I cleaned out my closet and now I have nothing to wear

Why letting go of your clothes is better for your style development, and what new clothes I'm adding to my closet this spring.

I’ve been talking about cleaning up my wardrobe in preparation for spring for so long that I simply haven’t done it yet. There isn’t a perfect approach to tackle the mess that your winter wardrobe might have created, so the only real option is to force yourself to do this task on a day where you have nothing going on—I know that’s the last thing anyone wants to do, but once you get into the groove of cleaning out your wardrobe, it becomes something that you didn’t realize you needed to do.

Now this clean up is for those that seriously need it. If you’re someone that keeps their closet in check on a regular basis, I’m jealous.

The only way to really clean out your closet is by going in and taking everything out. And I mean everything. You don’t know what you’ve put away where, and I’m willing to bet you'll end up stumbling across an item tucked away in a corner that you’ve always enjoyed but ended up forgetting about.

This is also a good time to finally say goodbye to the clothes that have created intricate dust patterns at the bottom of your closet, and to reorganize the stuff that you love to wear right now.

By the end of this winter, my closet started to look like this scene from The Office

I’d often go into my closet, look through stuff, think to myself that I don’t have anything to wear, and then come out with an outfit I’m not even that excited about. It didn’t help that the weather sucked for what felt like an eternity, but now I’m a week out from what seems like the warmth, and I’m scrambling to figure out what I even want to wear.

My usual seasonal shift consists of rotating my winter clothes with my spring ones, but this time I realized that keeping both in my view when trying to get dressed was creating this overwhelming vibe. The clothes I wasn’t excited about were directly next to clothes I did like, or I thought I did. I don’t know anymore. I’ve reached the point where there’s nothing left to do but to finally force myself to say goodbye to the clothes that have been collecting dust in my closet.

During this cleanse I found a few personal items that I had completely forgotten about that I’m hyped to bringing back to my rotation. My wardrobe did take a hit though; I am discarding about 80% of my stuff. Seems excessive, but a lot of the clothes did get their fair share of usage over the years. I’m just ready to usher in a new style this summer, and the unused stuff had become mind clutter.

I feel as though my personal style was stuck a little bit as of late. The weather didn’t help, but there was a lack of vision and excitement when it came to adding new pieces to my wardrobe. Of course there are exceptions, but it’s been daunting to shop for myself, and I think that’s because I was unsure of what I actually wanted.

If you’re feeling that your current wardrobe feels like it lacks excitement and that adding new clothes isn’t solving your issue, then getting rid of the clothes you don’t actually enjoy wearing is going to be a better answer to many of your style problems.

It’s time to let go and give those clothes away.

For me personally, a lot of my clothes end up collecting dust because even though I’ve come to terms I’m never going to wear them I’ll never be able to sell them for what I got them for. So, I just keep it in case there is a chance that I might wear it again, but that time never comes. Coming to terms that you might not recoup the money you spent opens up endless possibility of finding your sense of style. It forces you to say goodbye to things, and thus opening up space for new ideas to come through. Plus, I like to think that a little bit of something beats a whole lot of nothing.

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Once you come to terms that letting go is good, that’s where the real style rehabilitation starts to take form. Of course you can sell your stuff, but that takes a lot of effort sometimes, and in those moments you’re better off keeping that item for yourself. If you have clothes like that, then I suggest trying out the “Give It To Your Homies” approach. Get your friends to come over and go through your closet. There’s no better feeling than giving a loved one an item of clothing they seem genuinely excited about. It’s a win-win

Ok. Let’s recap. You’ve finally pulled through on a day that was dedicated for chillin’ and you cleaned out your closet. You went in and removed everything. Create a “definitely will wear”, and “this has to go” piles and start organizing—if things can fit in between the maybe I’ll wear this, maybe I won’t, then create a third pile. After you’ve finished you will go through it again and reorganize it into the first two piles. Really ask yourself if you’re going to wear this item, or is it time to let it go to make space for new ideas.

