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Let's Get Dressed
I Got Rid Of Half My Closet: How I Did It And What I Learned From The Process
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Hey everyone. Welcome back to let's Get Dressed. It's your host, Liv Perez. I'm thrilled to be back on this September 1st. Happy September, guys. Fall is right around the corner and I have to say it feels like you guys are itching for it because I have been getting so many dms. Liv, what do we wear for fall? What are the fall trends? What are the fall colors? So I'm happy to be back just in time to like scratch the itch for all of you. My break was really nice. I have to say a really big thank you to a lot of you because so many of you in this community actually DM'd me to say, like, Liv, hope you have a nice vacation. Enjoy it like you deserve the time off. And I'm just really grateful that we have a nice community here. It means so much. Thank you guys so much for ushering me off to an amazing vacation. I had a great vacation and that was in part to so many of you who are just so, so nice. I really appreciate it. I didn't travel a bunch this summer. I didn't really take a true vacation until this time off. Alex and I went to Cabo, which was just so great. If you're LA based, it's really hard to beat that. I want something that's two hours away. Great sun, great water, great food. I can have a drink on the beach, read my books for a few days. And that's kind of what you get with Cabo. We woke up at a normal time and we're at our hotel by lunchtime. And I just feel like that you're just not beating that. You know what I mean? It was great. If you are heading down to Cabo anytime soon, I just really quickly have to highly recommend Chileno Bay to you because I've stayed at a lot of places in Cabo, but this was a 10 out of 10. The pool was amazing. You can actually swim in the ocean, which I've never really had that in Cabo before because the water is really rough. But there was a great bay. The room was beautiful. The pool was beautiful. The food was, like, some of the best I've had in Cabo. They had this taco bar by the beach that I basically lived at for the five days that we were there. So just a quick wreck. If you are heading down there, I highly, highly, highly recommend it. I was in heaven. Like, truly in heaven. We were there for like, five and a half days. I read two books. I read Verity, and I read that really cute, like, YA romance book every summer after. And both of those I flew through in a day and a half, and it was really fun. There were other women sitting by the pool who were watching me fly through it, and they would be like, let me know when you get to this part. Or when I finished Verity. They all looked over at me and were like, who did it? It was great. Really good fun. I feel like that was a highlight of my trip. And for me, as someone who works in social media, I can't really unplug just sitting by the pool, scrolling my phone. For me, that is just. I'm in work mode. So I need something that completely takes me out of the Internet. And reading. Is that for me? I'll read a book I finished every summer after I sat by the pool at 10:30, and by 5:30, I was done. I was locked in. I loved it so much. But that is the only way for me truly to decompress. So I did a lot of that last month and really just had a great time. I hope you guys have had an amazing end to your summer. It's Labor Day weekend. I hope that you guys are having a great day, dare I say end of summer. I hate it. I really, really, really hate it. But that is the truth. I have always felt like the day after Labor Day, it is back to school, we are in it, everyone's back in the office. Summer Fridays are over, and that is that. But with that comes fall, and I feel like there is so much to look forward to. I'm heading to New York for New York Fashion Week. We've got a ton of new designer debuts coming up this month, so we as a group have so many exciting things to be looking forward to on this podcast. If you followed me on Instagram, you know that I've had a very big month in my closet. I'm really excited today to be diving into something that I know resonated with so many of you when I shared it online, and that was my biggest closet cleanout ever. If you've listened to this podcast for a while. You know that I love a good closet cleanout and really live by it for a lot of reasons. One, I'm someone who just doesn't like to have a lot of things. Like, I don't like to have my closet feel like it's overflowing. There's just a lot going on in here at all times. Things coming in, things coming out. So for me, having the closet feel tidy, is that saying tidy closet, tidy mind? I'm someone who likes to keep things clean, so I clean out a lot for that reason. But I also clean out a lot because it's helped me with my personal style so much. Knowing exactly what I have in my closet and how it all works together how has always been the key to how I put looks together and how I understand what I like to put on every day. So I'm someone who has always recommended doing them twice a year. I'm not saying you need to clean out a bunch of things, but even just kind of going through maybe getting rid of one or two items that you know you're not wearing, give it a new home. Has always just made me feel really good. However, recently I have been walking into my closet and feeling like my closet is just not me. It's deeper than that. Like, have you ever walked into your closet and thought, I have nothing to wear? Like, that's where I was? But for me, it was deeper than that one. It's my work. So it felt weird to just be out of whack with what I was focusing on every day. But even more so than that, I felt like my closet hadn't caught up with my age yet. I had so many things from my college days, so many things that, like, I would make excuses for, like, oh, you know, maybe