By Roxy Rowton
Within the home, there is a space that gets allocated for the keeping and storing of the wardrobe. For many, the closet is simply the space allocated for the personal storage of an individual’s wardrobe. Strangely, we are often unaware that hanging amongst the wardrobe is a treasure trove of data that can help answer the question of what’s in your closet.
- What do you like to wear?
- Which clothes do you feel good wearing?
- What fits you?
- What is your style?
- How do you live?
- How much should you spend?
- How do you take care of your clothes?
- What do your clothes say about you?
- How do you use color?
- Which fabrics do you like?
- Which textures do you favor?
- Which items make up your wardrobe?
Peering inside the closet can be similar to looking at a reflection in the mirror; it mirrors a visible likeness of a particular individual— you. The closet houses the secrets to your wardrobe mix and whether you like the wardrobe mix in the closet may depend in part on the culling process.
Culling the wardrobe is a necessary process for separating out the wrong items (mistakes in selection, ill-fitting items, worn-out garments, etc.) and bringing in the right (hero, investment, classic) pieces that satisfy your dressing needs and style requisites. Culling can instruct us on how to shop for our wardrobes or how to pull together the varied items from our wardrobe. Culling can show us how to get dressed with comfort and ease, whether it is for work, play, or party. It can teach us how to interpret the actual cost of a garment and how to select which clothes are worth the investment and can enlighten us on how to create personal color combinations or how to layer textures. Culling can reveal whether wardrobe items require high or low maintenance and how much of the budget and time are spent on doing it. It can explain how to identify signature looks from wardrobe key pieces or how to develop a personal style concept. Best of all, it can tell us how to design a wardrobe that will function and last for seasons to come.
The next time you open the door to the closet, let yourself discover what’s inside. The more you know about what’s in your closet, the less you’ll have nothing to wear.
Wardrobe and style consultant Roxy L. Rowton (rlrowton@ everydayrefinement.com) spends much of her workweek in the closet or the fitting room helping women look and feel their very best. She has two- plus decades in the fashion, apparel, and beauty industries, and is a member of the Association of Image Consultants International.
