How to Experience Long-Lasting Joy from Your Closet
I’m excited to feature my friend Biek from Biekaleidoscope who is a Sustainable Wardrobe Curator & Artist in this guest blog feature to share with you her approach on how not to just declutter your wardrobe to minimise clutter but to make it an intentional and joyful process (so much in alignment with the KonMari® Method!).
Tell us a little bit about what you do as you help your clients create a joyful and intentional wardrobe!
After you’ve decluttered your closet, you’re left with clothes that you love and need. That feels great! There is so much more overview. But how does one hold on to this feeling? How can you enjoy your wardrobe every day? And how can you reduce future purchasing temptations?
I believe your clothes and wardrobe reflect who you are as a person and what your life looks like. It all comes down to having your wardrobe aligned with the way you live your life. It’s one thing to know what you love, and another to be aware of your style, but really understanding your behaviour regarding clothes for long-lasting results and ultimate versatility, is a whole new level of ownership.
Part of my job is to help you decide what you want in your life in terms of clothes. And to do so, we need to get to the roots of the existence of your wardrobe pieces. To gain this deeper understanding, we need to unpack WHY you love your wardrobe.
How is your approach to wardrobe curation different from traditional decluttering?
After being in the fashion industry for over 20 years, where I have seen it from all different facets (retail, buying, showroom, backstage of fashion shows) and have been designing high-quality clothes, I have found that your wardrobe is built up in 3 circles:
The Core
Your Essentials
The Accents
The Core
This category is probably the easiest to tackle for you because these are the items that are always in the laundry. They’re hardly folded into your closet because they’re worn over and over again. They might even be picked off the drying rack instead of your closet. These are your staples and are part of your go-to outfits. They’re the key items, the foundation, and the heart of your closet. These items are versatile go-to’s that fit with almost everything in your closet.
Your Essentials
This is usually the biggest chunk of your wardrobe. This is where the versatility of your wardrobe comes in and these items truly reflect your lifestyle. These clothes are still worn a lot, but their frequency is definitely lower than the core items. You shouldn’t have an overload of items that are limited to either weekends or work.
So what is versatility? The goal is to have professional trousers for work that are also easy to combine casually with a white T-shirt, a sweater, and sneakers, for example.
The Accents
This is where your oomph comes in! These items are often a reflection of your personality, even when it’s only worn one time a year. These are often more outspoken items compared to your essentials. They represent a lower percentage of your wardrobe, are less versatile, and are worn less frequently. These are the items that you love but don’t need as often. Accent pieces stand out more and it would probably be noticed if you wore them every day. They might be items for special occasions, like Christmas or New Year’s Eve.
The accent pieces could look very different for everyone; I have some clients where it’s colour and print overload, for some it’s only reflected in accessories like hats and jewelry, and for me, for example, it comes back in color (red and royal blue).
“Opening up your closet should be like arriving at a really good party where everyone you see is someone you like”
What it comes down to, is that everyone is unique. Even though there’s a guideline for the built-up in your wardrobe, the number of clothes and the style of the items are highly personal and it’s what makes your style and appearance you.
What happens next after a client’s wardrobe has been masterfully curated?
When the Inner Circle of your wardrobe is identified, it results in intentional shopping. As soon as you have a deeper understanding of the function of a piece of clothing, it gives you a deeper connection with your clothes, your choices, and your future purchases and temptations.
You know exactly what you need and its purpose, which stops being influenced by newsletters or social media, and eventually, it stops the guilt that comes from buyer's remorse. It will stop you from buying the 12th sequins dress (because they’re so fun to buy) because you simply know that you only need a few of those for a number of occasions per year.
And now you can get excited about finding that beautiful white T-Shirt, or the “perfect” shorts for running around on the playground. It also makes it easier to invest in quality items for your Core category, because you know they’re worn to death.
Joy, the real joy of dressing every day comes from a deeper understanding of your behaviour regarding your clothes. In the end, it’s really a mindset shift and truly knowing who you are and showing up as that person! The world needs the best version of you.
Thank you Biek for sharing your expertise with us on how you support clients with creating and curating their joyful, sustainable, and intentional wardrobes! You can find Biek on Instagram here or contact her on her website.