Simplifying Your Summer Wardrobe

My closet is jammed packed. But it isn’t because I have plenty of wonderful things to wear. The reason why my closet is so crowded is because I hold onto nearly everything, thinking that I may one day need it, or with much of my clothes, that I will some day be able to wear those smaller sizes.

Maybe I will be able to slim down into my size eights or my size sixes again, who knows. But for now, all those smaller clothes are jamming up my closet, making it much harder to find anything worth wearing.

So, I have been cleaning out my closet, taking much of my older, seldom worn clothes to clothing donation bins. If I really like something and want to hold onto it for one day when I can (hopefully) wear it again, I move it into a closet in a spare bedroom.

I’ve also discovered that I am an awful shopper, and have many items of clothing that don’t go with much of anything in my closet. So, when buying new clothing this summer, I have been mostly purchasing high-quality short-sleeve shirts (mostly from Lands End) in blues in blacks that can be paired with almost any pair of shorts or skirt, and in the fall can be layered with chinos or jeans and a sweater. At this rate, my new wardrobe might be a little boring, but it will be simple and easy. And I could use some simplification in my life.

For some tips on how to slim down my closet, I found this helpful video by Hood River redesign. I also found a video on YouTube that offers tips on how to best organize or weed out a closet.

I don’t think that my closet will ever be as color-streamlined as the closet of actress Jamie Lee Curtis (most of her clothes are black, navy or white, according to Good Housekeeping), but it’s getting there. I might not be like many women, but I am starting to think that less is more when it comes to clothes. The fewer clothes I have, the quicker it will take to get dressed, to clean and fold them, and to put them away.