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how to do a closet edit.

Remember how I was so nervous about my first closet consultation? 

That was all for nothing.  I even mentioned the awkward pretend boyfriend thing and, after Bridget got done laughing so hard she cried, we were able to get some major outfits put together in spite of my stalker tendencies.

I headed to Bridget’s house early one morning to go through all her clothes and figure out what outfits she has for fall/winter and what she wants to add.  She’s a physical education teacher during the day so doesn’t have a lot of need for dressy or casual clothes–she’s active and needs to be able to run around with kids.  But she felt like she didn’t have any cute clothes to wear outside of her job (to church, a birthday party, shopping, for date night with her husband, etc.).

The first thing we did was put her whole closet into two piles: one pile for clothes that would work for cooler weather, she still liked, and she’d wear.  The second pile was summery clothes or things she didn’t like anymore.  (After I left, she went through and decided what would go to Goodwill and what she wanted to keep.)

In the pile we were working with there was probably about 20 tops and sweaters, 7-9 pairs of pants (colored skinnies, jeans, leggings, etc.), one skirt, and 4-6 dresses.  Plenty of pieces to work with.

I started with a pair of pants and put together as many top combinations as I could think of.  Bridget took a picture of each outfit and we talked about what else might work with the pieces (later she printed all the pictures and hung up in her closet so she could have an outfit idea without much thought).  We did this for every skirt, pair of pants, and dress she had.  We did a lot of layering and belting things, blazers with lace tops, dresses as shirts, and print mixing.  Bridget had lots of neutral colors and classic pieces that made putting new looks together really easy.  As we went, I made a list of things that she could add to the look or pieces that she could incorporate into many of her looks.

I’m all about not spending a lot of money to update your wardrobe and Bridget just needed more accessories, jackets, and/or shoes to complete her looks and then come up with many more.

Here are two of my favorite looks we put together featuring an awesome teal  high/low hem top:

(left: colored skinnies, teal top, and a brown cardigan. right: steel blue skinnies, teal top, and striped sweater)

We talked a lot about how accessories can dress those outfits (and others) up or down.  We came up with lots of different ways to wear one outfit which made Bridget happy especially since she and her cute husband just bought a beautiful new house and want to spend their money on that instead of a new clothes right now.

At this point in the consult, we had thirty one outfits put together.  I had to cut out a little early to head to a dentist appointment (no cavaties!!) and we had about 7-8 tops that hadn’t even been touched yet.  We spent about two hours total doing our closet portion of the consult (with lots of talking too, so it might have only been an hour of true clothes time). 

Then a few days later, we met up to go shopping.  Our list from closet clean-out day was pretty simple:

We came up with enough great options that we probably could have skipped the shopping part and her wardrobe would have still been ready for fall and winter.  But that’s no fun and we were able to come up with many new outfits with a few key pieces.  Here’s what we got: 
-chambray button down shirt
-brown belt
-white button down shirt
-dark chambray dress
-hunter green shirt dress
-purple button down shirt
Then on her own, Bridget picked up some scarves, some amazing brown boots, and a striped long-sleeve shirt.  Booties and a bright colored sweater are still on the list (the shopping goal wasn’t to buy everything, but pick up a few pieces and then Bridget could be on the lookout for other things as she was out and about [both budget-conscious and because we knew we wouldn’t find everything we wanted in one day]). 
Need some fall wardrobe inspiration?  Here’s some of what we came up with:
What I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older is that it’s not about the amount of clothes you have, but how many ways you can wear them.  Bridget is proof that with the right pieces you can have tons of looks and not tons of clothes.  My shopping rule (for the most part) is not buying anything that can’t be worn two or three different ways.  It helps me decided what is worth buying and what isn’t.
What do you think?  Do you have any shopping rules you follow when buying new clothes?  Which one of these outfits is your favorite?  I love the simplicity of black and brown with a chambray top and scarf, that just seems like fall to me.
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Comments

  1. Claudia at Lashes and Beard says

    October 21, 2012 at

    This is a great post! I love the stripes-on-stripes outfit. 🙂

    Glad to be your newest follower from the Networking Blog Hop. Hope you’ll come pay me a visit over at http://www.LashesAndBeard.com. Have a great day!

    Claudia

    Reply
  2. The Griffin Family says

    October 21, 2012 at

    why did you chop off her head . . . she is such a gorgeous girl . . . the outfits are ADORABLE . . . great job

    Reply
  3. Ashley Brooke says

    October 21, 2012 at

    wow, great job! super cute looks! New follower from the blog hop 🙂

    Reply
  4. Holly says

    October 22, 2012 at

    I love the outfit with the bright blue pants!
    Dropping by from the Live Laugh Rowe blog hop. 🙂

    Reply
  5. joyce sobczyk says

    August 26, 2013 at

    Hi Mary, I love your blog. It is so easy to follow and shows realistic values and ideas. My niece just bought a new home with tiny closets and I am forwarded this to her for inspiration. I hope you will check out my blog and like me on Facebook and I will do the same. http://www.theclosetconsult.com

    Also, it is easy to add your blog to bloglovin…….you never know!

    Reply
  6. joyce sobczyk says

    August 26, 2013 at

    Hi Mary, I love your blog! Just stumbled on it through Pinterest and small closet ideas. My niece is moving in to a small home tomorrow and I am in charge of the closets. This really came in handy and inspired me! Thanks and please check out my blog/website. http://www.theclosetconsult.com Joyce

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. arage remote controller says:
    June 23, 2014 at

    arage remote controller

    how to do a closet edit.

    Reply

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