11 helpful tips to purge your closet ahead of fall

Spring cleaning isn’t the only time to clean your closet out. Purge your closet and prep for a new season at any time with these 11 tips.

Purging your closet is a great way to freshen things up with your wardrobe. The thing is, it can also be difficult, particularly if you don’t even know how or where to begin.

Perhaps you aren’t sure about what to get rid of or even what you don’t need anymore. With how much money we invest in our wardrobes and looking good, it can be hard to part with the things we have in our closet.

The reality is that a closet purge is important for keeping things fresh and eliminating unwanted stress. Think about it, have you ever stood in your closet staring at everything wondering what to wear? If you have, then you know how stressful it can be not knowing what to wear because there is too much in the closet that you don’t even want to put on anymore.

Here are some tips to help you get your closet purged and ready for fall.

Ask yourself some questions

As Real Simple shared in their own set of closet purging tips there are some questions you can ask yourself in order to figure out what you still need or want. These questions include such things as if an item still “serves you” or how well it coordinates with other items in your closet.

These questions are designed to help you figure out what you actually wear from your closet, and that can be half the battle when it comes to clearing space and doing a purge.

Snap a selfie

This might seem weird — but hear me out. You know how when you try on clothes and you’re not sure how you look, so you take a selfie in the dressing room for your friends to give opinions? This is the same theory here.

Take pieces from your closet, try them on, and take a selfie. You don’t have to send it to anyone (although it certainly helps), but look at it yourself. Does the dress still look good? Do those jeans fit the way they are supposed to? Are you happy in what you are wearing?

Use the selfie to decide if these items will make the cut or need to be purged. And if you sent the picture to a friend, their input can help you decide if this piece is right or not. (Thanks to my friends, my closet seems to get purged on a bi-weekly basis.)

Actually take everything out of the closet

This is a tip that is both terrifying and wonderful. When you move, you start with a clean slate and have the chance to coordinate colors and items of colors. You get the opportunity to decide where everything should go and organize to your heart’s content.

If you really want to purge your wardrobe properly, pretend like you are on the move. Pull everything out of the closet and look at a blank slate. Check out all the space you have and decide what you want to put back in.

Sometimes, having a blank canvas means giving yourself a new opportunity to decide what you want. And an empty closet means deciding what fits and what doesn’t.

Donate clothes that don’t fit

Speaking of deciding what fits and what doesn’t, if your body has changed significantly in any way, it’s probably time to let some things go. You should not be hanging on to clothes that don’t fit you. While we always say things like ‘but what if I fit into it again,’ this is not how you should craft a wardrobe.

Besides, fashion and style is always changing. If you do happen to need a different size, perhaps shopping for something new will show you that you can look good no matter what the number on the tag says. At the same time, donating your stuff that doesn’t fit is a chance to feel good about helping someone else.

Check if you have high-maintenance stuff

Forget about the formal clothes in your closet, and think about the clothes that are more for every day wear. Do you have things that require specific products when it comes to being cleaned? Are their clothes that can only be dry cleaned or perhaps hand washed?

How often do you wear these things? If the answer is never (and it is because of the way they need to be cared for), then it may be time to say goodbye. Unless it is for work or a formal occasion, high maintenance clothes that you never wear are just in the way.

Check the tags and decide if it is worth it to hang on to something you never wear because keeping it cleaning is just too hard or time-consuming.