Shoes, clothing, bags. They all take up space. A lot of space. And even though they fit or look cute hanging there, sometimes we just never put them on. They become placeholders in a place that needs more space. And there they remain. Why is it we hold on to things that we don’t really reach for or wear? And how do we send them off and feel okay about it?
The irony of style is that we can often find ourselves attracted to what is on the hanger or shelf, and yet we may not find it works on our bodies. Moreover, individual pieces may look fantastic on their own, but they don’t match or compliment the others in our collection and so they all just remain unworn.
Seeing as it is our minds playing this trick on us, we must play with psychology and lean into our current style. This is where we can win. Where we can finally streamline a collection of purely what we love and wear.
1. When in doubt, take it out.
It may sound too easy to be true, but removing items from their usual place and viewing them from a different lens (such as laying them out on your bed or couch) can make all the difference when needing to have a clear sense of what can go. Remove them from the hangers too, and look at each within their categories, not altogether.
By breaking the preference of keeping things the way they are, we can tune into our bias more accurately. Our minds do everything they can to keep the status quo. They love keeping those neural pathways just as they are, as they avoid rewiring like the plague. So play around with fresh perspectives.
You can also practice this by removing any of your ‘old, not sure, or maybe’ pieces from their hangers and putting them straight into a basket, out of sight, before you can question yourself further. Trust your gut here. And voila: what you are left with is your I’m-in-love-boutique wardrobe. Be sure to take a moment to notice how your wardrobe looks and feels with only your favourites and go-to’s on display.
Alternatively, any time you try something on and don’t like it at that very moment, drop it in the ‘maybe’ basket instead of hanging it back up. Consider that you are possibly over that style and storing it away will allow you time to see if you miss it or forget about it.
2. Lean into your colour palette, hard.
What I have started doing is committing to one colour scheme throughout my entire wardrobe and getting strict about it (I chose warm and pale earthy tones). By having tones that all go together, it expands my possibilities of combinations. By having fewer pieces that all compliment, I feel like I have more, not less. And it even makes decisions around a new purchase so much simpler. Take it a step further and hang your favourites by colour and see how that brings a calming vibe.
3. Commit to fewer, better hangers.
I’m a bit strange when it comes to my hangers. Maybe I’m not alone with this, but last year I adopted a personal challenge to always have empty hangers. (And not because I am behind on laundry). I also insist on having fewer hangers that are the same colour wood and leaving space between each one. My not-bursting-kind-of-full allows my clothes to breathe and be accessed easily. By having my empty hanger challenge, I am constantly practicing the one-in-one-out rule. And with that, I am also practicing quick decisions by listening to my intuition and immediately dropping any pieces that carry any doubt whatsoever into my ‘maybe’ basket.
Finally, any time you are finding it hard to part with pieces, pieces that are beautiful but not for you right now, remember that it roots in our psychology. We avoid loss. period. So anytime you can reframe loss as a gain, you are so much more likely to get somewhere.
Try focusing on what you are keeping, loving, wearing and obsessed with instead of the money-wasting, time-wasting, weight-changing story that you find your mind stewing in. What curated style can you create for yourself? What new meaning and story can you step into? What time-saving, money-saving, space-saving benefits can you imagine having with your fewer, better wardrobe?
