How to: Transition your closet to fall
I hate to break it to you, but the way you’ve set up your closet might be sabotaging you when you get dressed.
*If you can open your closet and think of 10 outfits you would be excited to wear this month, this post is not for you.
But if you feel overwhelmed and uninspired in your closet, maybe it’s time to rotate your clothes.
I’m not talking about buying new clothes, but removing the out-of-season, ill-fitting, and special event clothes from view, and keeping on display only clothes you are likely to wear soon.
Imagine opening your closet and seeing only clothes that you’re excited to wear soon, that fit, and are organized in a way that tickles the dopamine receptors in your brain!
“Why should I rotate my closet? Isn’t it better to have access to all my clothes all year? ”
The tough truth is that more clothes out does not equal more great outfits.
Because having a JAM-PACKED closet triggers stress visually and makes getting dressed harder for us than it needs to be.
Aren’t you tired of shoving crammed hangers around and scrolling past irrelevant items every day?
When you rotate your closet, you become familiar with each piece you do have, discover true holes in your wardrobe, and are set up to easily reach for an outfit you want to wear today.
But it sounds like a lot of work!
I’ll give you that. BUT this is two-afternoons-a-year work that will benefit you 365 days of the year! It’s hard to fathom a better payoff-to-effort ratio.
We all want a more joyful and peaceful experience every morning when we get dressed! And better odds of choosing outfits we feel confident in, right?
Transitioning your closet is a step you can take today that will make getting dressed easier this season.
Bye, bye summer clothes!
Start here!
Step 1: Remove your most worn clothes that are exclusive to spring/summer
These are the things you were excited to throw on all spring and summer, but would personally not wear in the fall and winter. Think tropical print sundresses, lightweight crop tops, denim cutoffs, bathing suits and coverups.
Because they are your favorites, we will keep them all, but store them somewhere out of sight (under the bed, in a bin on the shelf, vacuum-sealed bag, bottom drawer etc).
*If any are dirty or stained, wash them first to avoid a smelly bin, haha.
It will be fun to rediscover these gems next spring after 6 months of not seeing them. Everything will feel fresh as you welcome in the season change. It’s like you went shopping without going shopping.
If you live in a temperate climate, you might still want to designate “summer” and “fall clothes” and intentionally save a portion for each season (perhaps certain color schemes), so you break up the monotony a bit.
Step 2: Make a pile of spring/summer clothes you didn’t wear this year.
No cheating! Everything you could have worn this spring/summer and didn’t goes in the pile. Including shoes.
Did you not wear it because it didn’t fit comfortably? Choose whether to add a similar item to your wishlist in your current size, OR store it somewhere out of sight. Keeping it in your closet doesn’t serve you!
Everything else in the didn’t wear pile, I recommend putting in a bag to donate or sell.
I KNOW! The thoughts are probably swirling. If your instinct is to hold on to them, ask yourself why. There is often grief work to be done here; we dive deeper into this and what we can learn from this pile in my Love Your Closet Audio Course.
A good rule of thumb: only let an item “win its way out of the donate pile” if you can make three outfits you like out of it, and photograph them so you don’t forget them. If it’s not worth this effort to you, it’s not worth your closet or storage space.
Spring/Summer items that win their way out of the pile can be stored with the clothes from step 1.
*If you use a wardrobe app, don’t forget to delete purged items from the app!
Step 3: Pull out your fall/winter clothes
This includes both transitional pieces that can be pulled in from spring/summer (think: things you can throw a jean jacket or a blazer over), and traditional fall/winter clothes.
Hang these items up where you can easily access them, giving the best spots to the items you plan to wear the most.
Take some time while you’re here to note any organizational pain points in your closet. Do you need a better shoe storage solution? Is there crap lighting in your closet? Are your sweaters sliding on the shelf?
You may not have energy to tackle these today, but make a note of them to brainstorm later. Pinterest has endless inspo for closet organization! You’ve already come this far, why not make your closet the happiest it can be?
Congratulations!! You have completed your wardrobe transition and are way closer to a closet you are excited to open every day! Cheers, friend!
Still got 99 closet problems?
Learn your best colors
If you’ve ever looked in the mirror and felt completely washed out, like you just puled an all-nighter, you might be wearing colors that are working against your skin tone and features.
I may be biased, but learning my best colors revolutionized my confidence. When I look in the mirror, my colors help me see myself with kinder eyes, and they come in clutch when I need to pick a killer outfit for an event or photos. Our team has helped over 20,000 people with our virtual color analysis, and we’d love to help you, too.
Shop your closet
Beautiful fall clothes on the hanger are one thing, but do you need help making actual whole outfits you love, that feel like you?
We made a blog to help you put together your first few outfits of the season, featuring your favorite pieces. Check it out here.
Build a closet that feels like you
If you have a general blah feeling about your clothes, and are struggling with identifying your style, especially after a big life transition, I got you.
My podcast-style Love Your Closet Audio Course is going to give you the best-friend support and practical advice you need to embrace your right-now look, work your palette into your real life, and build a closet full of outfits you can’t wait to wear.
If you were vibing with this blog, the course is like this on steroids. You can listen to the first episode for free here.
Need outfit inspo?
Our email list is where it’s at. We’ll send you links to your favorite stores twice a month, organized by color palette, and we make a WHOLE CAPSULE every season for each palette.
XO, Your closet bestie,
Lindsey from Created Colorful
Hang out with us on Instagram! We talk colors, style, and we dance to club hits from the 2000s.
