Whether it be picking up a new hobby or adopting new habits, we all discovered new ways to comfort ourselves with the stress of the pandemic, our education, and our social lives. If you’re anything like me, I used retail therapy as a coping mechanism, only to realize I would be wearing my new platform boots to grab groceries and wear around the house. 

With the rise in TikTok trends during the early months of quarantine, many, including myself, have begun to take a deeper look into different styles of fashion, exploring clothes and accessories that enabled them to take self-expression to a whole new level. With the “Y2K” phenomena and “Pinterest Girl” aesthetic, many have gone out with the old and in with the new. Trendy fashion has become a large part of people’s lives, not only giving them the space to experiment with new patterns, textures, and colors like never before but creating a pathway towards more eccentric trends and personalized styles.

After the hectic year we had, the start of 2021 calls for a complete restart in certain aspects of our lives. As a shopaholic with an impulse to buy the first article of clothing that catches my eye, I accumulated maybe a little too much clothing throughout the past few months. With my overflowing drawers and cramped clothing rack, I found it was time to let some of my clothes go. Not only did I free up room within my closet, but I realized that a new and clean space is exactly what I needed going into the New Year.

Here are some steps that I took to declutter my closet that I hope will help you or a friend:

“Does this spark joy?”

Also known as part of the Konmari method, this practice comes from the Japanese organization consultant, Marie Kondo. When accumulating articles of clothing throughout the years and continuing to wear your favorite sparkly pants to their last seam, you grow to associate certain memories and experiences with clothing items. Whether or not you can physically tell, our material possessions hold emotional and mental weight, therefore causing us to grab tightly to our favorite shirts, pants, and dresses, even when we haven’t worn them over 6 months. This is your chance to ask yourself “Do I need this? When was the last time I wore this? Will holding onto it make me happy or heavy?” Consider these questions and begin to make a “keep” and “no keep” pile.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure

After you have sorted through your clothing and accessories, you are left with the possibilities of what to do with the items. Considering the environmental impacts of the fashion industry and how it’s quite resource-intensive, there are two options that I usually choose when decluttering my closet: selling and donating. First, I will usually turn to resell apps such as Depop, Mercari, and Poshmark to find a new and loving home for some of my favorite items. With these apps at our fingertips, we can resell our gently used clothing to get back some of our money over items that were barely touched or never even worn. I find that it’s a win-win situation for both parties… as long as you don’t sell a plain black tank top for $70. Lastly, when I am left with clothing items that won’t sell or have been too worn in, that’s my call to donate to some thrift stores.

Let’s play a game called Categories

Now comes down to the nit-picky part: Organization. I find that breaking up my wardrobe into a few different categories helps keep my closet from becoming a hot mess. Categorizing my wardrobe by color allows for an orderly fashion and when coming up with new outfit ideas, I can direct my attention to that one portion of my wardrobe rather than sifting through random long sleeves, jackets, and dresses. From here, I can further categorize each color by the article of clothing: Coats, pants, dresses, blouses… The list goes on. Many people may have different ways of organizing but this is personally what has helped me as I continued to experiment with my fashion sense.