So You Want To...Wardrobe Edit

Spilling all my secrets for an effective wardrobe edit

LA readers - How are you doing? If you have any Go Fund Me pages, resource needs, or simply want a safe place to chat and connect, please let us know in the comments or the chat. We are all with you ❤️

My thoughts are with all of you who have been directly, or indirectly, impacted by the devastating LA fires. I’m sending you so much love, strength, and support right now. LA holds a very special place in my heart - it’s where I was born and raised through early childhood, spent my summers, where we purchased our first home, and lived during the pandemic. I hold so many wonderful memories of hard working neighbors, small business owners, and friends whose communities and lives got turned upside down in an instant. The belief that our homes are our safe sanctuaries is something we all commonly hold and I’m so sorry to those who have lost that sense of safety. Here are some resources whether you are looking for help, or would like to provide support:

Mutual Aid LA resources - running list of shelters, animal care, donation centers etc

LAFD Wildfire Emergency Funding - to provide much needed vital equipment and support to firefighters so they can help contain these fires

SoCal Fire Fund - provides equitable community-centered recovery funds for students, teachers, and families

Displaced Latino GoFundMes and Displaced Black Families - supporting those affected in the historic communities of Altadena; verified GoFundMe pages

A comprehensive LA Fire Relief Resources - including GoFund Me pages that have received under $10K in donations, Amazon wishlists, children supplies

Buy A Firefighter a Healthy Fresh Meal! (as quick as your Postmates order but much more needed)

Clothing Donation Matching Program - complete your info and the team will match your donations or needs with the right gender, size, age as much as possible so you can drop-off or ship directly to the person in need

On a separate note, I would like to offer my free styling services to anyone impacted by the LA fires.

I know clothes and what’s being worn is the last thing on peoples’ minds but I also know what we wear can help bring some normalcy, comfort and ease, even if just for a brief moment. And I want to take that off your shoulders so it can be one less thing to worry about.

If you need my help coordinating clothing care packages for your family or loved ones, I can work directly with the brands and volunteers providing donations so you can focus on more important things.

If you want to reach out to rebuild, or make sense of what you do have, I will help to the best of my ability (wardrobe starter pack, work capsule, styling session, resourcing your favorite pieces).

Reach out to me whenever you are ready — whether it's next week, next month, or six months from now.

You can send me a DM or reach me at hello@thefoundstyle.com

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Hi Readers,

I’m continuing to write my newsletter this week as I want to be able to offer a moment of distraction for those who need it. Feel free to bookmark and come back to it whenever you are ready.

January at The Found Journal is focused on style and wardrobe-related topics other than shopping that can help re-ground yourself to your personal style in 2025. Learn more and join our ongoing ‘Shop You Closet’ style challenge in our chat!

Today, we’ll be covering what can feel like quite a daunting task — The Wardrobe Edit.

I could probably spend the entire month covering this topic but I’ll share my Top 10 tips from many experiences editing my own, friends & family, and clients’ wardrobes.

Not-so-fun fact: I used to spend an entire weekend every month editing my closet when I was younger and it took many years of trial and error to get to a place where the editing process feels both manageable and effective. I now only edit once a season as part of my maintenance routine.

I find January a good time to do a wardrobe reset and an edit can be a great tool to provide clarity and re-centering around your existing pieces, helping you feel more abundant around what you already own.

And if you feel inclined, you can donate your like-new or gently used pieces to a charitable cause for the LA fires so they can go to someone who really needs it and help them rebuild a tiny bit of what they’ve lost. (ref links in the header)

Today’s newsletter is for you if:

• You seem to constantly be editing your wardrobe, only to revisit it again in 1-2 months time.

• You edit your wardrobe but still have an overstuffed closet or a lot of pieces you don’t wear.

• You tend to completely purge your closet, leaving you with the need to over shop because you feel like things are missing.

• You have been avoiding editing because you aren’t sure where to start.

Here’s what we’ll cover today:

1. Setting the intention - to clarify your motivation and define your goals

2. The editing set up - to set you up for success

3. Questions & Feelings - advice on common feelings that may arise that make you feel stuck

4. The actual editing process - the how and what

5. Category best practices - the not-as-exciting but just-as-important socks and underwear drawers and why I don’t think you need a drawer full of loungewear, sleepwear, or workout wear

6. How to successfully navigate your ‘maybe’ piles

7. Resale and donation channels - how to determine which channel to use and pros/cons for each

8. Organization - organized clutter is still clutter

9. My favorite organization & storage products

10. Maintenance tips - how to streamline and keep up with your edited closet

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TIP #1 - Set The Intention

Like most things in life, setting an intention helps to clarify your motivation and define your goals. It’s like having a strategic roadmap or blueprint to work off.

• Look at your closet - how would you describe it? (crowded, disorganized, unworn)

• How does this make you feel?

• How did it get this way, or why does it seem to continue to come back to this place? (ie: If it’s always disorganized, you can focus on having an organization plan. If it’s crowded or unworn after multiple edits, you can focus on ruthlessly editing).

• Set the vision - Try to visualize your wardrobe space. How do you want it to look, feel, and function? If it helps, you can pull some style and interior inspiration images and save it to your phone or print it out like a vision board to reference. Once you have a clear focus on the vision, it can feel easier to let go of the things that don’t support your goals or vision.

TIP #2 - The Set Up

You want to make this as easy and stress-free as possible so having the right set up will help you manage the energy, flow, and organization during and after your edit.

• Time block - If you are planning to do a full edit (think of it like a deep clean), carve out a good chunk of your day or evening with little to no interruption if you can. Depending on your time limits and how much you have, you may need to revisit across multiple days.

• Set the mood - Light your favorite candle, have your favorite snack and drinks, put on your favorite tv show re-runs or a playlist in the background. Don’t think of this as a chore - think of this as a form of self-care.

• Find a clean space to edit your closet. If it’s in your bedroom, make sure you remove clutter on chairs and the floor. If your bed sheets aren’t freshly laundered, I like to grab a fresh sheet and lay it over the bed for a clean working surface. Try not to edit in your closet — they tend to be small, closed-off spaces and it can be hard to visualize and organize yourself.

• Have designated section or bins/bags for Keep, Revisit, Sell, Repair/Alter, Donate. Use post-it’s to remember the piles if needed. If it helps and you have the space, having a separate hanging rack can be useful as an additional staging area.

• To do a proper edit, you will need to take everything out of the closet and drawers and bins, or wherever you are stashing things (ie: in a pile in the back corner of your closet)!

  • This won’t work as effectively if you just pick and choose what and where you are editing. If you are editing jackets in your closet but you have a bunch of coats in your front closet, you are missing puzzle pieces.

  • I also find it helps to see just how much you own (in total, or within certain categories) and it can feel motivating and therapeutic to see what you are letting go of that no longer serves you.

  • If you are limited with time, you can edit by category but I advise to pull everything out of its places within that category when you do so and check off as you complete each category(ie: all jackets and coats one day, all loungewear and activewear the next etc).

TIP #3 - Questions & Feelings That May Arise

When it comes to the editing process, keep these three main questions in mind: