Category: Closet Full of Clothes

Simplify NOW for Holiday Season

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The calendar doesn’t lie, we are heading into the Holiday season fast and furious!  With the hustle and bustle of the holidays comes stress and chaos. Say Yes to Less now and simplify your life so the holidays are less stressful.  This will allow to enjoy more time with friends and family. …and isn’t that what the holiday season is really all about?

5 ideas to help you start decluttering BEFORE the holiday season takes over:

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  1. Holiday Decorations.  Throughout different stages of our life, our decorating needs change as does our taste in decor.  Have you recently become an empty nester?  Donate the kid-focused decorations to Goodwill and try a new color scheme. Your local Goodwill Store is also a great place to start your new holiday decor collection; or if you are crafty, look in the aisles of Goodwill for things you can paint or #repurpose or #upstyle and make your own.  Just got married?  Time to start building your holiday decor collection!  Be sure to only keep what fits in your storage space.

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  1. The Kitchen.  Ask yourself how many things in your kitchen you really use.  If you haven’t used the turkey platter in 20 years, donate it to Goodwill and free up room in your kitchen.  Have a set of holiday dishes you love, but are missing a few pieces? Goodwill is a fantastic place to search for those random pieces to complete your collection.

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  1. Kids Stuff.  Now is the time to go through all the toys and games and pare down by donating gently-used toys to Goodwill.  Why not brighten someone’s day when they find that treasure you’ve donated?  Since I know many of you will have a ton of this kind of donation, here is a helpful tip:  did you know you can also use a Goodwill Drive-Thru to get help with unloading?

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  1. Closets.  As you change your closets over for the new season, it is the perfect time to access those out-of-season things.  Did you wear it over the summer?  Is it showing signs of wear?  Donate what you don’t love and what doesn’t get worn to Goodwill.  And when you are filling your closet with your current season clothing, make a shopping list of the things that are missing.  Maybe you don’t have a scarf or mittens to match your winter coat?. When you are at Goodwill donating, take a look to see if you find something perfect to add to your closet!    

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  1. Garage. Over the summer, we all drop things in the garage when we’re busy having fun during the warmer months.  Now that the weather is changing, clean up that clutter!  Bring in all the outdoor planters and pots, organize all of the storage areas in your garage and fill your car with those things you really don’t need cluttering up your garage…and donate them to Goodwill.  In the Spring, you will be so happy you did this now!

Say Yes to Less and have a less stressful holiday season!

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How To Build a Capsule Wardrobe – with free downloads!

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In a perfect fashionable world, we would all have a minimalist mindset and function perfectly with very few clothes. The truth is, most of us fall into the category called “closet full of clothes and nothing to wear”. 
I believe the reason so many of us get stuck in this “bursting at the seams” place is because we haven’t been intentional about building our wardrobes. This is the premise behind Capsule Wardrobes.  Before I tell you HOW TO BUILD A CAPSULE WARDROBE, let’s define it:
…according to Wikipedia

Capsule wardrobe is a term coined by Susie Faux, the owner of a London boutique called “Wardrobe” in the 1970s. According to Faux, a capsule wardrobeis a collection of a few essential items of clothing that will not go out of fashion, such as skirts, trousers, and coats, which can then be augmented with seasonal pieces. This idea was popularized by American designer Donna Karan, who, in 1985, released an influential capsule collection of seven interchangeable work-wear pieces.

The term is widely used in the British and American fashion media, and has been the subject of several popular television series. The term has come to refer to a collection of clothing which is designed using only interchangeable items, in order to maximize the number of outfits which can be created. The aim is to have an outfit suitable for any occasion without owning excessive items of clothing. This is usually achieved by buying what are considered to be “key” or “staple” items in coordinating colors.
Building this elusive perfect wardrobe is simple.  The key to your stylish success is to plan and follow these steps.

Step 1 – Choose a color palate – up to 4 colors, 1 dark neutral, 1 light neutral, a pop color and your signature color.   Once you master how to create a Capsule Wardrobe, you can add in other colors that compliment your palate. The secret is all of these colors match one another, kind of like Granimals! So, everything will go together, GENIUS!
First, determine what dark neutral looks best on you.  For some, it may be black, however for most (yes, I am about to tell you that black might not be a good color for you) that dark neutral should be grey, brown or navy. Then choose a lighter neutral (white or cream).  Then add in some color; a pop (or wow color for the season), and your signature color (that one hue that you know looks great on you).
Here is an example of what your color palate might look like (this is mine):
 

For help matching your wardrobe, click here for a cheat sheet.

Step 2 – Figure out what cuts of clothing look great on you.  Knowing what your body shape is simply is knowing what your proportions are.  The cuts of clothing we choose can emphasize our silhouette, and camouflage  areas we hold a little extra fluff.  Some of us have broad shoulders, so need to wear pieces that minimize our shoulders.  
To start this step, choose your favorites: favorite pair of jeans, favorite skirt and so on.
For help choosing the right cuts of clothing, here is another cheat sheet.
Step 3  – List the pieces you are using in your capsule wardrobe. Typically, you will need about 30 items in your wardrobe, with 10 being your wardrobe backbone. I’ve seen a lot of numbers for a capsule wardrobe thrown around, but you should be able to build 30 outfits with 10 pieces of clothing.  You will want at least 5 shirts (some like enough for every day of the week).

Once you have completed your list, this will show you where you might need to add some things into your capsule wardrobe.  Try to get good quality pieces as the backbone of your wardrobe. Taking this list with you when you shop at Goodwill will help you to do a few things:

  1. Shop intentionally – only search for those things on your shopping list
  2. Choose pieces you can wear numerous times – as you will see by the chart, all of the pieces work together.  All of the tops match all of the bottoms, and all of the jackets can coordinate with any of the tops, bottoms and dresses.
  3. Add pieces you know will look good on you!  By the time you have made your list, you will have a good understanding of your color palate and what cuts of clothing look good on you. 

Here is a chart to help you get started. With this chart, you will have 20 pieces of clothing, giving you about 35-40 outfits.  If you want to get technical, I counted 64 different combinations using these 20 pieces!

The final step is to take some pictures of your outfit combinations.  This will make it much easier to choose what to wear in the morning. There are numerous apps for your smart phone that will help you store and organize these pictures. My favorite is called Stylebook. It allows you to mark an outfit so you remember that you wore it recently. If you are a fashionista at heart, you NEED an app like this!

Here are some screen shots from my capsule wardrobe (of course, all of the pieces you see here came from Goodwill!).

I hope this helps you and challenges you to be intentional when shopping at a Goodwill Industries of Michiana store.  Be sure to check this blog for the latest on 50% off sale days!
www.KathyFriend.com
#Capsulewardrobeonabudget #capsulewardrobe