Full closet with nothing to wear? Sounds like you need a closet detox

HOUSTON – You know the feeling. Your closet is full, but you feel like you have nothing to wear when you get the chance to go out. If that’s you, you need a closet detox.

Styling consultant Charlene Lawson with Style Chemistry Consulting walked KPRC 2 consumer expert Amy Davis through the process and shared some tips to help you get started.

“Take everything out of your closet and put it on your bed,” Lawson instructed. “And it needs to earn its way back into the closet.”

Step one is to separate the items into four piles:

  • Items you’ll keep
  • Items you’ll donate or sell
  • Items that need to be repaired
  • Items you need to separate. Meaning you’re not sure you want to get rid of them, so you’re going to take them out of your closet for a couple of weeks to see if you miss them

The only items that should earn their way back into your closet are pieces you love.

“If you don’t love it, get rid of it,” said Lawson.

As you decide which pile each piece of clothing should in, Lawson said to ask yourself these questions:

  1. Am I confident in it?
  2. When you put it on, do you light up or are you pulling down and tugging and just feeling uncomfortable?
  3. Is it aligned with who I am today? When I walk into a room, what do I want to communicate?
  4. Does this piece communicate that?

If it doesn’t, Lawson said to get rid of it.

She says people with closets full of clothes they never wear usually fall into one of three traps.

  • You don’t know your own personal style, so you just buy things haphazardly.
  • You’re buying things that don’t fit your shape, so you’re not feeling confident in what you’re wearing.
  • You’re buying things that are on sale, but you don’t really love them.

All three of those traps can lead to a closet filled with boring, mediocre clothes.

After you have sorted your clothing and put what you want to keep back inside, make some money by selling the clothing you don’t want. You can have an old-fashioned garage sale or post items on websites like Mercari, Poshmark or Tradesy.


About the Author:

Passionate consumer advocate, mom of 3, addicted to coffee, hairspray and pastries.