How Do You Conduct a Wardrobe Audit?
You open your closet, and find yourself asking, “When did I last wear this? Did I even buy this? What are all these things?”
It happens to everyone. Your wardrobe tends to steadily grow in size year over year until it’s filled with stuff that’s not your style and possibly not even your size. Part and parcel with “spring cleaning” is the annual “wardrobe audit.”
What is a Wardrobe Audit?
A wardrobe audit is conducted by sorting through everything in your wardrobe to determine what should still be there and what needs to go, but in reality, it is much more than that. You might have a favorite skirt in there, but you don’t have a single top that you can wear with it. Or a great pair of pants, but they only work during cold winter months. Have you ever dug deep into your closet and found something you love but forgot you have?
A wardrobe audit doesn’t just slim down; it organizes. Your main aim in conducting this organization process is to be able to find an outfit in five seconds!
How Do You Conduct a Wardrobe Audit?
You can get started with a wardrobe audit now. One great method is to Just pull everything out of your closet and put all garments on a spare rack. Be brave, this part is essential. Now sort everything into:
- Things you wear all the time
- Things you wear sometimes
- Things that you want to pass on to others or donate
- Things you need to repair or that need some “work”
- And things that you feel “maybe” about
Okay, so the first three are easy. The things you wear all the time and the things that you wear sometimes can get popped right back into the closet and into your rotation. The things that you want to donate, you should do it now! Whatever you do, don’t just put them back in the closet.
Just in case you don’t happen to have a rack or space to heave everything in your wardrobe out on the floor or bed, there is also another closet audit method.
The Closet Purge
A pre-audit purge is CRUCIAL.
Go through all the clothes already in the closet and take out the “dead wood” that is easy to identify. Throw away all wire hangers, messy shoes not in pairs and assorted clutter. Take out knits and fold them into muslin or wardrobe bags together with lavender sachets or cedar blocks. Nothing else will keep away the moths. Tuck the bags under beds, in drawers or on shelves in spare rooms if you have them, until that season comes round again.
The Clear Out
This where you need to be strong minded and have a list, to keep your mind focused on what goes and what stays.
- Is it in the current style?
- Is it worn, faded, old, soiled?
- Does it fit?
- Can it be altered? Is it worth altering?
- Is the color right for you?
- Is the style flattering?
- Can the stains be dry cleaned or washed out?
- Do you feel spectacular in it?
- Are you keeping it to avoid hurting someone’s feelings?
- Do you have accessories to match?
- Is it an “orphan” or a “widow,” with nothing else to match?
- Do you have one or more similar garments you can also wear?
- Is it one or more sizes too big or too small?
- Is it the wrong fabric, texture, or style for you?
- There is no hope of updating it
- It’s a gift that has never been worn
- The tags are still on the garment
- Does it bring you joy? (Marie Kondo’s famous advice.)
The Next Step: Organization
Separate your clothes and hang them together by function and season.
- Spring and Summer or Autumn and Winter or whatever seasonal organization works for your climate.
- Function e.g. work formal and casual, play, gym and evening
- Work Formal Business jackets such as suit jackets and Tailored jackets
- Trouser suits with trousers and skirts.
- Tailored dresses
- Casual dresses, slacks, jackets/cardigans in soft fabrics, curved lines and some fun patterns.
- Evening wear
Fold all knitwear and soft garments and place in drawers or wardrobe bags. Casual play, sports and gym wear could be rolled and slotted into closed or open sided plastic boxes, Shoes can be stacked in cardboard or see-through boxes with labels. Robust jewelry can be hung over tie racks along with scarves. Fine jewelry goes into velvet or satin bags in drawers or safes. Socks and knee-highs roll and get stored in crisscross drawer dividers as can underwear and bras. Pashminas and scarves too large to hang can also be folded or rolled to be seen at a glance.
Hang all evening wear carefully in wardrobe bags and put in another wardrobe or closet if at all possible.
This level of organization might be perfect for you. If on the other hand you want to redesign the entire space, go to Ikea or the Container Store or a closet maker and get help fixing up bars for long garments and a mid- height bar for short garments. Additional shelves and drawers can be made or bought for more compact storage.
All long garments should be hung vertically, including tailored trousers hung by the hems. The Jackets and short pieces could take the upper half of the closet and pants folded over hangers, short skirts, blouses and tops hang together in the lower half. It’s best to hang all similar garments together so that you can see your choices at one glance.
What About the “Maybes”?
The “maybes” can get filed away in a single area. If you don’t find yourself reaching toward them in a few months, then they’re probably something that you don’t actually want to wear. Frequently, the “maybes” are items that need their own right time and place, such as a vacation or a cruise. It could be something that doesn’t fit but that we hope will fit again.
Ask yourself why it’s a “maybe.” It could be that you don’t have anything to wear it with. If you’ve never had the occasion to wear it, think carefully if you will ever go to events where you could wear it! If not, out it goes.
It’s okay to keep your maybes. But you should keep them outside your closet to discover later, You can also store dresses with an emotional connotation in a “Memory Chest” to be admired from time to time or given away later.
If you find that you’re frequently changing your style, you might want to keep some of your most expensive and most well-designed pieces for later.
What Are Your Next Steps?
Once your wardrobe audit is complete, then you can start bringing in new clothes. But not before then. After your wardrobe audit is finished, you should have a better idea of the things that you lack. Do you have enough formal clothes? Enough casual clothes? Do you have a lot of separates that you can mix-and-match, or is everything part of a former outfit? If it’s a widow or an orphan it may need to be donated.
One of the great advantages of conducting a wardrobe audit is that you can start designing an overall “style” for yourself and looking at your wardrobe as a whole, rather than piece-by-piece. This will help you feel more comfortable in your own skin and allow you to start creating your own “Signature Style.”.
And if you find that you really love your wardrobe audit, why not consider doing a wardrobe audit for someone else? Image consultancy is a fast-growing profession, and a lot of it has to do with creating the new “you” and figuring out what clothes still work for you. If you’re interested in finding out more about image consultancy, connect with London Image Institute. www.londonimageinstitute.com.
BONUS: Learn more about Sustainable Wardrobes at Porch.com