If you’re like me you might be left with a pretty empty closet after you’ve finished, and that’s totally ok! Now, this is where the fun begins. There’s going to be a period where you’re going to be creating outfits with little options, but during this time is where you get to clearly see what you actually want to wear.

From left to right: Sunflower Wide Twist, Auralee Selvedge, Beams Painter

For me it starts with some new denim. Although I have multiple pairs of jeans I wear regularly, this clean up has led me to realize that I’m lacking a nice pair of light wash denim in my rotation.

I’ve looked around at brands like Auralee and Sunflower, which has giving me plenty of ideas of what my next light wash jean would look like, but I think I’m going to need to do some further research. You can never go wrong with a pair of Levi’s 501s, but I think I’m leaning towards avoiding shopping online for this one. More updates on this later.

Inspired by chambray work shirts from the 1920s–30s, the articulated shirt ELMES by Niceness is reconstructed with experimental approaches; sculptural pattern cutting, asymmetric stitching, and a subtly twisted silhouette redefine the classic form.

My button ups also needs a desperate refresh because I left myself with only 2 options to wear and that’s not going to cut it. This Niceness button up seems to have everything I want; slim pointed collar, lightweight flowiness with amazing details throughout, and finished in a nice baby blue that I can’t take my eyes off.

It reminds me of this Tencel shirt from Wythe that I love a lot. It’s made using a non-toxic to skin fabric that’s more environmentally friendly than rayon. It also looks and feels much better on the body—the fit is perfect in my opinion.

My Wythe shirt in this light sage(?). It’s one of those shirts that I’ve had probably for over 3 years and still enjoy regularly.

The Wythe Tencel shirt is insanely breathable and you can wear it for much longer without having to wash it—thanks to the non-microbial properties of the Tencel fabric, odor doesn’t stick to it as quickly as other natural fibers.

Might just pick up a few of these for the summer, as Wythe has a huge selection available on their site right now.

Wythe nailed the fit of their shirts. They aren’t too long, just enough to finish below the belt, and come in a perfect fit at the width that helps create natural fabric flowiness underneath the arms. Their commitment to creating shirts with smaller collars is also something I absolutely love.

They also have a variety of 100% cotton shirts that come with pearl snaps for those who want that full natural fiber experience. Either way, definitely recommend picking up a few. They make for great lounge shirts, vacations, dinners, casual weekends, whatever.

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Stussy came through at the right moment with a new drop that has a bunch of shirts that aren’t going to destroy my wallet. I like their Oxfords, but I’d rather go with a used Polo; the colors are simply better and you can’t beat the price—a merely 2 minute search gave me this yellow Polo Oxford for only $30.

I did secure some stuff though. The Garment Dyed tee in the soft yellow couldn’t have been added to my cart fast enough. Best midweight fitting tee I have right now. Love running these through the wash and dryer—the ones I have now have become some of the softest tees I own. I also got the Matthew Shirt in lavender. The model styling was a bit ehh to me, but I have high hopes. Will report back on this soon.

In a recent What to Buy letter, I wrote about a bunch of great new gear. This Supreme ribbed sweater was one of them. Supreme has some of the best fitting knits in my opinion. They don’t cost a lot, and they look good. I also love that color, clearly. Going to be awesome to pair with some black cargos.

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There’s still a lot of work left to do to make sure my closet is looking proper this summer, but this is a good start. It’s been a few days and I already feel as though I have forgotten about what clothes I even put away. All I know is I have a clear view of clothes I actually enjoy wearing, which opens up my mind more when I try to style new things together.

I’m looking to sell everything I’ve retired at insanely cheap prices—within reason, of course. I was thinking of having a studio sale, so if you’re in Montreal in the next few weeks then keep your eyes peeled for more information on that— alternatively I’ve been thinking about selling this stuff online, maybe doing it through my side project Teste, which is an extension of my studio that I’ve been sort of keeping quiet, until recently.

A lot of moving parts in the background these last few years but maybe it’s finally time to come outside again.

Talk soon.