Spring cleaningIt’s that time of year again, where the weather starts to warm, the flowers start to bloom and the closet starts to feel like it needs a shift. Spring cleaning in the closet can be a great time to revisit your personal style and here are the top five tips to help you blossom!

1. Pull out anything from your current winter closet that doesn’t fit, you don’t love, is worn out or hasn’t been worn this season. Gently let these items go and make note of what might need replacing.

2. Check all your winter clothing, footwear and accessories for needed repairs and cleaning. Send them out for cleaning or get them repaired so everything is fresh when you pack it away and ready for fall when it arrives.

3. Bring out your spring and summer clothing and evaluate it for fit, wear and tear and love level. As you look at the item, ask yourself, “Do I love this?”. If the answer is “No.” gently let go. Also let go of anything that doesn’t fit, doesn’t feel great or doesn’t fulfill a particular function.

As you’re letting things go, note what you enjoyed about each item – these characteristics can form the base of a list of qualities you like in clothing and can give you a starting point for building a wardrobe of items you love. For example, if you loved the feeling of the fabric, look for new things that feel great against your skin. If you loved the colour, then look for things in a similar colour. Try to hit as many of your style points as possible, including fit, feel (physical, emotional, spiritual) and colour. Ideally, you want a closet built of things you love to wear and that you feel great wearing.

4. Check the remaining spring/summer clothing for repairs – it’s always a good idea to check things before you put them in the closet, otherwise they won’t be ready to wear when the warmer weather hits. As you get in the habit of checking everything at the end of the season, this step will become less necessary.

5. Finally, check to see how many outfits you can create by mixing and matching the pieces you have available. This will quickly point up the gaps in your wardrobe – for example, you might find you have way too many tops and not enough bottoms. Aim for either a 4×4 capsule (4 bottoms, 4 tops and 4 overlayers- jackets, blazers, hoodies or cardigans) to give you 40 outfits, or a couple of 1,2,3 modules (1 overlayer, 2 bottoms and 3 tops), each one giving you 6-12 outfits. Create a list of the pieces you need to complete your modules.

After completing your rotation of clothing and the shopping list, add a few fun accessories or possibly an extra piece or two. This is where you might want to incorporate one of the seasonal trends, such as fringe or denim dresses, or you might just want to give yourself a little spring variety with some colourful accessories.

As always, if you’re not too sure what works for you and you’d like some help, we’re here for you, just click to get started. Happy Spring!