Tips for Eliminating the Frustration of Nothing to Wear

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Step away from the pile of dis-guarded clothes.

It’s a special kind of panic that washes over you the minute you realize you’re running super late and you’re still not happy with anything you’ve got in your closet.

I don’t know about you, but in that moment there is no way you could get me out the door in anything I’m not happy in just to be less late. I’m buckling down till I find something. The problem is, I’m so wrapped up in panic and frustration I can’t even think straight.

This scenario used to happen frequently for me – to the point where I would miss whole events because I couldn’t decide what to wear. But it hasn’t happened in a long, long time. Why? Because I came up with some tips to save myself from this highly frustrating situation…

Plan ahead.

Take some time to plan your outfits for the week. And maybe it’s not every.single.day, but at least think about any events you have coming up, and plan out what you’re going to wear. It can be as simple as when you’re getting dressed in the morning – thumb through your closet and look at pieces putting outfits together in your head for your next night out.

Walk away.

Some nights I’ll buckle down and plan/try on outfits for several events just to get it all knocked out. While doing this, if nothing seems to work and I’ve tried on tons of options, I’ll step away. Do something else for a while to get my mind off of it. Then I’ll ease myself back into the process by scrolling through Pinterest, then going back into my closet and picking up everything I pulled out and hanging it up.

I think that’s a big factor – you start to get frustrated and you pull everything out so it’s a disheveled mess. It’s hard to think in that environment and it’s hard to see your clothes full potential when they’re crumpled on the floor.

Step away, get reinspired, clean it up and…wha-la a great outfit is born. Works every time.

Don’t question what you’ve planned.

Every once in a while, I’ll question what I’ve put together and start to change it, tweak it or start over. But you know what I’ve learned? ONE HUNDRED percent of the time I go back to the original outfit.

Don’t question what you’ve planned. You really can’t trust early morning/overthinking you. Trust past you to have made the right outfit choice. *she whispers to herself.

Have a back up.

I always have a “last resort” outfit. This is an outfit that I’ve put together for the occasion that I’m not excited about, but it would work. It serves as a looming punishment if I don’t get myself together and start making some decisions on what I’m going to wear.

“Elizabeth, if you don’t figure it out in 15 minutes, you’re going to have to wear the over sized sweatshirt and shorts to the party.”

Okay, it’s not that much of a punishment. It IS great to have something on hand to throw on in the event you can’t find anything.

If you put these tips into action, I promise you’ll have fewer moments of “AH I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!”

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Closet Cleanse in 5 Steps

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Want to know a secret? You’ll be able to check off a lot of resolutions this year simply by cleaning out your closet.

Think about it…you’ll start the day feeling good about yourself. You’ll shop better, saving yourself money. You’ll have more time in your life because you won’t be agonizing over what to wear…the list is endless.

Tell the voice inside your head that you DO have time and you CAN pull this off because if you do it in stages, it won’t take that long…

Step One:

Look at every single piece you own. I mean, thoughtfully look at each and every item. As you look, pull out the following:

  • Anything you haven’t worn in a year
  • Garments with holes or tears, and things that don’t fit right (for any reason)
  • Pieces you’re holding onto for nostalgia sake 

Don’t cheat! Pull those items out! You know what they are. You can probably think of three things right now.

Step Two:

That pile you pulled out of your closet in step one? Let’s work with that. (PS: this is my favorite part because you get to play dress up!)

  • Try on the pieces you haven’t worn in a year. Figure out why you’re not wearing them. Play around and get creative! If it’s a top that’s too long, can it be tucked into a skirt? Can the wide blouse be belted and worn under a blazer?
  • Garments with holes or tears/something doesn’t fit right? Can they be tailored to fit or fixed? If it’s a cheapo piece then forget it. You can replace it. But if it’s something you love that you know is quality, consider taking it to a tailor!
  • Pieces you’re holding onto for nostalgia sake? Box them. Put them away. Get them out of rotation.

If you want, make a night of this and invite friends over to help (then offer to do the same for them). OR take pictures of yourself in outfits you’re not sure about. Sometimes seeing it later, you can better decide whether you love it or not.

Step Three:

In this process of trying things on – make a list in your phone. Write down…

  • What items you need to replace
  • What you need more of to get the most of what you own
  • What you love about the pieces that are in your closet

Do you love shirts with a v neck? Put a note in your phone! Do you see that you need more black pants (something I’ve never, ever had a need for as I own 300 pairs) – write it down!

The more extensive the list, the easier it will be going shopping next time. This is the part that will save you money because (like in my case) you won’t make the mistake of buying ANOTHER pair of black pants because your list says you need more skirts.

This is so important to building a good wardrobe that will contain everything you need to easily get dressed throughout the year.

Step Four:

Anything that’s left from step four that didn’t make the cut, put into two piles.
One pile is for getting out. You can’t get rid of those clothes fast enough! Act like they’re on FIRE.

The other pile is for those you’re on the fence about. Put this pile in a place that’s out of your way. If you don’t think about or reach for anything in it within one week (set an alarm on your phone) – then get the whole thing out of your house.

If you don’t put a tight time frame on it (a week is just right) then it’s going to sit there and gather dust.

Step Five:

Look at what’s left! Everything that’s in your closet should be things you wear regularly and make you feel good. Guess what? You’ve got a snapshot of your personal style! Now you can step back and see the bigger picture of how you want to represent yourself and you can continue building out from there.

