Facing your closet is very similar to facing your best friend and worst enemy, simultaneously. It’s a reminder of who you are and who you are not. This year you may want to clean out your closet. Well, our style and wardrobe consultant Mara Kolesas, Ph.D., is back with some tips on how to purge your wardrobe.

“When it comes to purging your closet, you are doing two things: wardrobe editing and closet organizing. And wardrobe editing should precede closet organizing to be effective,” Kolesas stated.

According to Kolesas, wardrobing editing is taking stock of your life. What do you do? What do you care about? What are your sources of inspiration? Once to get clear about this, you look at what you wear daily, how it makes you feel, what looks good on you, and what you have too much of or no longer wear.

“If you work at corporate job, you don’t need 15 workout outfits. You can get by with three and just wash them,” Kolesas said.

Taking stock of your life means coming to terms with who you are. If you are not a college girl anymore, then it’s time to let go of the clothes associated with that time.

“This is of particular importance for young women in the workplace, to enhance their professional presence and to project competence and leadership” highlights Kolesas, who has a past career in issues of empowerment, inclusion and diversity, and brings these insights into styling.

She doesn’t believe you need to get rid of every piece you don’t wear. Some outfits, she suggests, are tied to emotions.

“We all have emotional pieces,” Kolesas said. “Something that we wore during a special moment or was given to us by a loved one. So yes, keep it, but keep it knowing why you are keeping it.”

Every woman has that one piece that is too small. We once fit in it, but now our bodies don’t.

“A woman’s body changes-way more than men’s bodies. We go through hormonal cycles, some of us go through pregnancy, and then there is menopause,” Kolesas explained,“We can’t ignore our bodies. It is all we have! When we hit more or less 40, it becomes more difficult to go back to that small piece. But regardless of age, why should we? There are millions of things we can wear that are flattering for our own bodies, beyond the disciplining and unreal skinny standard. You only have to know how to enhance your best parts, rather than focusing on what you are not.”

For a serious and thorough edit, bring a friend. It’s good to have a second pair of eyes.

“You are too attached to your wardrobe, there are so many invested emotions, that you lose perspective” Kolesas stated, “Your friend, or an expert, will suggest combinations you would have never thought of. That is the fun part. Believe it or not, you will feel so great at the end of the process. Once you have edited your wardrobe, you have done the most difficult part. Organizing your closet is easy – just remember to have what you most wear handy.”

If you still need more guidance, you can check Mara’s blog posts Unclutter!, Wardrobe Editing I : The Golden Mean, and Wardrobe Editing II: Silver Linings.

May you all look and feel fabulous this year.

Hugs and Smiles,
Nicole

Come Back Next Month For Another Fashion Chats with Mara Kolesas

Mara is a style and wardrobe consultant and the founder of Good Fit Style.Based in Berkeley, CA, she is available for virtual consultations. Mara grew up in Buenos Aires, where she breathed style from an early age. During her career in political science she lived in New York, Florence, Rome, Berlin and Beirut, where she expanded her passion and sense of fashion and style while working on minority empowerment, and diversity and inclusion. With her artistic eye, analytic abilities, multicultural sensibility, and knowledge of fashion, she helps women and men define and express their visual voice with the clothes and accessories that are a good fit for who they are. Mara is also involved in various projects that promote social empowerment and the transformative power of clothes.

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