Spring time closet swap!
Yesterday morning I put on some spring-y tunes (“Beautiful Day” by U2, “Here Comes The Sun”, and “Blue Skies” by Noah and The Whale, among others), and did my semi-annual Seasonal Swap. Here’s what I did, in order:
- All of my fall/winter-only clothes went into an opaque, silver garment bag at the back of my closet. I only have 6 or so hanging items that are fall/winter-only. I like opaque, because when I open the garment bag in October-ish to do my next Seasonal Swap, it’s like a fun reminder… Yo, favorite pea coat, haven’t seen you in awhile! What up, warm snuggly clothes! I forgot I owned you, what a nice surprise! etc).
- All of my spring/summer clothes came out of said garment bag, and I greeted them with zeal.
- Most of my clothing is all-season (my flannel shirt, my cardigans, my raincoat…), so that just stayed put.
- I turned all 25 hangers the “wrong” way (pictured above). As I wear each item, I put it back on the hanger the “right” way. This is how I keep myself honest about what I’m realistically wearing.
- As always, I make sure that all of my clothing faces front. It drives me crazy to have clothing facing both directions. Psychologically, it’s nice to be “greeted” by my clothes when I enter my closet.
- Here’s the order, from front to back: Pants (I own one pair of pants that actually need to be hung), camisoles (I own 2), sleeveless tops (3), short sleeve (1), long sleeve (3), cardigans (4), hoodies (3), fleece (1), jean jacket (1), leather jackets (2), raincoat (1), skirt (1), dresses (6, and for different functions: Beach cover up, casual sun dress, date night dress, presentation/funeral dress, cocktail/wedding guest dress, Passover/Seder/dinner party dress), pashminas (2).
- I took my pea coat and 3 dresses to the dry cleaner, to start the season off with clean, cheery dresses (and to send my pea coat into storage with a freshly sewn button; it was getting a little jiggly.).
- I donated a bag of spring/summer clothes that I wasn’t excited to see again, and fall/winter clothes that were tuckered out from 6 months of wear.
That was just for my hanging stuff. I switched out my shoes, of course. I have a hanging shoe organizer that holds 10 pairs, and I put all the wintery stuff at the bottom, and up came the sandals, flip-flops and Keds. The boots got tucked into the back of the closet, on the floor.
In my drawers, I only need one third of my bottom dresser drawer for winter-only/folded items (long underwear, long sleeves, fleece-lined yoga pants, pajamas, gloves, hat, scarf, etc). I use a drawer divider to section off my winter clothes from the other stuff in the bottom drawer (my small keepsake box, my mom’s scarf collection, some travel items). Then I brought up the spring items. It was great to see my tank tops and shorts again. Everything else is pretty much all-season. I mostly wear short sleeve shirts, and they get to hang around all year.
The whole process took me about 30 minutes (woot, capsule wardrobe!), and was a pleasure to do.
An afterthought, for my fellow planet lovers…
This process was also about checking in with my wardrobe to see if I’m living in line with one of my biggest virtues, which is love for the environment. To see how this ties into one’s wardrobe, I invite you to watch The True Cost on Netflix, which takes an honest look at our fast fashion culture, and what a lot of the clothing industry is doing to the planet and our fellow humans.
One of my (five) new years resolutions this year was to buy second-hand as much as possible. I apply this mostly to clothes and office supplies (since I can’t always apply it to food or toiletries), and I’m happy to report that since December 31st, the only new items I’ve bought in both categories have been a set of 20 stamps, and a pair of leggings (I admit that I like them but do not need them- I liked the woman who sold them, and wanted to support her. My eco-guilt clashed with my support-small-business guilt here). Anyway of my 30 hanging items, I calculated that 10 of them are second-hand (hand-me-down, thrift or consignment). I’d like to improve this number as the things I bought new get worn out over time- I’d like to replace things with second-hand items.
PS- Second-hand office supplies, you ask? I buy those, as well as organizing supplies, for next-to-nothing at Scraps KC here in Kansas City! If you’re not in KC, google “creative reuse center” in your area.