5 Questions to Pare Down Your Wardrobe

Is it time to fulfill your minimalist resolutions? These five simple framing questions helped me shed half of my wardrobe in six months. Over the next 1.5 years, I've maintained a much smaller clothing stash using these same principles. 

Try going through your closet and asking the questions for each piece in order. It sounds time-consuming, but you’ll get the hang of it, and it will start to flow quickly. Best of all, I guarantee it will work!

Question 1: Does This Fit Me? 

Start easy by letting go of the obvious: Things you don't wear because they don't fit you. It's an easy win and will motivate you to keep going!

Best of all, you don't need to do this by picking through each piece individually: Pick all the pieces out of your closet that you don’t fit into, and use them to start your "Sell/ Donate" pile. If you have anything like this, you know it, so don't try on clothes to see if they fit. Save that for Question 2.

Anything that you don't wear because it doesn't fit goes into the pile, regardless of why you had it in the first place. It could be a pair of shoes two sizes too small, pants that are too short, or a jacket that doesn't close. It could be a suitcase of Size 0 clothes stuffed away for 6 years in case you lost those 20 pounds, like I had.

Yes, sometimes you have clothes on purpose that you don't fit into, like maternity clothes if you’re planning another child or different sizes of jeans if you need to gain/ shed weight for sports or acting roles, etc. So if you're keeping pieces for a specific time in the near future when you know you'll need that size, keep them until after the need for them has passed.

Question 2: Do I Wear It?

Start on a win by pulling 5-10 pieces from your closet that you wear all the time, and use them to seed your "Keep" pile: Work clothes, your favorite hoodie, running sneakers, etc. Limit yourself to 5-10 pieces that spring to mind, and don't pull out anything you'd remotely have to consider.

Now it's time to go through your closet and ask piece by piece: Do I wear this? However, there aren’t hard and fast rules for how much you wear something to justify keeping it. Getting good use out of an ugly holiday sweater usually means wearing it a few times in the Fall; wearing a fancy long dress could mean once per year in wedding season; but wearing work slacks could mean once per week. (Tracking your clothes will help you find answers.)

In my final go-round of 2023, I used the cutoff as whether I’d found at least one occasion to wear a piece over the entire year. If the answer is No, then it isn’t something I need to keep. (Should there ever come another time when I need a semi-formal work dress, I will cross that bridge when I get to it.) Now I comb my closet at the end of every season, I judge by whether I wore a piece at all during that season. 

Question 3: Does This Fit My Personality?

This is where a lot of swap meet/ impulse buy pieces ended up getting culled for me initially. I also culled a lot of pieces under Question 3 that I bought online because I liked how they were modeled/ styled. Ultimately, seeing how much space things were taking up in my closet, which I wore only because I bought or quickly picked them, was a wake-up call to stop online shopping altogether and swap with more care.

Fashion and style tell a story about your personality, and should represent the impression you want to give to others. I like to present myself as classy, artistic, and confident, with a combination of classic, well-fitted styles and colors, plus some bold choices tastefully mixed in.

The story can change based on the occasion. For the office, you may keep more conservative and muted color pieces that say “Reliable.” For parties, you may want a few bolder colors or graphic T-shirts that say “Fun.” Maybe you put a lot of effort into the “I woke up like this” look (I do, so I get it).

Whatever the occasion or reason, chances are you are holding onto at least a few pieces that don’t quite fit your vibe. I certainly was, and I even forced myself to keep wearing those pieces. Thankfully for my Instagram blog, putting it all out there helped me see what did and didn’t send the type of style message I wanted.

Question 4: Do I Love Wearing It?

As admitted above, I used to force myself to wear pieces or even outfits I didn’t love to justify keeping them around. Yet not loving a piece, even if it seems to fit your personality, is precisely why you should let it go.

Some examples from 2023 include:

• Shibori-style designer jeans that I hated seeing myself in in photos (see above)
• Some natural fiber linen pants that I couldn’t figure out how to style
• A pretty lace tank top that was too small for me in the chest, and even fashion tape couldn’t make me feel like I wouldn’t fall out of it.
• Black fabric sneakers
• Any crop tops, even with extensive ab workouts
• Cute dresses or skirts that ride up – ugh!

On the flip side, I have some pieces in my closet that I do love wearing, regardless of outward reasons to let them go:

• A Balenciaga bag I thrifted that’s so beat up and destroyed that it’s actually probably worthless, but I love the look and history of it
• Some fuzzy striped knee socks with kitty faces and ears at the top that don’t seem like me at all, but they’re super cute, comfortable, and practical
• Basic black Lululemon pants that seem ultra-basic for my style, but are just so comfortable and flattering

Question 5: Am I Keeping This Around for Sentimental or Other Reasons?

Sentimental reasons are big for me, and from watching Marie Kondo, I can see this is also the case for many others. Sometimes clothes make it through Questions 1-4 because you have emotional reasons you're pushing them through.

Sentimental reasons include that it was expensive, rare, or someone gave it to you. It can be a shirt you got free during a fun event, a sweater from someone no longer in your life, a blazer for a school event, or a bridesmaid's dress you wore 10 years ago at your friend's wedding. 

This is the exact moment to thank the item for its service, list it for sale, or bring it to a swap.

These questions should help you let go of at least a few additional pieces you’re struggling with. 

The prize for answering these questions for your wardrobe is having a rotation of clothes you love that represent your personality and get plenty of use!