← Her Style Podcast | Shopping, Color Palettes, Fashion, Wardrobe, Outfits, Clothing
Her Style Podcast | Shopping, Color Palettes, Fashion, Wardrobe, Outfits, Clothing
279 | Why My Closet Doesn’t Need a Big Fall Purge (and Yours Might Not Either)
00:16:43
Hey friend, today’s episode looks a little different than I originally planned. My idea was to walk you through my fall closet edit—what I’m letting go of and why. But when I actually sat down with my wardrobe this weekend, I realized…I...
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Hey friend. Today's episode looks a little different than I originally planned. My idea was to walk you through my fall closet edit and tell you what I'm letting go of and why. But when I actually sat down with my wardrobe this weekend, I realized I don't have much to get rid of right now. And that revelation got me thinking. Maybe you don't either. It's easy to believe that every new season requires a big overhaul, and you've probably heard my advice to clean out your closet at least twice a year, if not more. But sometimes forcing yourself into a closet audit is unnecessary. And when you're already busy and maybe feeling a little overwhelmed by your wardrobe and your life as it is, sometimes the smartest move is to do less, not more. So today I wanna share why you might not need to do a seasonal closet edit, what you can do instead, and what I'm personally focusing on this season to show you how practical and freeing it can be when you work on your wardrobe in a way that's customized free for you. I'll also reveal what I am focusing on this season so you can see how I'm filling gaps without forcing myself through unnecessary steps. By the end of this episode, you'll know whether you need a full reset or if you can save time and energy by focusing on what really matters. Welcome to Her Style podcast where we're all about empowering you to show up and get dressed every day with confidence. I'm your host, Heather Riggs, a 15 year and counting certificate certified image consultant and color specialist, ready to build a wardrobe and a personal style you love. Let's get started. I'm so sorry we're a little late getting this episode out to you, but as I mentioned, my plan for today completely derailed this weekend when I went to do my seasonal closet audit and I realized I didn't want to get rid of anything. So I want to start with that very question, which is why would you even want to scare skip a seasonal closet audit, edit, purge, whatever you want to call it. I know what I've said and I will stand by this. It is a great idea to do a quick audit at the start of each season, but here's what I've noticed. Working with so many women and honestly, in my own experience over the weekend, sometimes a giant closet edit isn't really needed. In fact, it can be a complete waste of your time and energy. If you already like most of what you own, you're not wading through clutter every time you open your closet, you have plenty of space, space for everything. And you're able to put outfits together without too much stress. If that's your reality, then doing a big seasonal purge just because might make you feel like you're spinning your wheels. And instead of moving your style forward, you just end up draining your time and energy on something that doesn't actually solve a problem or move the needle for you. And that's not a bad thing, because it means you've built a foundation that's already working well for you. You can kind of think of it like your refrigerator. And sometimes you gotta pull everything off the shelves. You gotta throw away any of the expired food or leftovers that got lost in the dark back corners of the fridge. I don't know why everything ends up back there. Then you've gotta wipe it all down and give it a full reset. And sometimes you just need to make sure that you don't already have cilantro or the jar of tomato paste that you need before you run out and buy everything on your grocery list so you can make your meals for the week. Your wardrobe works the same way. And here's another way that we can break it down. There's kind of three phases of building a wardrobe that you love. The first one is that you are in need of an overhaul. And this is that big reset at the start of the season. You only need to really do this, I think, every few years or after a major life transition. For example, if you've lost a significant amount of weight or maybe gained weight, if you've made a change in your career or your lifestyle, maybe you've moved to a completely different climate, something like that, something significant that you just feel like your closet is a complete mismatch for what you need right now. That's when you need to do the big overhaul. The second option is maybe you're in the edit phase and you just need a simple seasonal refresh. You've got to pull forward what works. You want to tuck away anything that doesn't for the season and remove any obvious nos. Right. This is just kind of that. Again, the quick audit that I normally do recommend that you do at the start of each season. And then the third option, which I don't know that we've ever really talked about here before, is maintenance mode. And this is really when you just need to make some very light adjustments. You want to maybe pinpoint any gaps or new things that you want to pick up for the season, replace any pieces that are feeling a bit worn out, and focus on the Next small priority. And this fall I realized I am firmly in that third maintenance season. And that's a huge relief to me because my wardrobe is is working. It feels cohesive. I know what I have. There aren't piles of unworn clothing staring back at me. I don't actually want to get rid of anything that I currently own. And what I discovered this weekend and thinking about all of this and really taking time to reflect on my current wardrobe needs is that all I really have is just a few gaps that if I fill them, will make my wardrobe work even better. There's nothing that I need to get rid of. There's just a few simple things that are