I'll wear that at this one time, you know, or, you know, oh, I really wanted to, like, do an outfit like this. And so I got a piece that was, like, almost there, but not really there. So it felt like my whole closet to me in general. Like, that was the thing. It was there, but not truly there. It wasn't my dream closet. So I set out to do my biggest clean yet. Wasn't just about purging clothes. It was about redefining my personal style, intentional shopping, and then editing how my closet works with me every single day. Spoiler alert. I feel like a different person. The way that I'm walking into my closet every single day feels so different. The way that I'm getting dressed every day feels so much better. And so much lighter. So I wanted to bring it here for you guys. All the parts, the process, the key learnings, the how to's the full story, because it's one of those things that you guys can do so easily from home. And. And whether it's as big as I did it or as small as I did it, the things that I've learned, I think will forever change the way that you get dressed. So let's start at the beginning. I'm a really big believer that when you clean out your closet, having somebody with you is really everything, whether it's a friend, maybe a coworker, like, you know, make it fun, buy dinner, turn on music, whatever it is. I enlisted the help of a dear friend of mine, Thomas Christos Kikis, who's an incredible stylist and actually styled my wedding. He. He's been on the podcast before. He came on in July of 2024. So if you're curious to hear and learn more about him, go through those archives. So I enlisted him to come over and help me go through my closet. One thing that he asked me to do before that day was to actually make a Pinterest board. And I had a lot of people ask me very specific questions about this when I put it up on Instagram. So I want to go through that process because Pinterest can be really overwhelming. There were a lot of moments where I was going through Pinterest where I was like, this is right, but it's close, but not quite, or I want to find more of this, or the pictures that I'm looking for just aren't landing on my feed. How do I get better at this? So Pinterest is one of those platforms that's really intuitive. The more you use it, the more it learns what you like. And it kind of has that similar TikTok algorithm, in my opinion, where if you click on. On something, it learns what you like and what you're clicking and will continue to show you more things based on that. So the more you use it, the more it's going to learn who you are. I've been using it for a while, so it feel. I feel like it had already a general idea of what I like, but I think a lot of users get on there and just type in, like, chic wardrobe or, you know, grunge aesthetic or things like that, and. And you're not getting specific enough. I would go on there and I would actually type in black MIDI skirt, and I would get served, obviously, dozens of photos of black midi Skirt outfits. From there, I would pick the one that felt most like me. My style is really classic. It's not minimal per se, but I would say the colors that I like are quite minimal. It's not a lot of prints, it's really elevated. So I was clicking on those images and saving them to a new board and that you can call whatever. I think I called it wardrobe revamp. Then I would go back and do the same thing, but for something else, like navy suit, for example. I would populate dozens of navy suits, some that are classic, some that are oversized, some that are form fitting, some that are pinstripe. And I would pick the ones that felt most like me and add them to my board. I had done that for quite a few different outfit ideas, like black jeans, mini skirt outfit, summer dress. Like, I would go through more outfit category types, and by doing that, I was training my Pinterest to understand what my personal style is up against a lot of other search results. So it begun to understand, oh, I like a classic, minimalist, elevated style. So instead of just scrolling and trying to find the things that work, get really specific with it. The other hack that I really like with Pinterest is once your board is made of about like 10 pins, scroll to the bottom of it and it will say, do you want Pinterest to give you other ideas based on this board? That's where I get the most ideas, because then Pinterest is actually using the board of things that I've already selected to feed me more ideas that are similar to that. I got a lot of questions about how many pins I usually pick. And some people were like, I have hundreds of them. Like, how do you nail this down? I think for the first few times that you begin to curate your board, pin as many things as you want. I think I had maybe like a hundred or so pins to begin with. But before you clean out your closet, you're going to want to go through those pins and narrow it down to, I'd say, like 20 to 30 really strong pins that feel like you. They need to be like photos that aren't overly aesthetic. I find that, like, sometimes we all have Pinterest syndrome. Like, I remember back in the day when Hailey Bieber was first, you know, getting a lot of media attention for her incredible street style that I would save so much of that and I would try to duplicate it. But, you know, she had blonde hair, I had dark brown hair, we had very different body types. And I would feel really disappointed when I would try to duplicate Those images. And that goes for so many other things on Pinterest. Make sure what you're seeing is something that feels physically like you and is also something really attainable. Like, you don't want it to be something that's going to be really hard to find. Is it a great jean that you already have in your wardrobe? And maybe you have a top that's similar. You really want to find things that you're able to actually achieve in your closet. So