I Konmaried my wardrobe – and you can too.

I Konmaried all of my clothes

There are a number of posts and articles on this site about my attempts with capsule wardrobes. I even wrote a piece about the pros and cons of various types of wardrobe decluttering techniques in my article about ‘konmari v capsules‘. But this week, I have actually done it; I Konmaried my wardrobe. I now have the closet of my dreams. And it feels great!

While I have tried a number of times to sort my wardrobe, this attempt was the real deal. Every piece of clothing I owned was piled on the settee and was systematically picked through as I chose my ultimate sartorial selection.

Get everything out

The first thing I did was divide the clothes into piles; I assumed it would be easier to sort through and discard socks and undies than it would be to part with dresses, for example, so I started there.

In the end, there were 7 piles:

• Undies (including socks and tights)
• Knitwear
• Tops and blouses
• Dresses
• Skirts
• Trousers
• Odd bits – including shorts, the hilariously named ‘work-out gear’ and P.J’s.

Marie Kondo suggests you hold each piece and make a decision about whether it belongs in your life or not. The first few bits that went into the charity bag were easy; a few dresses I know I won’t wear, a blouse that needs far too much ironing and some tee-shirts that are just too tight.

Step 1: Undies

Then I went through my undies. Oh-er Madame!

I kept the matching sets (there’s four), the 3 pairs of Modi pants – seriously the best pants I have ever owned! – some great big granny drawers, 2 sports bras and 3 bandeaux tops.

After I had folded them as per Marie Kondo’s strict instructions, I set them all up in a basket and plastic box, which now stands on the shelf underneath my clothes rail. Then I set to work on the ‘foot-underwear’: footies, socks and tights.

I love socks and have some obnoxiously overpriced ones. There is a knee-length pair I paid about $12 for when I was in Hollywood, as well as a shorter pair with cool Japanese writing on them. Therefore my ‘sock box’ is a combination of ‘footie’ shoe liners (Some of which I bought in Japan), regular socks, knee highs, and tights. Once the washing is all caught up I know there is another pair of knee-highs, so one of the older pair of grey tights will be relegated to the bin, so I can keep my numbers down to only what fits in the box.

Pro-Tip:

Even if the only person who sees your undies is you, you are better than saggy, overstretched elastic pants, off-colour bras and socks with holes in. Be ruthless: if you don’t wear it, if it doesn’t fit, if it is stained, scagged or out of shape, bin it!
You do not need 20 pairs of pants or 15 pairs of socks. Consider when you go on holiday. How many do you take? If you do your laundry at least once a week you will never need more than 10 (one per day plus ’emergencies!)
Invest in better, well-fitting underwear that makes you feel great, and get rid of the old tatty ones. You always feel better when you are wearing good underwear.

Step 2: Knitwear

My love of cardis is legend; no prizes for guessing which 2 made it into my final selection. (I have sung the praises of my ‘travel cardi’ and good old ‘craft cardi’ a number of times).

The knitwear section includes a few pieces that have been hung up, such as my aforementioned maroon craft cardi, as well as a peach jumper, a cream, cropped jumper, a large grey V neck (that is ALWAYS worn back to front) as well as a blazer and a wonderful heavy knit FatFace Nordic style cardi, that I will hopefully not be able to wear for a few months yet.

In the box on the shelf beneath my wardrobe are ‘travelling blue’ cardi, her grey twin (I bought 2 of the same cardi) a blue jumper that looks great over outfits and with jeans, my university sweater that I cannot part with, as well as a California hoodie.

An extra layer of warmth in important for a British wardrobe and layering is doubling important for those dabbling in ‘Mori Kei‘ as I currently am. It must be a very warm day indeed for you to find me ‘sans‘ cardi.

Pro-Tip:

Knitwear, Sweaters, Jumpers, Cardis and Hoodies.

Every wardrobe needs a layer of warmth. Consider how versatile your pieces are. Can they be dressed up for formal occasions? Do they fit over other clothes? Can they be worn alone? All of your clothes should be working for you. If they do not pull their weight then you don’t need to keep them.

Bear in mind that comfort is just as important as style. If you have an old cardi that has seen better days, yet remains your go-to piece when you are at home, you should keep it. This is about creating a wardrobe of clothes you love, so make sure all of your favourite pieces have a place.

Step 3: Tops and blouses

The term ‘top’ covers a multitude of …umm? Coverings?