missing. So for me, those gaps are shoes and big time. Really, just because a lot of the ones that I wore last season are pretty worn out and they need some upgrading. There's a couple of things that I need like a new pair of slippers and just an easy comfy pair of slip ons that I can throw on in the morning to take the dog outside for a walk. That's not something I had to think about last fall, but it is a need for me now. And I do need to replace just one or two really simple basic pair of heels for church and the occasional date night or going out with friends, things like that, when I want to feel a little bit dressier. So that's really it. I just mostly need shoes. And then I'm also looking to add to my loungewear and pajamas. Specifically, I'm looking for some comfy bottoms. I picked up a lot of great sweatshirts in the spring that I absolutely love. So I just want to find a couple cozy soft pairs of sweatpants or maybe joggers or some soft leggings that are in my best colors and then are going to work with all of the sweatshirts that I already have. So I'm not going to get the matching sets I love so much. But I will try to think of coordinating the things with the colors that are already in my closet, which is what I want you to do anyway, using your color palette. It makes it so easy to do and make sure that what you have really works together seamlessly. And then also just maybe one or two pair of cute pajamas for the winter. Because honestly, that's a gap that I often ignore, which I think maybe you can relate to. It's like one of those things. It's really just more for your own enjoyment. It's not something people typically really see. But that said, I do want to get a couple of pretty warm, maybe flannel pajama sets for the winter season. And so that's all I need. That's where my focus is going this fall. Not on what I can get rid of, but on what's missing. Because those are the changes that are going to make the biggest impact on how I feel getting dressed every day or every evening. And that's something I really want you to hear, is that sometimes the smartest style move isn't subtraction. It's addition or even just reimagining what you already own. It's not that you have to go in, get rid of stuff every season if you don't have a legitimate need for that. And so here's a quick, like, little series of questions to help you kind of figure out which stage you're in again, whether it's an overhaul, an edit, or if you're in maintenance mode like me. So the questions are, number one, do you feel overwhelmed every time you open your closet, or is it busting at the seams? Do you have way too many things and it just stresses you out when you look at what you have? Secondly, are you holding on to a lot of someday or fantasy life pieces? I will admit, I do have one pretty tank top. I got it to wear when we went to Las Vegas for my husband's 30th birthday. So this was like more than a decade ago. And it is this beautiful sequin tank top. It's sheer in the back, so that's a thing. It's something I don't know that I'll ever wear again, but I really do love it. I think it would look great under a blazer. There are other ways that I can style it up. That is probably my one fit fantasy life piece that I'm not quite ready to let go of. But if you have a whole closet full of those pieces, things that you are just never going to touch again, we might need to talk. The last question is, do you regularly struggle to create outfits with what you own? So if you answered yes to any or all of those questions, then you might need to do a wardrobe overhaul or a more complete edit, right? So you might need to completely revamp what you have. If nothing is working for you, that would put you in the overhaul category. Or you might need to do a full edit and just audit everything, make sure that you're clearing out some space for what you love and to make way for new pieces. And if not, if you answered no to those questions, then you're probably ready for maintenance which is often a faster and easier path forward. And if you're not feeling the need for a full closet audit right now, then here's what I'd recommend that you do instead. The first thing is what I just talked about. It's identifying your gaps, noticing where you feel limited, where is it hardest to get dressed and to feel your best, to feel most like yourself, yourself, to feel like you love what you have for that category of your clothing or that particular activity. Maybe you've got plenty of jeans, but you're always struggling with tops. Or maybe you're missing some good outerwear. Now that I'm thinking of it, I also could maybe use one new jacket. I have. I got a full length coat last year, but I might want to do some kind of winter jacket this season. I'm not sure I will think about that and get back to you, but maybe you just need some comfortable shoes that can also look professional for the office. Whatever it is, I want you to write those down. You might even find that you forgot something like I did. Then the next thing that you're going to do is add in missing items. Strategically, I want you to consider what your budget is allocated according to your priority hunt. Don't browse for the pieces that you're really missing. And remember that a little bit goes a long way. If you can really just focus in on the couple of things that are going to make the biggest difference in your wardrobe. That is so much better than spending a whole afternoon clearing out a bunch of pieces from your closet that you really just want to keep anyway. So it's using your time and your resources, resources wisely. And then the last thing is to style up what you already own. So if you are craving something new, maybe like myself, you don't need to buy a lot of things. It's more about taking that time to pull together some fresh outfit combinations with what's already in your closet. I know for me, instead of taking two to three hours to go through all my pieces this weekend, it would have served me better to just take two to three hours to try to make some new outfits. So you could