As your Indianapolis Fashion Stylist, I often do closet cleanses. Sometimes I go to the client’s home and go through their closet or at other times clients just want to show me some key outfits; therefore, they meet with me in my home office. Either way, it can be a challenging event.
Indianapolis Fashion Stylist and Closet Cleanses
When I first walk in the closet if I smell dust and see stacks of clothing, accessories, etc, I know it’s going to be a long day. I am not a professional organizer, but I know when items are hard to reach and not really organized it’s just not a functional closet. That means it’s not going to be easy to walk in pick your clothes, your shoes, and your accessories.
But people are people with very busy lives. So I am not going to focus on how to organize your closet so it’s neat. Someone else or Good Housekeeping can do that for you. There are a host of books out there including Marie Kwan The Art of Tidying Up.
Nearly always when I, your Indianapolis Fashion Stylist, clean out the closet I have met with my client and discussed their best colors (color analysis); their best clothing shapes; their desired style (sporty, dramatic, romantic, classic, eclectic, etc.); and finally at what extent they follow trends on a scale of 1 to 5. These are the “prisms” from which I use to clean closets, shop for clients and basically plan a wardrobe. If I don’t know these things, I can’t really do an effective job of working with clients. It’s what sets me apart from a professional organizer or your neighbor who is really neat and good at organizing closets.
As I clean out clothes, I make three piles: clothes that are okay but that need alterations (you’ve probably tried them on); clothes that need to be donated; and finally clothes that can be consigned (Consigned clothing usually is less than 3 years old, still in style, etc). I may recommend some consignment stores in your area as well as a good tailor if the client does not have one. I clean out bags and purses the same way as I do clothing.
Once in a while, I have a client who does not follow trends at all. In that case, there are still plenty of ways to clean out the closet by best colors and shapes for her/him. Once I’ve decided on the clothing that stays, I start organizing it. If the closet is really, really big I may not do this step. Sometimes clients like to organize their closet themselves. Since I am not there to professionally organize the closet but to look at clothing that is fine.
If I organize the closet, what I do is put tops, pants, dresses, jackets and finally coats together in groups. Within that group, I organize my color from white to black (white, cream, yellow, pink, orange, red, blue, purple, green, brown, black, etc. Within the tops, I start with sleeveless and build to long sleeve.
Sometimes clients like to put outwear in a hall closet which can save space.
Try organizing your closet this way, or contact your Indianapolis Fashion Stylist for help! You won’t believe it, but having a color-style coordinated closet eases your daily stress!
