5 Questions to Pare Down Your Wardrobe

Time to make good on your minimalist resolutions? These framing questions helped me shed a full 1/2 of my wardrobe in the past 6 months, and I intend to keep on going. Try going through your closet and asking the questions for each piece in order. It sounds time-consuming, but you’ll get the hang of it and it will start to flow quickly. Best of all, I guarantee it will work!

Does This Fit Me?

Sure, it seems obvious that you should generally get rid of things that don’t fit. Maybe not maternity clothes if you’re planning another child or if you regularly gain/ shed weight for sports or acting roles, etc.

I’m talking about regular clothes that you won’t fit in again under normal circumstances: Maybe like me, you have a suitcase of size 0 clothes stuffed away for 6 years in case you lose those 20 pounds. That needs to go.

Do I Wear It?

First of all, if you have to try something on to see if it fits, you probably don’t wear it enough. There aren’t hard and fast rules for how much you wear something to justify keeping it, however. Getting good use out of an ugly holiday sweater usually means wearing it a few times in the Fall, whereas wearing a fancy long dress could mean once per year in wedding season, and wearing work slacks could mean once per week. (Tracking your clothes will help you find answers.)

In my final go-round of 2023, I used the cutoff as whether I’d found at least one occasion to wear a piece over the entire year. If the answer is No, then it isn’t something I need to keep. (Should there ever come another time when I need a semi-formal work dress, I will cross that bridge when I get to it.)

Does This Fit My Personality?

This is where a lot of gifted/ swapped/ impulse buy pieces end up getting culled for me. Also, for me especially, this culls a lot of pieces I bought online because I liked how they were modeled/ styled.

Fashion and style tell a story about your personality, and should represent the impression you want to give to others. I like to present myself as classy and confident, with a combination of classic, well-fitted styles and colors, plus some bold choices tastefully mixed in.

The story can change based on the occasion. For the office, you may keep more conservative and muted color pieces that say, “Reliable”. For parties, you may want a few bolder prints or colors that say, “Fun”. Maybe you’re one of those who put a lot of effort into “I woke up like this” (I am, so I get it).

Whatever the occasion or reason, chances are you are holding onto at least a few pieces that don’t quite fit your vibe. I certainly was, and I even forced myself to keep wearing those pieces. Thankfully for my Instagram blog, putting it all out there helped me see what did and didn’t send the type of style message I wanted.

Do I Love Wearing It?

As admitted above, I will force myself to wear pieces or even outfits I don’t completely love just to justify keeping them around. Yet not loving a piece, even if it seems like it fits your personality, is exactly why to let it go.

Some examples from 2023 include:

• Shibori-style designer jeans that I hated seeing myself in in photos
• Some natural fiber linen pants that I couldn’t figure out how to style
• A pretty lace tank top that was too small for me in the chest and even fashion tape couldn’t make me feel like I wouldn’t fall out of it
• Black fabric sneakers
• Any crop tops, even with extensive ab workouts
• Cute dresses or skirts that ride up – ugh!

On the flip side, I have some pieces in my closet that I do love wearing regardless of outward reasons to let them go:

• A Balenciaga bag I thrifted that’s so beat up and destroyed that it’s actually probably worthless, but I love the look and history of it
• Some fuzzy striped knee socks with kitty faces and ears at the top that don’t seem like me at all, but they’re super cute, comfortable, and practical
• Basic black Lululemon pants that seem ultra-basic for my style but are just so comfortable and flattering

Am I Keeping This Around for Sentimental or Other Reasons?

Sentimental reasons are big for me and watching Marie Kondo, clearly for many others it is as well. Did I wear this on a special occasion but never again? Was this given to me by someone who is no longer in my life? Did I get it for free at an event I enjoyed? These are just examples of questions I’ve asked myself regarding particular items in my closet.

Other reasons for me have included that it was expensive, that it’s rare, or that I’m saving it for some reason or another.

This is the exact moment to thank the item for its service and list it for sale or bring to a swap.

These questions should lead you through letting go of at least a few pieces you’re struggling with. Next time, we’ll go through ways to ease the letting-go process!