Spaces

Closet Clean-Out: 5 Questions To Ask Yourself When Editing Your Wardrobe

January 14, 2019
|
By 
Denny Mata

Voila! Magic happens to our wardrobes in a year. It’s either we find ourselves leaning towards a certain fashion style, or we hoard more than what our closets can actually accommodate. While we make sure we stay in vogue season after season, we should also keep our wardrobes carefully curated and uncluttered. How else are you going to find the perfect #OOTD if your closet has turned into a landfill? And, until when are you going to reason, “I don’t have clothes!” when you can’t find that outfit of the day? It’s simple, you’re in need of a closet clean-out.

Don’t know where to begin? We’ve listed five questions to ask yourself when editing your wardrobe:

1 | Why Am I Doing This?

Ask yourself why you’re paring down your wardrobe. You should have a goal in mind to keep you inspired in downsizing your wardrobe. So, what do you want to achieve? Are you editing your closet because you need more space for your new clothes? Are you trying to practice a new, minimalist lifestyle? Or, you just want to because everyone else is doing it?

Here’s our take: Whatever your reason is, make sure that you want it for yourself, that you’re doing it to improve your lifestyle, and not simply to ride the trend. Instilling in yourself that you want or need a closet purge makes it easier to decide whether to keep or let go of your clothes.

2 | When Else If Not Now?

Schedule a purge day. It doesn’t have to be every end-of-year or new-year; any day you feel you’re in for a round of closet clean-out is a good day to start. Make sure, however, that you only do this in one day. Otherwise, you’ll lose the momentum or the will to sort out your wardrobe. Plus, there’s a risk of changing your mind when you’ve already decided to let go of that worn out pair of jeans from high school. You can do this once per quarter, twice a year, or annually. If you think you have downsized enough and have practiced mindful wardrobe shopping, you can edit your closet whenever it’s needed.

Read More: Time-Saving Home Organization Hacks for a Streamlined Indoor Life

3 | Where Is This Going?

Take everything out of your closet and sort thrice by categories. We suggest three levels of sorting so you won’t be overwhelmed by the sudden changes in your number of clothing. The first level of categorizing your clothes is by type: Tops, Bottoms, Outerwear, Smalls (underwear, socks, ties, and other small articles), and so on. Doing so gives you a clearer view of how many clothes you own and how many of a certain type you actually have in your closet. Now that you’ve seen that you have too many shirts, ask yourself whether you’d still reach for one of them for the next year or the next two years. Make three piles for the second sorting: Yes, No, Maybe.
condoliving closet clean-out
Lastly, sort them into Keep, Sell, and Donate piles. Those you put in the Yes pile can be put in your Keep pile, but you still have the option to Sell or Donate some. Those in No will automatically be put in either Sell or Donate. With your Maybe pile, ask yourself why you can’t decide to let go of this article of clothing: does it hold any sentimental value? Do you think that you’ll be needing it someday? If you answered Yes to the first question, you can keep it or take a picture of it before donating or selling it. If you answered Yes to the second one, dump it now. You don’t have to keep something you’re not sure you’re going to wear in your life. If you ever need to wear one, you can easily borrow from friends or family, or from rental boutiques.

Read More: Closet Clean-Out: 5 Questions To Ask Yourself When Editing Your Wardrobe

4 | How Do I Get Ready?

Now that you’ve curated your clothes, it’s time to store them back in your closet. However, here’s another question to answer: How do you get ready? Your answer will be the basis of your new wardrobe setup. Arrange your clothes and miscellaneous items according to the order of your getting-ready routine. Fill your top drawer or the most accessible shelf in your closet with your underwear, which you obviously reach for first when dressing up. From there, work on your tops or bottoms, your outerwear, and so on. This way, it’s easier to find what you’re looking for; thus saves you time in the morning.
condoliving closet clean-out

5 | Who Needs These?

Clothes in your Sell and Donate pile also need new homes. Items for sale can be sold through a garage sale or through an online store. Selling pre-owned or pre-loved items online has been a trend in recent years, so it’s easier now to find a new owner for your old clothes. Some even swap or trade items with other people, so you do have a lot of options if you ever decide on selling your old clothes. As for the clothes you want to donate, it’s best to research which charities or foundations accept old clothes as donations. You may ask around your community or simply search online. You could even pass your old clothes down to your younger siblings, or anyone who might need them at home.


Read More Cleaning Tips

Easy Cleaning Hacks for the Trickiest Home Decor

Dust-Free Open Shelves: Easy Cleaning Hacks for the Perfect Display

Clever Ways to Manage and Hide Wires and Cables

Curator Soler Santos analyzing a painting by Patrick de Veyra for "Storm in a Teacup."

‘Storm in a Teacup’ Explores Abstraction in Printed Images

Artist Patrick de Veyra has always been obsessed with the idea of images and appropriation. As recently as last year, he curated two exhibits for Faculty Projects which tackle the idea of how we deal and define the images we use today. Storm in a Teacup, his most recent exhibition at West Gallery, circles around […]

Smart Home Philippines Wins Best Interior Design in Asia Pacific.

Smart Home Philippines Wins Best Interior Design in London, United Kingdom

Smart Home Philippines continues to solidify its position as a leader in smart home innovation, receiving the prestigious Best Interior Design Smart Home in Asia Pacific award at the IPAX Global Property Awards 2024-2025. Held at the Savoy Hotel in London, this recognition underscores the brand’s commitment to seamlessly integrating state-of-the-art technology with modern, functional […]

Fort Santiago, newly-cleaned with Kärcher products and personnel.

Kärcher Sponsors Fort Santiago Clean-up for Heritage Preservation

Kärcher, the German multinational company known for their cleaning machines, debuted the newest part of their 2025 Cultural Initiative as they partnered with the Intramuros Administration to clean up the walls of Fort Santiago.  A “restorative cleaning effort” done to celebrate the company’s 90th anniversary, Kärcher’s team focused on cleaning up the wall facade and […]

"The Infinite Dot" exhibit at Primex Printers.

‘The Infinite Dot’ Celebrates 45 Years of Primex Printers with New Exhibit

To celebrate the 45th anniversary of Primex Printers, Chief Marketing Officer Mariel Ching and Creative Director Gio Prado put together The Infinite Dot. The exhibit functions as a showcase of the capabilities of modern-day fine art printing, giving audiences a taste of the flexibility of the form to different ideas.   The exhibit’s name comes from […]

Panasonic Brings 2 New Revolutionary Products to the Philippines.

Protected: Panasonic Brings 2 New Revolutionary Products to the Philippines

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Two porcelain statues as seen in "Breaking to Mend."

‘Breaking to Mend’: Ciane Xavier Illustrates the Fragility of Human Emotions

Seeing the spectrum of human emotions as fragile is a concept as old as time. The way emotions break and mold itself to our environment is the subject of a lot of art. What Ciane Xavier does with Breaking to Mend, however, is to capture these emotions in porcelain, literalizing the conceptual framework interplaying with […]

Download this month's BLUPRINT magazine digital copy from:
Subscribe via [email protected]