Upcycling and Closet Love

I am having a battle, it’s between my conscience and my closet. I have doled out plenty of closet fixing, and building wardrobe advice to you my lovely blog fam over the last several months, but now I am having that should it stay or should it go dilemma myself. The rule of thumb is if you haven’t worn it for two years… toss it baby. Well, now that I am trying to eat better and take better care of my health I am finding that maybe I can really squueaze back into those jeans that I haven’t been able to wear for a while.

Whenever I purge my wardrobe I try to ask two little questions if I find I am on the fence about something: A) will you actually wear this when your tush is two sizes smaller or will you want to go out and buy some new more fashionable items? Inevitably the new items almost always win.

B) With all the natural disasters and problems in the world isn’t there someone else who truly needs this pair of pants, dress, shoes etc? If A) didn’t seal the deal then B) surely does.

Did you know that the average American tosses approximately 70 pounds of clothing and textiles a year? That’s a big chunk-o-the landfill that I never thought about, so it got me thinking about what I could do (and what you can do) to reduce that clothing ball of trash each year. The goal is to try to turn your relationship with your closet into a love affair not a quick fling.

Be charitable – Make it a point when purging your closet to donate as much as you can to charities in need like women’s shelters, disaster relief or places where the sales of your items go directly to charity.

Get the good stuff – cut down on buying “disposable” clothes. I know, I know that cute little blouse was only $10 but is it really going to last more than two or three washings? Or are you buying it just for that party and then tossing it to the back of your closet? Either way that ruffled number needs to stay on the rack. The goal should be to build a wardrobe of long -term pieces. Besides, cheap duds usually mean cheap labor somewhere in the world…

Upcycle –So what is “upcycling” exactly? It’s taking that dress that you loved a few years ago when past the knee hemlines were acceptable or those pants that were kind of an inch too short and re-creating a new piece with them. Cut that too long hemline into a cute little skirt or those trousers into a slouchy little pair of shorts. Believe me a good tailor can works wonders.

Signature style- Stop obsessing about what celebrity is wearing what and create your own look. Shop vintage for well made but inexpensive pieces to add to an outfit or invest in signature items that will work in your wardrobe for years to come like the perfect clutch bag, an amazing pair of earrings, a well fitting blouse etc.

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