Let’s just admit that you may have secretly fallen out of love with your clothes. It happens. Sometimes we face a closet of our very own clothes, stare aimlessly in and wonder how did it get to the point of…sadness, frustration, hate!
But it doesn’t have to stay this way. The most important thing you can do is to feel your way into your closet. What I mean by that is to walk into your closet space and just feel.
Don’t overthink this, in fact, don’t think at all. Just feel what is going on in there. Is it frustration, anger, hatred, love, excitement? Maybe a mixture of a few emotions?
Your job is to begin to clear out of season beliefs, thoughts, habits and patterns that have made their way into the relationship with your clothing. If you are tired of being frustrated, then it’s time to heal that, and to know that change is at hand. If it’s anger – at you or your clothes – know that the reason this feeling is coming up can change as well.
We often think that carefully considering what we plan to wear means we are vain or that we should not have to pay attention to something so trite. But that thinking is flawed because being in love with your clothing is not about style for style’s sake, nor is it about attractiveness.
It’s about wearing something that supports the idea of who you are to the world. It’s about using your clothes as a resource to facilitate trust and connection with yourself first and then others and doing it your way.
So again, step into your closet. What is going on? Is it organized? Is it overstuffed? Do you have your children’s toys and blankets on that top shelf above your clothes? Boxes of filing and bills down below the the shirts? Are there clothes on the floor? None of this is bad or wrong. But some of it may be a sign that you need to pay attention to…YOU. This is your space. This is the place where you get ready every day to take on the world. Maybe it’s time to make it the space that encourages and reflects YOU.Here are some suggestions:
1. Remove any items that do not belong to you or that are not a part of your wardrobe. This could be the aforementioned items or extra hangers, suitcases, photo boxes, your children’s clothes, your husband’s clothes (at least remove them from your side) or anything distracting.
2. Add lighting. Most often with clients I find that their closets do not have enough light.
3. Add a mirror. A full-length mirror. If it doesn’t fit in the closet, then try either side of the door to the closet and/or the wall outside. Sometimes it’s not hard to tell who has left their house sans a full-length mirror check.
4. Clean. Vacuum, sweep and dust those corners, walls and shelves. Nothing like removing a couple of dust bunnies to create white space in your closet.
5. Can you find today or this week just one photo or piece of art that you love and put it on the wall above your clothes? Maybe you have a container or beautiful box that you can place on a shelf. Look for anything that you love and love to look at. Really, put this on your to-do list this week.
These aren’t the only things you can do to start loving your closet this year, but it’s a start towards awareness, and that is the key to falling back in love with your closet. I’ll have more closet tips and ideas to keep you happy in your wardrobe later on this month. Stay tuned.