make sure that it's achievable as you're editing down to those 20 to 30 pins. What I did after that was really fun. I put all of the photos into ChatGPT, and I said, can you describe to me what this style is and what I should be focusing on in my closet? And I loved what it came back with. It came back with a few keywords that I've been using as I've been describing my style and getting dressed every day. Things like classic, but modern, minimalist, sculptural. All the words that I was kind of using before already that I've been using as, like, my cheat sheet. And now when I'm getting dressed, like, I actually look at those keywords and I look at the Pinterest board, and I'm like, does this fit the vibe that I want to achieve? Does it feel good? Does it feel like me? And it's been so helpful for me to have those visual references. So that step was really helpful for me, and I felt like was amazing homework to do ahead of the big cleanout day so that when Thomas got here, we were, like, fully aligned on what the vision would be. So we actually spent the full day going piece by piece, which is another thing that I think is so crucial to a closet cleanout. You have to physically take the item out of your closet, put it up against your body to understand if you're wearing it or not. There are so many times where, like, I feel like I wanted to swipe by and be like, yep, yep, yep, yep. But, like, taking it out of your closet and one making sure that it doesn't have stains, it doesn't need to be fixed, doesn't need to be tailored, all of that. I am very guilty of putting things in my closet that need to be tailored, and then I need to wear them, and they're not. They don't fit. So that's one thing that I think is absolutely crucial. But also, when you pull a piece out, does it go with other things in your closet? Is it of super bold color that you have nothing to match it with. And so you're just holding onto this piece of clothing that you're actually never going to reach for. That was the number one question that he was asking me every single time I pulled out a piece was, are you reaching for it? And if I wasn't, it most likely got a new home. By the end of the day, half of my closet was gone. It was incredibly liberating. And I really think that the key to making those hard decisions was having the other person in the room to be a mirror and be like, are you actually wearing that? Are you making an excuse for it? Is it actually cute? Like, having a friend be like, no, that is not cute was so helpful. Something that Thomas had me do that I loved was build a hero rack. This was a rack of all of the pieces that I wear all the time. They're my go tos, my tried and trues. And by building that rack, as we were cleaning out, we were able to look at each piece and say, does this piece live in the world of my hero rack? Does it match with everything I'm wearing all the time? Is it additive? Do we need it? Do we need the better version of it? And again, if you're a visual person, that visual reference is everything. So build your hero rack. It will be the thing that guides your whole clean out. There were a few things that automatically were no's, and I would say that they fell into like, three categories. One was anything that washed me out. So back to ChatGPT, which has been really helpful in this process. I actually had it do my color analysis and I learned them a deep autumn. I'm not really someone who believes in, like, being really obsessed with the color theory thing. I think if you love the way something looks on you wear it. But it was really a helpful guide when it came to pieces and colors that maybe I thought weren't working. I was able to reference the deep autumn chart and be like, okay, yeah, it feels like it's not working. And my chart also says that it's not working. So maybe let's find something new in the future that is a better color for me. A lot of my colors are like maroons, deep teals, hunter greens. Pastels don't really work for me, even though I love them, but they just kind of wash me out with my dark hair. It's just good to know for those days where I'm looking in the mirror and I'm like, something's off. So I really recommend doing that too. All ChatGPT does is it makes you upload a selfie for it and it's able to give you the analysis from there. So color was one thing. Things that washed me out, they were gone. Next was a focus on fit. Anything that was boxy or oversized or stiff or even really heavy. Those things again, that I wasn't reaching for, that didn't flatter my shape. I'm five' four. Definitely don't want these oversized pieces that completely drown me. Those were gone too. I want things that fit and flatter my frame. So if it was oversized, it was gone. And then lastly was lifespan. Those trendy one off things, if there were any that were residual that I just didn't feel like were forever pieces, those were gone as well. Also something that we did while we were cleaning out that really changed the game for me. And that's how my closet was organized. Especially my skirt and dresses section in my Pinterest board. I noticed that a lot of my looks had skirts in it. I love a midi skirt. It just makes me feel really dressed up and. And I think it's easy to dress up or down. Like, I love a midi skirt with a tank top and a sandal, but I also love it with like a beautiful drape top and a pair of heels to wear to a cocktail event. I like to organize my closet by category and then by color. So, like, I have all my jackets color coordinated, I have all my pants color coordinated. And then I had all my dresses and skirts color coordinated mixed together. And when Thomas noticed that I'm someone who loves to wear a lot of skirts, he was like, you need a section that's skirt skirts only if you have them mixed in with your dresses, you're never gonna reach for them because they feel too dressed up. So he moved all of my