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Work Through Your Wardrobe by (At Last!) Tackling This To-Do List

Written by

Taryn Williford
Taryn Williford
Taryn is a writer, editor, content strategist, and homebody from Atlanta. I might have helped you declutter your apartment through the magic of a well-paced email newsletter. Or maybe you know me from The Pickle Factory Loft on Instagram.
published Oct 6, 2016
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Cleaning out your closet is a really big task. There’s a lot to unpack, pun slightly intended, when you determine your wardrobe needs sorting—just deciding to get rid of a few pairs of jeans might send you on a tailspin through everything from sentimental memories to body image issues.

If you’re looking for a major wardrobe overhaul—one that mindfully works through the clothes you don’t wear or don’t love—it’ll take you much longer than just one weeknight (and might I suggest taking part in The Closet Cure?). Instead, in The Great Small Space Cleanout, we’re limiting our focus in the interest of GSD (Getting Shit Done)….

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Step 4: Work Through Your Wardrobe

Your objective in step four is sorting your closet and dresser drawers, and your mark is every piece of clothing that has its own to-do list. Sort through your hanging clothes and the clothes in drawers to suss out the items in your wardrobe that need a little professional attention. Divide everything into three bags or boxes, depending on where they need to end up:

  • To a Dry Cleaner: Anything that’s stained or could use a seasonal refresh—like your winter coats—will end up in this bag.
  • To a Tailor: Any of your threads in need of repair (maybe for a ripped seam) or in need of a small alteration (like a hem) in order to fit better.
  • To a Shoe Repair Shop: Any shoes that need resoling or another repair to be wearable again.

The end game here isn’t necessarily a slimmer closet—after all, nothing is leaving your closet permanently—but a more organized one. And after you have some of your best-worn pieces back in rotation, it will make it easier to do a more subjective purge of your clothes later on down the line, when you have the time.

The hard part’s over! We’re done sorting! Just one more (big) task left in step five. How are you feeling?

Up next: How to Actually Rid Your Apartment of The Things You’ve Decided to Purge

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