Is There a Goldmine in Your Closet?

The two things that women hate to face every day are their mirror and their closet. While I can’t help you with the mirror, I can certainly help you reduce the clutter, rearrange the pieces you have and rejoice in the newfound income stream in your closet. The beginning of any season is a great time to reorganize your closet and your wardrobe.

Don’t do this in a hurry however, set aside at least a half a day or a full day, depending on how many clothes and how many closets you have. The object here is to turn your unwanted articles into cash either through consignment selling, or donations that are tax deductible and at the same time, make your life easier each day when you have to get dressed. You have to do this with the determination of a drill sergeant whipping new recruits into shape. You have to show no mercy. Emotion can’t enter into the picture. Yes, we all have that favorite sweater that our first boyfriend gave us or the dress that we paid a small fortune for a designer sale and it still has the tags on it in the back of the closet where it has been and has lived since Regan was President. Let’s not lose sight of our objective here. Eliminate and make easier.

Okay so let’s get started. First of all you must take everything out of the closet. Yup, you heard me everything, shoes, handbags, clothes, coats, any boxes that are in the closet, everything. Now lets get a few big trash bags.

First find someplace where you can work with the contents easily like your bedroom. Because your going to have to try things on and move around and make piles. Now let’s get started by looking at each garment and we’re going to divide them into three piles, the "keep" pile, the "donate/sell" pile and the "toss" pile. Fist question that you have to ask yourself after you pick up each garment is, when is the last time I wore this? If you haven’t worn it in the last 12 months, out it goes. The exception here is evening or formal wear. If the answer is you haven’t worn it for the last three years, or your high school prom, out it goes. If it doesn’t fit, out it goes. If it’s a size 6 and you are now a 10, whom are you kidding? Even if you get into a 6 by losing weight, you’re going to want to buy something new anyway. So if it doesn’t fit, out it goes. Is it a classic? If so, we’re going to keep it. Try on everything, I mean that seriously, we’re going to try everything on. You’re going to look at every garment with a scrutiny. Is it clean? Does it need to be mended? What are we going to keep in the always keep pile? Anything that is classic for example, cashmere sweaters, black dresses, navy blazers, these are keepers as long as they fit and are in good condition. And what constitutes good condition?

If a jacket needs a button, that’s okay that can be fixed. If the sleeves are to short or it doesn’t fit you in the shoulders or it doesn’t fit across the back, out it goes. Remember if a jacket does not fit you across the back and the shoulders, it never will. No amount of alteration will ever give the right feel to clothes that don’t fit properly. Shoulder pads remind me of Joan Collins in Dynasty. If a jacket has shoulder pads that would rival Joan Collins, out it goes. That style is so 80’s and so out-of-date. In the trash bag you’ll want to put anything that is beyond redemption. For example the "toss" pile is going to be anything that you can’t sell, you can’t donate, or somebody else can’t use. Include your shoes in this exercise. Are you shoes worn out? Are they fixable, for example if something just needs a lift that’s okay, if it needs a new sole, is it really worth it? Take a look at the shoe itself and the style. If you haven’t worn that shoe in a long time because it’s out dated, trash it, toss it, out it goes. I know we’ve all made expensive mistakes but expensive mistakes maybe could be sold if you have a pair of designer shoes that are brand new in the box, well maybe we could sell those at a consignment shop or donate them. But you certainly don’t want them in you closet if you haven’t worn them.

What we’re going to keep as I said before, things that are classic, things that fit perfectly, things that you wear a lot, and also pieces that match other pieces in your closet. Get rid of any style like stirrup pants, shoulder pads, tie-dyed, logo t-shirts, all that goes. Anything that’s going to be tossed is anything that is old or in poor condition. Anything that is ripped, torn, faded, permanently stained or moth eaten, in the trash bag, toss it and it goes.

Now what about what we could sell or donate? Things that are in good condition but just don’t fit or the fashion mistake like the dress in the back of the closet.

Before you put back anything in your closet and that’s why I told you, you’ve got to take everything out. We’re going to give your closet a good cleaning. A coat of paint wouldn’t hurt if your closet hasn’t been painted since you moved into the house. Before you put it back, wipe down all the shelves. Wash and wipe down the clothes poles, dust everything around, vacuum the room out, we want to make sure the closet is practically brand new. Now we’re going to put clothes away by type and color. All jackets, pants, skirts, blouses, and evening wear arranged in that order. Within those categories, by hem length, short to long. Then we’re going to arrange by color, white to black and everything in between. Make sure that the things that you wear all the time, everyday are within reach. Sweaters should be folded, never hung. Never hang a sweater, always fold it. Also, the same holds true for any fabrics that are beaded. For example a beaded shell, beaded top or even a beaded dress should be folded.

Now here’s the secret, how to make money from your discards and the things that you no longer want. All non-designer clothes that are in very good condition should be donated. These pieces can be tax deductible and can be given to a favorite charity such as Dress For Success, or the Working Wardrobe. These organizations are looking for gently used business attire, blouses and shoes for low-income women reentering the work force. Designer in pristine condition can be consigned to upscale designer consignment shops. These places will give you 40% to 50% of the sale price of the item. However, you have to be realistic here, if you paid $600 for that Daltore & Gabon Suit, and never wore it and it’s five or six years old, the shop will probably have $100 to $150 price tag on it, and you might get half of that. Try selling the items yourself. At last there is always Ebay. Ebay.com were you can list designer clothes and it will cost you about $4.00 for the listing and plus a small percentage of the final sale price. So you can try that. If you have something that doesn’t fit in any of these three categories, for example if you can’t sell it you don’t want to donate it to the Working Wardrobe, maybe you can put it in a bag that would go to the Salvation Army, because they’re take the rest. But again, they’re take the clothes that are in good shape, you don’t want to have anything that is in bad shape for them.

Now what you should be left with is a wardrobe instead of an assortment of clothes. Let me just make a few more comments about some of the things we talked about. For example, I said that you have to get emotion out of the picture; one client said to me when we did this exercise at her home and she looked at the pile of garments to be discarded, "You know Georgia, you are heartless as Attila the Hun. There’s my life on the floor here." I just looked at her and laughed. I said to her, "It’s only clothing, it doesn’t have a heartbeat." About a month later she called me and said, that she had gotten a call at the last minute, at 7:30 in the morning, to go on a consulting assignment and normally she said that this would have just made her very stressful. But "Ya know," she said, "this was the first time I didn’t run screaming into my closet. I walked into my closet, pulled together an outfit in less than five minutes." So you see, it really does work.

Closet gridlock is caused by us buying the same thing over and over again. I’m as equally as guilty; I have 10 pairs of black pants in my closet. Look at your closet and see how many dark blazers, white blouses and sweaters just to prove that point.

But after all is said and done, "I have never known a really chic women who’s appearance was not in large part, an outward reflection or her inner self." Main Bocher, An American Designer