5 Tips for Downsizing Your Wardrobe

Several of my friends and acquaintances have commented on this project. Their comments usually fall into one of two categories:

"I'm inspired by you!" 

or

"I could not do that!"

So for those of you who are ready to try this and aren't sure where to start, and to those who don't think that a smaller wardrobe is possible, here are a few tips and tricks to get started.

• Turn your hangers backward. This is a really common trick for figuring out what you where and what you don't. Go into your closet and reverse all the hangers so that the open side is facing out. When you use an item of clothing and return it, put the hanger back facing the right way. After a few months or even a year, take a look at what clothes are still on backwards hangers. Do you really need them if you haven't worn them in over a year?

• Alternatively, tie a ribbon onto your closet bar. Emma at A Beautiful Mess shared this idea recently, and it's very similar to the one above. The appeal is that it eliminates the inconvenience of having backwards hangers. Instead, you use the ribbon to divide your closet. One side is for everything that hasn't been worn yet and the other side is for things that you have worn. Once you wear something, move it to the "worn" side.

• Pick out ten items of clothing and create a week's worth of outfits from them. You likely have a lot of versatile items in your wardrobe right now. How many of them can be mixed and matched? After a week you'll have an appreciation for how many outfits can come out of just a few items.

• Take the laundry challenge. How long can you really go before you need to do laundry? See if you can actually wear and re-wear everything in your closet before you need to do laundry. Is there a skirt lurking in the back that you've forgotten about? Are there clothes you genuinely don't want to wear? (Note: you may need to wash you undergarments. I find them to be the limiting factor in my laundry cycle.)

• Store your out-of-season clothes. Some of you may already be doing this. Tuck away your tank tops and shorts for the next few months. Work with what you have. You'll feel lighter once you clear out some space in your dresser and create momentum for a smaller wardrobe. In the spring, only unpack the items you love and are excited about. If you really need it, you can unpack it later. Whatever doesn't make an appearance can be passed on to a new owner.

I hope this helps you get started. Let me know in the comments if you try any of these tips. How did they work out for you? Do you have any tricks I missed?