Lifestyle

Wardrobe Space Saving and Clear Out Tips

September 3, 2014
Irish Fashion Wardrobe Clear Out Tips 1

As you may know by now, I am moving to New York in a few weeks and in preparation for my trip, I have started to clear out all of those pieces in my wardrobe that I am really never going to wear again. It’s been a few years since I’ve had a good clear out, so this was definitely overdue. If I’m being honest, I will admit that for the past few years I may have used my Ph.D. and the fact that was constantly studying and focusing on my thesis to avoid the inevitable. I have quite a big wardrobe (I think it’s 14ft) but I am not exaggerating when I say it was JAM PACKED. I have been able to put this clear out off for so long because I picked up some great space saving tips on Pinterest (have I ever told you guys how much I LOVE Pinterest). The best thing about these tips is that they cost absolutely nothing. I’ve wanted to do a post with them for the longest time, so I’m gonna share these tips here and combine them with the tips I used to whittle down my wardrobe. I hope you guys find them useful…

 

Space Saving Tips

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1. Save Your Can Tops

This is THE best tip EVER! If you are running low on wardrobe space you can hang multiple items in one spot (see the first pic) by using can tabs. This has literally more than doubled the amount of clothes I can fit in my wardrobe and now all of my family use it too. So whenever you are drinking from a can be sure to save the tab and collect them for when you are running short on wardrobe space.

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2. Store you clothes vertically

I have quite the scarf collection and I store most of them (the less chunkier ones) in drawers. When I was organising my scarves I stored them vertically because I like/need to be able to see all of my clothes or else I’ll completely forget about them. When you think about it, this tip actually makes so much since. It creates a lot more space and, as you don’t have to rummage through all of you items, it’s practical and saves you so much time.

 

Clear Out Tips

Erika from Retro Flame recently shared some great Wardrobe Clearout Tips but I also have a few of my own. The pics below are of all the items getting the boot from my wardrobe… it’s time!

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1. Give it Time

This is gonna take more than a few minutes, so be sure give it enough time. One of the best tips I can give here is to leave your laptop or phone out of the room. Even when I am trying to tidy my room I find myself getting distracted by a notification or message. Next thing I know, 20-30 minutes has passed and I am no where nearer to doing what I want to do. It happens all of us, so leave the technology at the door. If you really want some music try going old school and listening to radio… crazy thought I know! 🙂

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2. Ill-Fitting or Unflattering Items

We’ve all bought a pair of gorgeous shoes that are bit of a tight squeeze or ones that are too big and you can’t walk in them. If they don’t fit…. it’s time for them to go. The same goes for clothes. Even if it’s a really expensive piece, if it’s too big it’s not going to flatter your figure. If it’s too small you will only frustrate/depress yourself every time you look at it, so it’s time let it go and move on. You could try selling it on (on eBay, Depop, in a local shop or at local selling events) and using the money you make to invest in a new piece.

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3. Ask yourself “Am I REALLY going to wear this?”

You know how some people collect momentos from their travels and memorable life events? I tend to collect clothes, and when I look at the items some great memories will come flooding back. This has led to me holding on to a lot of clothes that I will NEVER wear again. For example, I bought so many clothes on my J1 that I really didn’t want to part with but deep down I know I’m not gonna wear them again, so it was time for them to go. There’s gonna be some items that you will be a little unsure about, so try them on and ask for someone’s opinion. I asked some of my sisters for their thoughts on the items I was 50/50 about parting with. If they said no then I knew getting rid of the item was the right decision and that I wouldn’t regret it later…

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4. Haven’t worn the item in a while?

I really don’t agree with those who say if you haven’t worn something in a year or two years then it’s time for it to go. Some items can’t be worn that often and sometimes, if you’re like me, maybe you just have gotten around to wearing the items yet. Now I emptied out a lot of items that I had never worn and still had tags on them. There was also a lot of pieces that I had only worn once, but this is where tips number 3 will come into play. I kept a dress I bought in Edinburgh 4 years ago that I have yet to wear, but I know I will wear it. It’s a timeless festive dress, so I will definitely be wearing it in NY over the festive season. There are number of different reasons why I haven’t worn it yet… one year I over indulged sightly and it didn’t fit me, last year I was Australia, but you won’t find too many items like these in your wardrobe. You need to be really honest with yourself here and once you employ tip 3, I think you will know yourself which of those items that haven’t seen the light of day in a while should stay and which should go.

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I think the most important thing when clearing out your wardrobe is to be honest with yourself and be brutal. You are going to have to be ruthless here and if you aren’t honest with yourself you are going to end up hanging on to stuff you won’t wear. I will admit that I have held on to some really memorable items, like tops I bought travelling through Asia because that is why I bought them in the first place. I wish I could say I created lots of new space in my wardrobe after this massive clear out but it’s still pretty full, so I might have to go back for round two because there is no way I’ll be able to bring them all with me…

I hope you guys are having a great week and find some of these tips helpful…

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p.s. I have uploaded some of the items here to my Depop account so be sure to check them out. There’s loads more to come too… 🙂

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1 Comment

  • Reply Ting- Eatlovemery September 5, 2014 at 4:58 am

    So lovely! x

    The forma giveaway

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