari method is it puts WAY too much pressure on our emotional responses to clothing. Trust me, I have sentimental gear I’ll NEVER wear again. But it doesn’t spark joy so it doesn’t “fit” in my closet?
That’ll be a big 🖕 to Maria for you. Instead, I did something different. I took a hard look at my lifestyle and really analysed what I was (and wasn’t) wearing.
And it changed everything. Here’s how: Sit down and take stock of your life. No unicorn weddings or backyard bacon-on-a-bbq sticks.Write it down.
Where do you spend most of your time/wear the majority of your clothes?Work? Casual nights out? School?
Fitness? Even if it’s at-home jogging sweats 24/7, know thyself! Look at what you wrote down.
Are you dressing for your life or just hoping clothes will magically apply to your lifestyle? Were you horrified by the imbalance between what you own and how you actually live? I sure was!
Mine looked a little something like this: Work outfits: 3 interchangeable blouse/formal shirt options, 5 skirt options, 7 pair of (surprisingly few!) work trousers. Lots of dresses and fancier jackets for office EVENTS but nothing to just…work in. What is this, the 90s?
Casual wardrobe: Where casual meets weekend-y but not workout-y. Jeans, tee shirts, effortless layers, casual jackets. The Laura from 2013 would cry if she saw how little of this stuff I own!
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I LIVE in casual and it’s severely lacking! Athleisure: Yoga trousers, leggings, running gear, Pyjamas. Mostly overlaps with casual thanks to my Netflix-binging lifestyles! (It’s a strong point of pride in my family that we LOOK LIKE WE ACTUALLY GO OUT to dinner a few times a month.) Special Occasions: Wedding dresses, prom stuff, super fancy jackets, tons of dresses.
Enough to wear on the weekends BUT NOTHING FOR WORK.HELP!! ! Honestly writing this all down was an epiphany for me. My problem wasn’t that I had TOO MANY clothes and needed to purge my closet.
It was that I didn’t have enough of what I actually needed to wear on a daily basis! Now it was time to take stock of exactly what that was: Remove EVERYTHING out of your closet and on your shelves.Take note of what you have compared to what you NEED.Write it down! I found seeing the number of sleeveless blouses vs tank tops I actually own was pretty eye-opening.
Do you own multiples of things you don’t really wear? How about gapsin your wardrobe that you could fill with stuff you already OWN? Bonus points: As you’re going through your wardrobe take NOTE of any holes you notice as you go. “Oh crap, I don’t own any black skinny jeans?!
But I wear those ALL THE TIME!” Okay, now get dressed. All of it. Throw on that knit ski jumper you loved in college but now kind of scares you.
Dig through the clothes you “saved for later” at the back of your closet. Try on that ugly jumper EVEN IF IT ISN’T CHRISTMAS YET. As you’re trying things on ask yourself: Does it fit?When was the last time I wore this?Does it match at least 3 other things in my wardrobe?
Repeat until you’ve tried everything. Chuck instantly what doesn’t fit or you truly haven’t worn in the last YEAR. Donate clothes that USED to fit but you no longer wear.
Consider taking your junkerer relatives’ clothes hostage until they learn to buy SOMETHING THAT FITS. Now you’ll probably notice something after you’ve done this little experiment. The things you REACH FOR over and over that really make you feel like you?
They probably have something in common. Know your style.Make mental note of the traits your favourite pieces to own share.Is it fitted sleeves? Colour palette?
Fabrics? For me, it was mostly fit and fabric. I realised I loved feeling put together but comfortable.
My go-to’s were button ups, jumpers, and jeans that fell somewhere between skinny and straight. Also note: what do you consistently WANT to wear but don’t OWN? Leave a comment below!
You might be tempted to purge all your “wrong” coloured clothing now. Don’t. Hang on to these problem pieces because now you know what you need TO REPLACE them WITH!
Look over what you wrote down during step 4. What holes can you fill with things you already OWN? Are you missing basic black trousers?
Jazz up your boring leggings with that catchy black jacket you never wear! !No more strapless dresses for events? Wear that elegant blouse as a bridal party member! ! DON’T BUY ANYTHING until you’ve filled every gap you can.
Just because you need a statement necklace to finish that work dress doesn’t mean you need to go buy one RIGHT NOW. Wait until you’ve exhausted all possibilities with your current wardrobe before you allow yourself to buy ANYTHING. Trust me, you’ll want clothes WAY less when you know you already own something that’ll work.
I waited months to buy new jeans because I already OWNED a cute pair of joggers that would work “almost as well.” Once you’ve filled every wardrobe hole you can(I will wait.) you can treat yo’ self. Only buy things that FIT the LIFE you actually live.Celebrate knowing exactly what you need when you go shopping(No more random shopping trips! )Buy less, high quality items you KNOW you will wear. Are you ready to feel confident in everything you wear?
When I did this audit I finally understood WHY I was stuck in a rut: WhenEVER I bought clothes I didn’t NEED. The thrill of the shopping experience was my weakness. I bought ALL the clothes.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I still love buying clothes. But now when I shop I already know WHAT I’m looking for.
That oversized leopard coat Sarah just bought?
Yeah, I know exactly why Sarah wants it…And she already owns three perfect coats for this weather.
Owning NOTHING until you’ve exhausted all possibilities forces you to ONLY BUY THINGS YOU NEED!
After my initial audit I understand MY style and shopping habits so well I can pinpoint EXACTLY what I need to complete my wardrobe. Things that complement what I already own so seamlessly that I can get away with buying clothing pieces that AIR DRY. THIS is how I now spend my mornings: Where did the hour go?
Instead of panicking over my outfit I’m FINISHED by the time my coffee’s ready. Knowing I ONLY OWN clothes that FIT my lifestyle and body means I FEEL confident in everything I wear. Bonus: my dream boyfriend also helps me pick out my outfits because I’m no longer such a crazy person when we get dressed.
Relationships are the best. Ok so I lied. Here’s one more picture: Ta-da!! !
Okay I’m done. Just wear whatever you want ;).
