Rachel Grunwell: My closet confessions

It pays to have a regular declutter of one's wardrobe

My "closet confessions" are in my new wellness book Balance: Food, Health + Happiness.
I lay my soul bare and 'fess up in a chapter about decluttering.

I interview declutter expert Rachel Hoffman from Rhode Island, in the US. She shares tips on how to unclutter your habitat, ie your wardrobe, house, to emails. She explains how getting rid of excess stuff and mess can link with our wellbeing. One of her top tips is to start small and clear a little bit of stuff often. This stops things from piling up and us feeling overwhelmed and like the task is too big.

I confess in my book that I need to put Hoffman's declutter advice into action with my wardrobe. My closet is chaos. I have dresses in there from when I was in high school. Gulp. Don't ask me how many decades ago. I'm terrible at letting clothes go. I use the excuse: "it's vintage".

My wardrobe is full of things I never wear, but I'm confused about "why" I'm not wearing them.

Enter personal stylist Johanna-May Manks. She is willing to go into battle with my overflowing wardrobe and wade through the mayhem. I hope she isn't mortified by the mess. I'm concerned too about her trying to take clothes from my tight grip. We may end up wrestling over dresses I wore when I was 17. Oh. My. What am I thinking?

Manks says we wear 20 per cent of our wardrobe 80 per cent of the time. So I should let stuff go that's wearing me, instead of me wearing it.

She gently explains why some clothes are not my "fashion personality". These clothes don't suit me for reasons like they are not my colour or are a weird fit. Or are not doing my figure any favours — like making me look frumpy.

She breaks the news that the colour black isn't the best on my pale complexion. While muted colours are beaut.

I have lots of clothes that look great. So she reasons why I would want to wear other things that look drab.

So now there is room in my wardrobe. I can actually move things in and out. It's no longer like that movie The Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe where you might never come out again if you go in.

I'll tackle my fitness wardrobe next!

—Rachel Grunwell is a wellness expert & author of the book Balance: Food, Health + Happiness.
Find Rachel via inspiredhealth.co.nz.
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