Baggage
Not luggage, baggage. You bought the wrong thing. You were seduced by a great sale. You wasted money. You have things in your closet you have never worn and never will. Hanging onto that item doesn’t make it any less a bad decision. It has now become an albatross around your neck and you don’t know what to do. Here’s what you do: get rid of it. Give it to a friend, a charity or simply throw it in the trash. As hard as this seems, it’s liberating.
Have you ever tried holding a conversation, or even completing a thought, and a siren goes off? The noise is loud and can be overwhelming. You have to wait until the siren goes away and then finish your thought. This is what your closet is doing to you but we’re going to make it sing to you instead.
If you haven’t read my blog post: Your Closet, you will need to do those 3 steps before moving on to Step 4.
Step 4: Any pieces in your closet that you have married to another piece, needs a closet divorce. If you have two items on a hanger, unless space prohibits, separate them. Marrying your clothes keeps you mixing and matching outfits and will choke your inner stylist (yes, you do have one). If you have a jacket hanging with a dress, break this apart and separate the pieces into their proper categories.
Step 5: Hangers. Anything from the cleaners has a chemical on it or in it. Plastic covering from the cleaners will get sticky over time so throw it out. The foam hanger covers you get from the cleaners will decay, rot and turn into dust all over your clothes so throw those out as well. Hangers that are made with rubber traction on it are what you need for those items that will slide off – spaghetti straps, silky kimonos, and wide shoulder items. If space is an issue, the flat felt hangers are great. Colored and white plastic hangers are my favorites. I can give you specific recommendations if you like – just leave a comment.
Step 6: T-shirts. Every event, party, swag bag, travel, and ex comes with a t-shirt. I’m going to let you keep them (whew!) unless they are baggage that you know you need to get rid of. Get a box or giant storage baggage and store those in the attic, basement or under your bed. Your closet is prime real estate and needs to be treated that way.
Your closet should be looking pretty good at this point so GOOD JOB.