Knowing what you love to wear and what you already own are two big strides towards having a streamlined closet that will have you walking out the door in confidence all year long!

Need help setting style goals, now that you have a pristine closet? I can help with that.

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Closet Cleanse Part Deux

Adding the French “Deux” really kicks this puppy up a notch doesn’t it? And we need it kicked up, because closet organization may not be everyone’s wheelhouse and/or fun house.

If you’ll remember a couple weeks ago I broke down how to get your closet clean. It doesn’t have to be this gigantic, insurmountable task that keeps getting put on the back burner. It’s definitely something you can easily accomplish and it doesn’t have to all be in one day. You can read that post, here.

Today I wanted to get into the nitty gritty organization aspect of it. Now I’m certain there are so many closet hacks on Pinterest where you can take some kitty litter and somehow turn it into a gorgeous hanging basket (it sounds like an exaggeration, but I’ve seen some craaaazy things on Pinterest).

All I used for my closet are stack-able pop up boxes from Ikea, and a hanging shelf unit from Ikea.

Let’s talk about that hanging shelf first…

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For the longest time I’ve had all of my pants hanging right in the center of my closet. The problem with this is I would often not be able to find what I was looking for and when I did the pants would have that terrible hanger crease right in the middle of the leg. I decided to solve all of those problems by storing my jeans/pants in this handy shelving unit.

Like I said, I got mine at Ikea but unless you have one in town their shipping cost is OUTRAGEOUS (which was also the name of a shampoo I used back in the 90’s that I wrote a great theme song for at the age of 10 – I still remember it too, so it was a pretty effective theme song if I do say so myself).

Home Depot has a similar one. It’s truly saved me time and creases. And now I’m more likely to put my pants away because I don’t have to hunt down a hanger for them. Win. Win. Win.

Now for my t-shirts. The biggest problem I was facing was entropy. Every so often I would re-fold and re-stack them all, but over time they would get out of order and end up being a big mess. I’m not saying that’s never going to happen again, but I did take some steps towards preventing it.

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First, I separated them into categories. I have t-shirts I’ll wear in public, one’s I’ll work out in, and others that are just for around the house (*wink …Actually that just means they make me look like a box). So now I don’t have to dig through the whole pile (making a mess) to find just one shirt. I’ve also incorporated these collapse-able cubes to keep the peace. I wish I would have bought 100 of them, and actually I can because Wal-Mart sells them as well. They do such a great job of separating the mess and keep all the stacks neat and orderly.

So there you have it. Two easy ways to get everything in your closet organized into a neat and orderly fashion and we didn’t have to do anything crazy with kitty litter.

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Closet Cleanse

This may not be everyone’s favorite subject, but it’s a good time to clean out your closet. Maybe I should have surrounded that sentence with pictures of puppies.

Listen, your closet needs to loose some weight. Because you want to go in and grab exactly what it is you want to wear not the sweater you’re hanging onto from high school, or the 50 cent top you’re refusing to let go of but haven’t worn yet.

Listen, you’ve got to make room for all of the smart purchases you’re going to make this year, so let’s get in there and clean it out! I just did this and OH MY does it feel good.

Here’s a before and after picture to motivate you..

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Now here’s how I did it…

Break your closet up into sections and schedule a time to clean it.

I kept putting off cleaning out my closet because I felt as if I needed hours and hours to tackle it. Then I kept thinking I would get to it on a Sunday afternoon, when I have hours and hours. Boy was I wrong about that. If I get the lunch plate off my lap on a Sunday afternoon I consider it an accomplishment.

So what I decided to do was to break my closet into sections: what’s hanging, what’s on top, and what’s on the floor. I blocked out time on a Saturday (when I’m feeling 1,000% more productive) and took one section at a time. This really helped me actually get it done, and it didn’t feel so daunting because I was only going one section at a time. Plus it helped me gain momentum, because once I saw how much I got rid of it made me excited to do everything else.

Take it all out. I mean all of it.

I’ve always heard that you have to take everything out of your closet, and I’ve always rolled my eyes at that. Until this time. It really does make a difference when you take out what it is you’re looking at. This will really help you to see the shirt/blouse/dress and make an informed decision as to whether or not you want to keep. It also really helps you to reorganize when you put it all back in.

I told you I divided the closet up by sections…well I took those sections and made sub-sections (whew this is getting complicated). When I decided to start with what was hanging, instead of pulling out everything that was hanging all at once, I started with my shirts. I went through all of them, pulled out what I didn’t want, then organized what I kept and hung it all back up. Then I’d move to dresses and do the same thing. This helps your bedroom not look like a land mine and again keeps, “OH MY GOSH I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO” feeling at bay. If you have to pause for whatever reason, you’re not left with an explosion of clothes.

Make snap judgments.

For the first time in your life, this is allowed. When you are going through each item it’s best to make quick decisions because that first instinct is what’s right. If you hold onto a shirt for too long staring at it thinking, “I don’t know, I think I’ll wear this again one day.” You won’t. And it will just sit in your closet until the next time I write a blog about cleaning it out.

I now have a clothes mound in my office the size of Justin Bieber’s ego, and it actually makes me very happy. I look at it and think of all the weight my closet has lost, and how much someone else is going to love those clothes! I’ll write follow up blogs about how to determine what to do with those clothes and how to further organize what you put back.

But for now, get in there and clean, clean, clean!!

 

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