Start with a sock drawer: Your chaotic wardrobe is holding you back

If, like our columnist Kerri Sackville, your wardrobe is bursting at the seams but you’ve nothing to wear, you’re not alone. Kate, a digital-content editor, often finds herself standing in front of her closet lamenting that she has nothing she wants to put on. “The irony is that I have so many clothes,” she says.

She finds the experience more than just frustrating. “I’ve definitely ended up in tears on more than one occasion,” she says. However, instead of splashing out on a brand-new wardrobe, Kate (who buys most of her clothes from second-hand stores) prefers to undertake a good spring clean.

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Like most people, Kate decides whether she wants to keep or donate her clothes as she goes through them. But when she doesn’t know what to do with something, she simply pops it in a suitcase and puts it away for six months. When she revisits the suitcase with fresh eyes half a year later, she finds it far easier to determine whether to keep or donate an item.

Kate finds clearing her wardrobe cathartic. She also enjoys having less “clutter and chaos” in her life afterwards. Facing a smaller selection of clothing composed only of items she regularly wears makes it easier to decide what to don each day. “It removes choice paralysis for me,” says Kate.

Professional organiser Veronica Kennedy from A Hand to Help gets it. When it comes to the clothing in your wardrobe, she says “less is almost more”. That’s because, when your closet is overflowing with things that no longer fit or you don’t actually wear, you have to then sift through the rubble to find things you like. This can lead to decision fatigue.

“Just knowing you’re going to fall out of bed and not have any problems deciding what you’re going to put on takes away anxiety, which is great for our wellbeing.”

That doesn’t mean you should give away all the clothing you’ve outgrown, or anything you’re hanging on to for sentimental reasons. Rather, Kennedy believes such items shouldn’t clog up prime real estate in your wardrobe and advises doing what Kate does and putting them away elsewhere. Then, place a reminder in your diary to look at them again in six months.

After you’ve cleaned out your closet, Kennedy says getting dressed for the day becomes far easier. “Just knowing you’re going to fall out of bed and not have any problems deciding what you’re going to put on takes away anxiety, which is great for our wellbeing.”