More yellow shorts, and how to breathe and de-clutter!

Hat: Gap

Sunnies, Shorts: H&M

Tee: Whistles

Bag, Shoes: Vintage

Aww, the last few days have been so beautiful; I wish we could count on the British summer to deliver such gorgeous days all through the season. Sadly we can't so we have to make the most of what we get, and I've been quite lucky just lately in that all my days off from work have fallen on weather positive days with blue skies and lots of sun. Yippee!

I've found I have only one pair of shorts in my wardrobe following my clearout (well, non-leather ones anyway!) and it's these-the H&M numbers I bought last week. They're so comfortable and a really good length on me, I'm not keen on short-shorts. 

Since I cleared out my wardrobe I've a) discovered a load of things I forgot I had and b) compiled a short list of tips in case you should be inspired to tackle your own. I know this is fairly presumptuous but I always try to note down things that help me when I do a clearout, which is infrequently and, therefore, always a bit of a chore. Hope they're useful!

-Make sure you have plenty of space in which to move. Sounds obvious, but once you start pulling things asunder, floor spaces fill up fast and any clutter already in your way will begin to irritate. I always use our spare room for a big clearout as there is plenty of room to sort and if I get behind and don't manage to finish I can close the door, forget the mess and continue tomorrow.

-Be brutal. If you haven't worn anything for 6 months (as the adage goes) pop it to one side. If you have access to boxes, lable up 3 with the following disclaimers: Keep, Sell, Charity. I always keep in mind the following: If I haven't worn anything for 3 months, I'm unlikely to, (see, I'm even MORE brutal!) so it is put in either the Sell or Charity boxes. Ditto if it's something I've worn only once. The exception to this rule is anything vintage, because it's likely to be irreplaceable, and so worth keeping.

- Really try to sort out your seasonal pieces. Keep heavy knits, chunky jackets, leather and winter ephemera (hats, scarves, gloves etc) to one side and together. I try to rotate my wardrobe at the main change of seasons, normally Spring and Autumn. This is really handy as it enables you to identify any gaps you have at the beginning of the season and so you can buy accordingly should you need to. Perhaps I'll list my seasonal must haves in another post should you be interested?

-Organise your wardrobe like you would your makeup bag or jewellery collection. I have a clothing rail on which I keep the pieces I wear really regularly and in my wardrobe I organise my clothing as you would see on a shop sale rail; vests-tees-longsleeves-dresses-jackets-skirts-shorts-trousers. This formula does change depending on the season, but I keep like with like to aid ease of outfit building, there's nothing worse than thinking, 'oh, I'll wear that top' and then not being able to find it. 

-If you have space to hang, use it. I find it infinitely more inspiring when my clothes are hanging up side by side and I can see colours, textures and different pieces which may inspire me to wear combinations I'd not previously thought of. Of course, not everyone (me included!) has a Carrie Bradshaw sized walk-in wardrobe so I do use storage boxes to house pieces that a) won't mind being folded (usually coats and chunky knitwear) and b) aren't needed for that particular season.

-Dedicate a space for clothes that need either drycleaning, altering or repairs, and then bag them up and actually get the alterations/repairs/dryclean DONE. I am a huge culprit of this crime; I buy reduced items with a flaw, or wear something so much it breaks, and then stuff it back in the wardrobe and forget about it. If you look at something and think, 'I can't be bothered' then GET RID because you'll never wear it and it'll just clutter up your space-if you truly loved it, you'd get it sorted.

-Be nice with your charity shop donations; they're already swimming in Primark cast offs so if you have some bobbled old rags that really won't do to be donated then check your Green Box recycling-a lot of them will accept clean bagged clothes and paired shoes to be recycled so you don't have to palm them off on the chazzers. If you can be bothered to sell, eBay and ASOS Marketplace are really good sites to use to make a little extra cash; if not, local charity shops are ALWAYS grateful for GOOD QUALITY donations of clothing, shoes and accessories and I'm sure will be very grateful of your unwanted articles. You could try a car boot sale if you have a lot of stuff to get rid of but prepare to give stuff away, in my own experience of car boot sales clothes rarely sell for over the £1 mark unless they're something really special or something someone is particularly looking for. Alternatively offer pieces to your friends or family if you come across something which is no longer your style, but might well be theirs.

The result of your endeavours? a clean, clutter-free wardrobe space with all your gorgeous clothing organised and easy to see. Which suits everyone, no?!

xoxo