My closet got audited!
You know what’s better than spending tons money on clothes? Investing in a professional Closet Auditor who will teach you how to buy only the right clothes.
My friend Linda Davis with House of Colour KC not only audits closets, but she can assess you for your best colors and styles. I took three classes with Linda (Color Analysis, Style Profile, and Makeup 101) before I hired her to come to my home and audit my wardrobe.
I’ve always wanted a capsule wardrobe: A small collection of quality pieces that all “go” with each other. Linda does not exclusively do capsule wardrobe projects- in fact most of her clients are not aspiring minimalists, though she was delighted to take this on.
First we went through every piece of clothing. I still have my color swatch wallet when I took her Color Analysis class over 3 years ago, so we used it to assess my clothing. I’m a “Summer”, which means that I look best in blue-based, soft & muted colors (as opposed to yellow-based, or bright & bold hues). To my delight we had a bag of clothing donations at the end. I gave up my black yoga pants (black does me no favors, but dark navy does), some undergarments that I hadn’t been realistic about wearing, and some old t-shirts. Linda is empowering: She’s not the type to insist on parting with items- she simply tells me whether or not an item is helping or hurting me, and I make the choice.
Then I got a shopping assignment! I already owned 4 dresses that “work for me”, but Linda didn’t think that any of my shoes were complementing them. Nor did I have cardigans or layers to go over said dresses. Nor did I own a single skirt. Linda created a private, personalized Pinterest board chock full of items in my color and style. Using her wisdom I bought some navy kitten heels, some ruby colored flats and a bunch of cardigans. I also bought a pair of simple white canvas slip-on shoes to work in (we organizers need not be fancy when we’re crawling under beds to dig out dusty items), and Linda gave me her blessing to invest in some good, navy yoga pants- she said with my style profile (which factors in personality), such a garment was appropriate for me to work in.
Then Linda returned to my home- she audited my purchases and praised me for a job well done (squee). There were a couple of items we looked at together and decided, “Meh… Let’s return those.” But mostly I had got it right.
Then the best part of all, that you may have guessed from the photos: Linda arranged my existing garments and the new purchases together, and took pictures so that I can feel confident about what pairs with what.
I’m thrilled: My wardrobe is smaller and more focused. Each piece I own can do multiple functions, not just one or two: My closet is like a Swiss Army knife. I’m equipped for any event: Work, fun, dates, speaking gigs, teaching, cocktail parties, weddings. Auditing my closet was a one-time investment with life-long skills learned. Dressing well is more important in our culture than I would like it to be, but I feel better when I make an effort to dress well. People respond more positively to me.
I have 39 items on hangers at the time of writing, and 3 small drawers of clothing (one of those is just off-season). It’s nice to own a small quantity of higher quality items.
By the way, we have launched our new and improved Simplicana Shop– here are my wardrobe favorites.