My Wardrobe

Me and my categories

I have always been obsessed with organising. A place for everything and everything in its place became my life motto, as much as it may be annoying to my children. Whether its organising things by colour, type, use or for pure aesthetics.  And my wardrobe is no different to other parts of my life.

My Mum recalls that I used to label things when I was younger. In my bedroom I would label drawers and cupboards with their contents. Again it was all about categorising.

My wardrobe is split into different categories:

• formal dresses
• work dresses
• casual dresses
• coats
• jackets
• long sleeved shirts
• short sleeved shirts
• shorts
• trousers
• jeans
• skirts
• shoes

Within those categories I then organise by colour.

Why these categories work for me

• I can clearly see what I’ve got and that helps ensure that my wardrobe is somewhat balanced
• I can tell what’s missing i.e. in the washing or the ironing or at the dry cleaner
• I can mix up my outfits with ease by tryng to pick something from each different category. I like to mix up my work outfits by wearing skirts one day, a dress the next and pants another day
• Aesthetically I find the colour coordination very pleasing, just like when I shop for clothes, I generally love the stores that are sorted by colour and/or theme

Culling

I do a clothing change-over winter-to-spring and again spring-to-autumn (fall). At that time I normally take a good hard look at my wardrobe and anything not worn during the last two seasons is to go i.e. I make exceptions for formal dresses of course. Same goes for shoes when they are starting to look ratty and not really repairable, off they go. I donate all of my culled items to charity.

Capsule wardrobe

I couldn’t describe my wardrobe as a capsule wardrobe but I do like to adhere to the principals of functionality and mix and match.  That can be challenging because I love two things that make capsule wardrobing tricky – colours and patterns.  When purchasing clothing I take my time to try the item on, consider carefully how the item will blend in with my wardrobe and the mix and match options I can achieve with it.  For this reason I find shopping arduous, frustrating and time-consuming.

Gok Wan and Trinny and Susannah

I’m a big fan of Gok Wan and Trinny and Susannah.  

In case you haven't yet heard of them they are UK fashion stylists and TV presenters with a love of style and dressing well.  Gok's show "How to Look Good Naked" taught me to stop wearing black all the time and get into different colours and patterns. From Trinny and Susannah's show "What Not to Wear" and their books, I  learnt about dressing for my shape and not following trends too much but rather trying to choose classic styles that are flattering to my body shape.

I have lots of bright colours in my wardrobe and at first I felt nervous introducing them to my fellow workers when they were used to me in my black, white and grey wardrobe.  But now if I do wear black or beige tones people will often say to me ‘where’s the colour?’.

Gok also taught me to hold colours up against my skin to work out whether they suit my toning or not.  I know that bright/warm colours seems to work best with my cool/pale skin tone and blonde hair.

Winter clothing

Every year, for me, my struggle is winter clothing. Somehow shops seem to suck the life out of me when it comes to colours.  It’s not my favourite time of the year as it is, let along clothing being devoid of colour. Ugh! Do you find that too?

The rest of the household adhere to the same wardrobe concept. The most diligent is Miss P. Her wardrobe is her pride and joy and she does a fabulous job of organsing her clothes and shoes in a tight space. Master P is great as well. Mr P keeps categories together but the whole colour thing is way too OCD for him but he does like the way things look when one of us has been sorting his items.

Our wardrobes have been like this for so long now keep up with the system is a piece of cake.

Enjoy xx