The Working Closet
with Susan Wagner
The Working Closet is your source for the best of what's hip and fresh in fashion and beauty. Susan Wagner keeps you up-to-date on trends and offers tips and tricks for making everything in your closet truly work for you.
You can also catch Susan over at Friday Playdate.
It’s January, and we’re all starting the New Year by paring down and simplifying and trying to recover from the excess of the holidays. I still have a Christmas tree in my dining room (packed and ready to store, but not yet put away, for whatever reason) and frankly, I’m ready for my house and my life to be completely back to normal.
Although actually a Christmas tree in the dining room isn’t far from normal for me. Sadly.
So instead of putting the holiday decorations in the attic, I’ve been reassessing my closet (of course). I’ve given up shopping for sixty days (11 down! woo!) but more than that I’m thinking about how I will turn 40 in the spring, and how I would like to really streamline my style before then.
I wrote last week about strategies for finding your style; this week, I want to talk about strategies for making your closet workable.
Start by figuring out what you have IN the closet. There are a variety of ways to do this, but if you are the most interested in a functional closet, the place to start is with the Ten-Minute Challenge.
The Ten Minute Challenge works like this: for the next two weeks, give yourself ten minutes to get dressed in the morning. That’s ten minutes from the time you open the closet door to the moment you finish putting your shoes on. Set an egg timer — are you fully dressed when it goes off, or still standing in your underwear trying to pull an outfit together? If you consistently find that you are unable to get ready in ten minutes, you need to rethink your closet. Reassess and reorganize, and try again. Don’t buy ONE SINGLE new thing until you can go two whole weeks (fourteen consecutive days) where you get dressed in under ten minutes.
When you know what your personal style is AND you have a closet full of pieces that work together, you will be able to dress for anything in ten minutes. I promise.
Are YOU ready for the Ten-Minute Challenge?
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I guess I sort of already do this - I set out my clothes the night before - right down to my underwear and jewelry choices. Since I wake up at the absolute last moment possible that will still allow me to get ready and get out of the house with the kiddos (oh, I love my sleep), I need to have it all ready to go. Now, if I would only stop hitting the snooze button…
BethanyWD | January 11th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
so what do you do when you have a TINY old house closet, and a dresser on the other side of the room, and shoes next to the dresser? (ok heap on the floor next to the dresser, under the bed, and under the night stand?)
not that i would live like this, no, no, not me!
though really, now that i think about it, 10 minutes is a long time…
Kate | January 11th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
I select my outfit the night before too. I have to say, though, that I’m not in love with my personal style. I’m working on it though.
Judi | January 11th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
You are hard core. Seriously.
slynnro | January 11th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Fortunately, I always iron and lay everything out the night before, so I don’t think I’ve spent more than four minutes getting dressed in a long time. Unless I’m wearing stockings, because there’s always a run in stockings, even if there wasn’t when I started putting them on. Sigh.
Unfortunately, even with laying everything out early I still wear the same things over and over again! I need to do some serious closet cleaning out. And possibly buy new pants.
TeacherJ | January 12th, 2008 at 6:19 am
Do we have to count the time it takes to iron the clothes? If so, I’m sunk! If not, it’s really easy. The challenge should be - go into your closet. See how many combinations you can come up with that you’ve never paired together before. We all get stuck in the same ruts - break out!
Lisa | January 16th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
10 minutes to get dressed? that is a luxury I haven’t had for …. about 18 months! Although the idea is a really good one!
I personally hang a few items in “outfits” in my closet (a dressy one a fab casual one and a dreaded “yoga outfit” one), so that when I need to look pulled together in a hurry (Dr. appointment, meeting at work, salsa class) I can do it.
SleepyNita | January 16th, 2008 at 11:26 pm