How to declutter your wardrobe

There’s nothing like the prospect of a shiny New Year to make you feel like clearing out your wardrobe. Get rid of those bobbled jumpers, ill-fitting jeans and never-worn-it, fleeting trends and make way for a fresh, new start in which you promise to maintain order, look after your clothes properly and only buy things you really, really want or need.

Which is why we asked four style-savvy influencers to pass on their wardrobe decluttering wisdom. Take note…

Chuck away anything cheap and nasty

So says Doina Ciobanu of fashion blog The Golden Diamonds."If it’s cheap and your wardrobe is cluttered, move it on.” It’s so true, we’re surrounded by fast fashion these days, whether it’s online, on the high street or even in the supermarket, we can buy clothing pretty much anywhere, on a whim. So use this burst of wardrobe organisation to revaluate the amount of clothing you buy verses the amount of clothing you actually wear. You’ll likely find you wear the same few pieces on rotation. Use this knowledge to realign your fashion buying practises in the New Year.

Keep the basics; chuck the trends

“My biggest piece of advice is to stick to the basic pieces when decluttering your wardrobe once in a while and get rid of the very seasonal trends," adds Ciobanu. Every wardrobe should be built on a foundation of basics. These basics differ from person to person so simply consider them the building blocks of each outfit you wear. Be they a couple of great pairs of tailored trousers, jeans or some never-out-of-style cashmere jumpers, these are the pieces worth keeping, and also worth spending a bit more money one – they could be a part of your wardrobe for many, many years.

Be ruthless 

“I try to be strict - if I haven't worn it in the last year, it’s out,” says model and presenter Lilah Parsons, who passes on her unwanted clothing to a younger cousin or a local Parkinson’s charity. This is a great rule to stick to. If you haven’t worn it lately, are you really likely to wear it again? No, and this is the time to be honest with yourself. It may be difficult but, as stylish presenter Laura Jackson says, “Try not to get too attached to an item of clothing, there's bigger things going on in the world.”

Work out what's ripe for selling on

Presenter Angela Scanlon may be a hoarder by nature, but when it comes to decluttering her wardrobe, she’s got a foolproof process. “I make separate mini mountains for family and friends, for charity and for the bin.” Categorising the items you want to purge from you wardrobe is a wonderful way to keep the process simple.

Let’s be clear, decluttering is not about chucking all your unwanted items in the bin; it’s about seeing if your unwanted items can go somewhere better or more useful. Yes, the bin or a fabric recycling bank may be the only answer to some, more tatty items, but avoid thinking that just because you don’t want something, no one else will either. Resale is also an option, we've rounded up the best fashion resale sites here.

Colour coordinate your wardrobe - so you can work out where the gaps are

“I colour coordinate and promise myself such an accumulation will never happen on my watch, under my roof again,” adds Scanlon of her post-purge process. Colour coordinating is a great way to establish what you do and don’t have in your wardrobe. If you end up with a sea of navy, black and grey, you know not to buy anymore of that for a while, and instead invest it some brighter shades. Alternatively, it may make you realise that the only colours you really like wearing are those ones, so you know not to bother investing in anything bolder.

Head to Instagram for some organisation inspiration

There's nothing like a bit of aspiration to get those organisational juices flowing. Check out feeds like The Coveteur, which delves into the closets of the world's most stylish, to give you some ideas about how you want your wardrobe to look. It could be anything from sticking Polaroids of the shoes in each shoe box on the outside, to the way in which you colour coordinate your rails.

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