skirts to the beginning of my dress section, and they're then color coordinated. And I have been reaching for them non stop. It's so funny to me how those tiny shifts in your closet can alter everything. Like, I wasn't even reaching for them before Thomas had asked me. He was like, do you have a lot of skirts? And I was like, nope, maybe one or two. And I like have 10 of them. They're. They just were hiding. If you can't see it, you're not going to reach for it. So the way that you organize your closet is everything, and it should be something that you take into account while you're cleaning out. So as I mentioned, at the end of the day, half my closet was gone, which was really Crazy. This process made me believe that the key to finding your personal style and what you like to wear every day is to not have so much in your closet. I think the less you have, the more focused you are on the things that you love and how you pair them with the other things in your closet. And it's just easier and more effortless to get dressed every day. And it's usually the most organic thing that comes out of you. I find that when I have a lot of options, I don't really know where to start. And I'm trying to make all these things work, and I have all these ideas in my brain. Whereas in those past few weeks where I was wearing what I had, I felt so creative and I felt so free and so in tune with the things that I had in my closet. And I felt like I nailed my style more than ever. And honestly, like, that Clean out taught me more about my closet than years of shopping and get ready's with me ever did. Because at the end of the day, it's less about how much you have in your closet and more about how well you understand it, what's in it, how it works together, what feels like you. And in that time, too, I was really able to start feeling those gaps, like the pieces that I needed to make my outfits just work a little bit easier altogether. And that leads us into part two. So part two of this. Obviously, I wanted to do this clean out, but the biggest thing I wanted to do was actually invest in lifelong pieces, and that would change my closet. So instead of rushing out buying all these things, I made a plan. While we were cleaning out my closet, I had a sticky note running on my desktop of things that we noticed were missing for the outfits we were putting together. For example, I had a lot of great chocolate brown bags, but no chocolate brown shoes. Nothing that would ever pull the outfit together with those pieces to make an outfit. Just effortless, zero thought, ready to go. I was missing, like, a really great mule, like, something that is the in between, between the heel and a flat. So I highly recommend, as you're going through your closet, take note of the things that you were missing. The biggest category that I of clothing that I was missing was tops. And it's funny because a lot of you resonated with this. Like, I'm not talking about, like a T shirt. I'm also not talking about a going out top, not even talking about a button down. I'm talking about just, like, great tops that aren't any of those other things a Lot of you were like, wait, oh my God. Like, this is such a real thing. Like, why do we not have just like, great tops? So that has been a massive focus for me in this shopping list as I've gone out into the world and tried to find things for my closet that make it feel a bit more 360. So a lot of you were curious about this shopping list. Let's get into it. Here's how I took that shopping list and turned it into a full Part 2 plan to rebuild my closet intentionally. And by the way, this part is totally optional. If you clean out your closet and you're like, you know what? I'm good. I love what I have. I feel like I'm getting dressed earlier. It's easier. I don't need a bunch of things. Leave it there. But for me, I was craving this full process where I brought in some new pieces. I had never done this before and was just ready for something new. Now when I say rebuild, I have zero intention of buying the amount that I had before, but my goal was to add in like five to 10 pieces. That would just make getting dressed every day feel a lot easier. So I took my list and actually turned it into a G sheet and organized it by three categories. Current needs, seasonal wish list, and splurges. My current needs were things like we talked about. Black jeans, great tops. I definitely needed a lot of new tanks. Like things that would just kind of go with the casual pieces I had in my wardrobe. Maybe like a silk skirt or a pair of jeans. My seasonal list wish list were the pieces that I could use for my fall wardrobe. So we were talking earlier about that chocolate brown pair of heel of shoes. I don't really reneed them right now. It's summer, but they'll be great come fall. Great. Not a priority, but it's on the list. And then splurges. The things that I was willing to invest money in that I knew I would need for a lifetime. Those three sections were organized by colors, so you can do whatever colors you want. I think I did like red for current needs, brown for seasonal wish lists, and then like yellow for splurges. I ended up spending a day online sifting through every website that I loved and finding the pieces that I really wanted to add back into my wardrobe. I loved looking on websites like Totem and twp. I feel like they are like the new luxury brands that are aren't as expensive as like the Row and Bottega Veneta, but they still have incredible Quality and they're things you're going to have in your closet for a lifetime. So I had amazing button downs from twp, I had a few great pants from Totem, I had tanks from this amazing brand called Floor Floor. And I also bought a lot of great basics from the Reformation. From there I actually went into the spreadsheet. So my reformation tanks, for example, that were current need were all going into the red