With all the discounted deals and offers on clothes and accessories tempting you to shop. It’s only a matter of time, when your wardrobe bursts open in flames and tells you ‘Enough!’. In spite of plans or setting a reminder on the calendar, the question is do you end up cleaning your wardrobe?
Ahead of the festive season, it’s time to follow the 5 essential steps to declutter your wardrobe, which is Keep, Organise, Donate, Recycle and Trash. The first thing to remember is that the motive of this exercise is to declutter your wardrobe. At times, we tend to attach the clothes and accessories we own with a sentiment and hence can never part with it.
STEP 1: ORGANISE
The first rule of decluttering is to take every piece of clothing and accessory out of the cupboard/closet and place it either on your bed or on the floor. Segregate items in categories such as home wear, work wear, gym wear, party wear and festive wear. This may take you almost 30-60 mins based on the number of clothes and accessories you own.
STEP 2: KEEP
Once you have successfully completed segregating. Take a 5-minute break and come back with a fresh mind. Ask why? Because we love our clothes, even if we haven’t worn them since 2020. However, small break post organising will give you a fresh perspective. Target one category at a time. Do not mix it up, it will only cause confusion.
For instance, the festive wear pile may have two or three items as one set- lehenga, top and dupatta or jacket. Don’t jump to the party wear pile, thinking you can match the indo-western jacket with your favourite crop top. The Keep pile needs to be of essentials that you know you will wear in the future.
STEP 3: DONATE
This step is considered entering the zen mode. There are times in our life when we look at an old outfit and think, one day I shall fit into it once again. Sorry to break your bubble, it’s not going to happen. Please donate it. For instance, a kurta set you were gifted in 2015, its matching pants may have lost its sheen, but the kurta looks perfectly new. You could donate the kurta and maybe recycle or discard the pants. Before parting ways with any item, ensure it is in good shape. Donating doesn’t mean discarding.
STEP 4: RECYCLE
Be Kind and rewind. But only if you are going to use it. If you have been hoarding your old lehengas and saris but haven’t got the chance to adorn it. Then recycle them. Ask your tailor to turn the heavy border of your lehenga into a fancy off-shoulder blouse or upcycle the traditional Banarasi sari into a tote bag or a lehenga skirt or wide-leg pants.
STEP 5: TRASH
The hardest step of them all. It is difficult parting with a piece of your heart (clothing), especially when it is doing to land into the dustbin. We all know a new T-shirt goes through three stages in an Indian household before it is trash. 1. The Star of the Wardrobe 2. Donated to your younger sibling 3. A washcloth to wipe the kitchen platform or floor. Don’t fall for the sentiment value of the clothing when discarding it. Repeat in this sentence ‘I don’t need it anymore’ five times in your mind, if you have trouble discarding it.
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