In this case, it ranges from vests up to long sleeve tops and includes everything else in between that you didn’t include in Step 2.

There are only 4 long sleeve tops in my collection, so that was easy. There are 3 tee-shirts, 2 vests, 3 short sleeve blouses and 4 long sleeve.

As a rule, I tend to only have a pattern on my tops or dresses, as they will then go with a solid block colour. When it comes to mixing patterns I am not wildly adventurous, although I am working on it.

My vests are plain solid colours as are my fitted tees; everything is a shade of blue, grey or pink/maroon. There are 2 short sleeve blouses and 2 long sleeve and one linen ‘cover-up’ blouse that I wear open over other tops.

There is also one, very long, blue Bonmarché top, that I wear as a dress or layer over other dresses. Make those clothes work double-time!

Pro-tip: These are the stalwarts of your wardrobe. They need to work in formal, casual and ‘going-out but not sure what I should wear’ scenarios. Therefore, go for pieces that fit well, wash up easily and don’t require extensive ironing. They will also need to coordinate with your other clothes, so be mindful of your colour and pattern choices.

Step 4: Dresses

The hardest department to reduce! There are definitely still a few too many, but I can’t choose anymore that I would like to part with just yet. There is my Japanese style blue dress, my navy pinafore, my butterfly dress, the stripey Uniqlo dress that I bought in Santa Monica…I can’t be expected to get rid of any of these!

As a Mori-kei fan, I am obsessed with layering. I have been known to wear at least 1 top, 2 dresses, a skirt and a jumper all at once. This is when having dresses of varying sizes helps (mine range from UK size 10 – 16). I am particularly a fan of button-up dresses that can be worn open over other layers.

Pro-tip: Do you have dresses you are keeping for best? How many? How often do you get to wear them? If you are selecting the clothes you love the most to keep in your wardrobe, why do you limit when and where you can wear them? Dresses are a perfect way to express your personality – they are a complete outfit all in one, or can be paired up with other items. Experiment and get the most out of your favourite pieces.

Step 5: Skirts

My skirts are generally worn as underskirts, under my dresses, or layered under other skirts. There are a few that can be worn alone, and make a refreshing change from jeans in the summer. If you are not a skirt person, just skip this step. The same can be said for dresses, we all have our own ideas of style and comfort.

Any changes to your wardrobe are about you, what you want out of your clothes, and what suits the life you lead.

I now have 3 shorter skirts, 2 longer underskirts, a formal skirt and an ankle swishing pink skirt.

Step 6: Trousers

If this post had been written about 4 years ago, this section for not exist. ‘Own a pair of jeans’ was actually a task on my origianl 40×40, as I did not own a single pair of them. I now have 3: black ones, navy ones, and stone wash ones; all of them Primark skinny jeans.

While in Japan I became enamoured with the culotte trousers many of the women wore; they look good on us shorter ladies. I ended up buying 3 pairs: A patterned black floral pair, a beige pair and some denim ones from Narita airport. Another pair of brown linen culottes from Bonmarché were added to the family, but they are a bit of a pain to iron, so I am debating keeping them.

Step 7: Odds and ends

Finally down to the last few pieces.

I have a ‘work-out’ outfit which consists of leggings, a vest, and a hoodie. This, together with my swimming costume, have been put in a small bag and tucked in the box with my tops.

There are 2 pairs of shorts – compulsory wear when your skirts and dresses are as short as a few of mine are! – which I have hung up.

A raincoat, a winter coat, 5 hats, (one for each season, and my blue travel hat), 5 pairs of shoes including trainers, boots, sandals and ‘best’ shoes.

3 scarves one pink wool, one pink summery and a blue one to tie my hair up with. One pair of gloves and 2 brown handbags.

As for PJ’s: 3 pairs, of varying thickness, and a very thick cardi that can double as a dressing gown.

Over to you

Well, that was fun!

Didn’t take as long as I thought it would, was less painful than I expected, and I genuinely like every piece of clothing that is now hanging on my rail. (Or is folded in a box under it). I am also making a solemn promise not to buy any more clothes unless they are replacing worn-out ones.

There is now, of course, the problem of what I do with the 3 bags of clothes I have for the charity shop. Perhaps I will just keep adding to them by making the rest of the family sort their wardrobes out.

Are you in love with your wardrobe? Does it need a shakeup? Perhaps you could have a look through and remind yourself of some of the long-forgotten pieces in there. Let us know if you have Konmaried your clothes, and tell us how it feels.