category. Things that I needed right away. And then all the pieces that felt like fall inspired, things that I could wait on went into my seasonal wish list. From there. It's totally up to you how you want to prioritize this list for me. I went through with the budget that I set for myself and added deleted and kind of like Jenga the list to make it work within my budget. You'll probably have to cut some things. Let's be real. Like, in a perfect world, we would buy everything we wanted. But it was really helpful to see it all in a spreadsheet to understand what I was getting for the budget that I set for myself and then prioritize the pieces that I really needed now to make getting ready easier every day. The other thing that I really loved was that being able to see the part of the spreadsheet that was like seasonal wish list splurges actually like completely change the way that I shop now or I engage with a store. Anytime I've been in a store the past month, usual me would see something and be like, oh, that's so cute. Like, do I want it? Do I need it? But now I actually have no choice but to look through my spreadsheet and be like, you know what? You actually just went through your closet. Like, you know what you have and you know what you need, and this is not on that list. It's a no. And that feels really satisfying to me. It feels so intentional. It makes sure that you're shopping for your style and not just what's like trending in the world. And you know that anytime you step out into the world to go get something, it's going to be additive to your closet and your personal style. Can you guys tell I'm type A? This feels so type A and so crazy. But honestly, this game plan really worked for me. And if you're willing to put in this extra effort and work, I promise you it will change your life. So now we're at the good part. I know so many of you probably want to know what I actually got. Now I am slowly adding pieces back in one by one. It took everything in me right after that to not go and just buy a bunch of things, but I really wanted to be intentional about it. I've loved how curated my space is and now anytime anything comes into my house, like, like it has to earn the place in my closet. Like, I have got it tailored down to such a great curation that I don't want anything to mess it up. And that feeling is so good and so rewarding. A few of the things that I've gotten that I've loved, loved, loved so far. I mentioned those TWP button downs earlier and like, wow, game changer. I these ones from TWP are like crisp, breathable, chic, effortless, but not stiff. So I'm loving those. I'm also loving these two pairs of pants that I got from Totem that I've been living in. They have felt like my like everyday uniform. Upgrade those with like one of them. It's like the fit of a jean, but it's like a creamy satin and I've been wearing it with tanks and sweaters so often. Love them. And I also got a pair of great everyday black workwear trousers. They have like, anchored my wardrobe in a way that just feels so sharp and I am obsessed with them. There are a few things that I'm still on the hunt for, like that black mule that I mentioned. I haven't been able to find a leather one that I love that's like the perfect height. Not too tall, not too short. I really want to invest in a good pair because I would wear them all the time. So I'm still on the hunt for those and I will keep you posted as I find them. But if you're curious about the things that I got and you're looking for some great elevated essentials, my shop My, which is linked in the description of this episode, has everything I've gotten so far. I'm so happy with it all. I posted on Instagram too, if you want to see me do a try on haul. Honestly, so many great pieces and I feel like at this point I now understand what my definition is of an elevated basic. Something that I'm throwing on every day that makes me just feel so good. They're my new love language, you know. All in all, I have loved this process and if you guys have any questions or just need support if you're going to do it too, my DMs are always open. It's such a great process and I really think if you're someone who's Keen on finding your personal style. It's a great place to start. One of the biggest things I learned, and I know we've said this on the podcast before, but really putting it into practice meant the world for me. You have to practice your personal style. I know that life has so many things, we're all so busy, but you're not just going to find your personal style in those 20 minutes when you're getting dressed every day. You have to practice it. So the next time you have an hour on a Sunday, Instead of watching TV or scrolling TikTok, go into your closet and just try things on. Put outfits together that make you feel good, get creative, turn music on, have a drink, whatever it is that you need to set the vibe. Really take that time because I promise it will pay off in how you get dressed every day and how you feel and the confidence that you exude with your personal style. So thank you all for coming on this journey with me. I have loved literally every second of it. I have loved sharing it back with you guys. From the purge to the plan to the payoff, I have just loved it and I feel so excited to get dressed every day. A lot of this is covered on my substack, so it's also in the description of this episode. Head over there if you're looking to read it for more defined tips and a little bit more behind the scenes. It's all there. And who knows, maybe there will be a part two of this soon. I think that there's going to be. I have some fun content planned for you guys that I can't wait for you guys to see. Anyways, excited to be back. We have a really fun guest next week, so I can't wait for you guys to listen to that episode. Until then, have a great first week of September, guys. See you next week. Sam.