Start the new decade with a clear closet.
We don’t generally subscribe to New Year’s resolutions. The whole “I will be/do this completely and perfectly by this date” thing puts so much pressure on us that it tends not to happen at all. But when a fresh new year (and decade – no worries!) rolls around, many of us do start looking to take charge of those areas that affect our state of mind and moods most. Which is why it’s impossible to get a good slot at Soul Cycle until March and why January is the busiest month for yoga studios and 12 step programs.
But rebooting can feel overwhelming. Especially when it comes to body/mind/soul goals. Baby steps – that’s where we live. So we say, if the goal is to feel calmer and more pulled together, start in your closet. Too low a bar? We don’t think so. Let us explain.
Our closets are a reflection of our state of mind. When you get a moment, go into your closet and take a look. Take a good minute or two and really look. Who do you see in there? Do you identify? If these pieces of clothing were people, do you even know some of them anymore? If you were in a store today would you buy them again? Are you pleased with what you see or muttering that you need to grow the hell up under your breath? Clutter and confusion in our outer world is a distraction that can weigh us down and keep us from experiencing flow in other areas of our lives. And every time you open your closet door and have to work around the pieces that have nothing to do with your daily life or bigger picture purpose, trust us when we say it is affecting both, whether you realize it or not.
So, let’s consider what you see and touch everyday. If you’re serious about getting yourself together, start with your closet. Loads of clients come to us looking for transformation. The ones who heed our advice to take this smaller first step of getting right with their closet tend to have the most success with their larger goals—whether that’s a career move, finding love, losing weight or whatever. And what about the ones who vacillate and tell us they’ll be back when they’ve lost the weight or made the money or gotten the better job? Not so much. We tell these hesitant souls that it can take weeks, months and, sometimes years to get your health, career and love life in shape. But it only takes a day to get your closet into a good place. It sounds crazy, but it works. That’s been our experience over the past decade of working with our roster of impressive private clients.
Still, we get that even this small step can feel overwhelming—which is why people call us to do it!
But just take a deep breath, block out a few hours, call a trusted friend if you can, and follow these four simple steps:
The beckie+martina DIY Closet Edit
1) Pull everything from your closet out onto your bed (we mean every single thing.)
2) Immediately hang back without even thinking every piece you love and works well for you. You know the ones – you wish you’d bought multiples of because when you wear them you don’t doubt for one minute that you own the room. Those pieces.
3) Now go back to the bed and consider what’s left and hang back only the functional pieces that you might not LOVE but do a job (trench coat/black pant/blazer). If you’re a devout Marie Kondo follower, you might be wondering about the pieces that “spark Joy.” The truth is, not every raincoat sparks joy, but everyone needs something to wear in the rain. And not everything that sparks joy should be worn out in public – but that’s another article.
4) Now, for the last time, go back to the pile and consider tossing what’s left. Give it to a friend (if you really think they’ll like it), donate it or get a return on your investment and call The Real Real to come pick up. Especially if you’re holding onto it out of guilt because it is a so-and-so designer or was $$$.
So if you think starting in your closet is too insignificant a step or has nothing to do with your higher, loftier goals, we have a challenge: Try this and prove us wrong. Clothes reflect what we want to project on the outside and feel on the inside. And the rest will follow.