pair up your items in different ways. Try adding and removing accessories, or challenge yourself to wear that one piece that you've been ignoring. Sometimes creativity, not more clothes, is the refresh that you really need. So my goal this season is to challenge myself to wear everything that I own. And if I can't figure out a way to style something in a way that makes me feel amazing and excited to go about my day, then I will get rid of it. I'm not going to do a big audit going in. I'm just going to audit a little bit as I go. It's going to be so much easier for me now, to be clear, if I didn't already make this point earlier, sometimes an edit really is necessary. I don't think it's a bad idea to pause and reflect on this every season, even if you find that you don't actually need to do the whole thing. If you are feeling completely overwhelmed when you open your closet, if you're constantly pushing past clothes that don't fit or flatter you, or if clutter is keeping you stuck, then yes, a big audit can be the best next step for you. But I want you to just notice the difference. You're doing it to solve an actual problem that you have, not just because it's what you're supposed to do when a new season rolls around. And that's really the heart of today's message. There's not one size fits all for your wardrobe process. Your next step depends on your life, your style, and what's currently in your closet. So maybe you do need to do a full edit this season. Maybe you just need to fill some gaps. Maybe you just need to experiment more with what you already own. But I do want you to stop and ask yourself that question. What do you need right now? When you stop forcing yourself into those unnecessary steps, you will save tons of time. Obviously, you're going to save yourself some energy and you're going to make space for what's actually going to give you the results that you want. So let's talk about what you can gain when you don't force yourself into a big closet project unnecessarily. Obviously, instead of hours sorting, you could just do a quick 15 minute gap assessment. Just see where the holes are in your wardrobe. Look at your calendar, think about what activities you have coming up, and as I said, what's going to be the most difficult to get dressed for and save yourself some time. Don't do the full audit. Just pinpoint whatever gaps you might currently have. You're also going to have so much less guilt because you're not pressuring yourself to donate things that you might actually still use. I hear this all the time from women. They don't want to get rid of stuff that's perfectly good and that they might actually want to wear again, even if it's a situation where maybe it doesn't fit you right now, but you're hoping it will pack it away. You don't have to get rid of it, just put it in a box or in a bin, set it aside, and set a date to come back and see if it's going to work for you at that goal time. So maybe you want to give yourself three months, then reassess, see how it's working for you, come back and make a more final decision at that point. And then the last thing is that it's going to give you a lot more clarity because you're going to be able to really think about what matters for you now, like filling gaps, upgrading your essentials, or maybe it's experimenting with a couple of the new trends. Whatever feels right for you right now that is going to help to keep your wardrobe sustainable instead of putting you into this endless cycle of upheaval. Building a wardrobe that works isn't about doing a dramatic seasonal purge two times a year, four times a year, whatever you're currently doing. It's more about knowing where you are in the cycle, whether you need to do a full overhaul, a thorough edit, or if you're just in that glorious maintenance mode and giving yourself permission to respond and act accordingly. So again, for me this fall, it's about maintenance. For you, it might be an edit. Either way, the goal is progress, not perfection. So friend, before you dive into a big closet edit, I want you to pause and ask yourself, do I actually need this right now? Is this the best use of my time? Or would it be better spent identifying those gaps and making my shopping list, filling them strategically, taking some time to actually budget this season, or playing with some new outfit combinations and see how I can work better with what I already have. That one question, or I guess that series of questions, but the one question of do I actually need this right now? Can really save you hours of frustration and help you focus on the steps that truly matter. If you'd love some help customizing this process for yourself, whether that means editing, just filling those gaps strategically, or building confidence and styling what you already own in better ways, then I would love for you to come join us inside her style collective. That's my 90 day group coaching program where I walk you step by step through building a wardrobe that actually works for you in the way that works best for you, you can learn more and join us@herstylellc.com collective. Thank you so much for spending this time with me today for rolling with it. As I put this out a little bit late in the day and deviated from my planned topic, I do hope that you walk away with some relief and encouragement that you don't have to do it all every single season. Instead, focus on what matters and I promise the rest will fall into place. Thank you for listening to today's episode. If you want to stop copying everyone else's style and start dialing in your own swoon worthy signature look, head over to take my free 5 minute personal style quiz which you can find at the link in the show notes. If you've enjoyed our time together, please be sure to rate, review and subscribe to her style podcast so you never miss an episode. Finally, I invite you to make this a two way conversation and send me a DM over on Instagram eatherrigstyle to let me know how I can best support you on your style journey. I'm always here for you in style and service. Until next time.