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061: Shopping for, storing and decluttering clothes
810 Plays2 years ago
In this episode, we talk about planning and making time for managing the clothes, accessories and shoes for you and your family.
Keeping you and your family clothed might not automatically come to mind as life admin but it most certainly is. The shopping, storing, and eventual decluttering of our clothes, accessories and shoes doesn’t happen by itself - someone has to plan for it and make time for it. Depending on your relationship with fashion and shopping, these tasks can be guilty pleasures, a proud part of your identity, or a relentless chore. So we turned to stylist Lisa Stockman to get all her top hacks.
About Lisa Stockman
Lisa Stockman was born in Australia, and in her twenties lived in Italy and Japan. She studied a Master of Professional Styling at the Australian Style Institute and worked in the fashion industry both as a stylist and boutique owner for over 15 years and held global training roles in the retail sector. Her personal styling career began over a decade ago as a side hustle while owning a clothing boutique in Melbourne.
Today, she is Personal Stylist to a diverse range of clients and specializes in working with people who are experiencing life-changing events such as gaining a job, getting divorced, beginning to date, post-surgery, post-baby, or getting ready for an event of a lifetime such as a wedding or anniversary.
In this fun-filled chat we discuss:
- that most people don’t have a strategy for managing their wardrobe, often leading them to wearing 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time, and buying multiple copies of similar items
- that you should think about how you want to feel in your clothes - consider writing down three words to keep in mind when shopping and decluttering
- most wardrobes don’t have the basics
- you need to make sure your wardrobe considers your lifestyle and how you spend your 7 days each week - for many people this has changed considerably and yet their wardrobe has not kept up
- for each item you buy consider what three items you already own you can wear this with - how can you 'outfit it'
- fashion maths - consider how often you will wear something (cost per wear)
- spending money on buying quality clothes that you will wear most of the time
- the risk of buying items on sale - just because they are cheap
- researching online to find outfits you like and then using this as inspiration of where to shop
- scheduling time to go shopping and try things on rather than buy things in a rush
- culling your wardrobe - consider how long since you have worn something and letting go of the guilt that you spent money on clothes
- organising your wardrobe in sections (ie pants, tops, dresses) and then by colours so it makes it easier to visualise what you have - if you can’t see it you won't wear it
- swapping over your wardrobe at the end of summer/winter
- the importance of keeping on top of decluttering your kids wardrobes
- teaching your kids to look after their clothes, that they should only have the clothes they need - working with them at the end of each season to identify what no longer fits them
- having a system to manage hand me downs for your children
- storing your clothes to protect them and treating your wardrobe like it is your fashion collection - use wooden or felt hangers and trousers on clip hangers, fold knitwear
- selling clothes on facebook marketplace or in groups and selling kids clothes in bundles or as outfits
- setting up systems to make it easy to sell or declutter so that items don’t languish around your homes
- consider, dying, tailoring or upcycling clothes and handbags
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
This is Life Admin Life Hacks, a podcast that gives you techniques, tips, and tools to tackle your life admin more efficiently, to save your time, your money, and improve your household harmony. I'm Tanya Roberts, an operations manager who, until I met Lisa, had a wardrobe of Melbourne black, black, and more black. I'm Mia Northrop, a researcher and writer who is a massive underbuyer when it comes to clothes and has had a clothing epiphany
Interview with Lisa Stockman
00:00:29
Speaker
This episode we interview personal stylist Lisa Stockman. Hello and welcome to season seven of Life Admin Life Hacks. Our book Life Admin Hacks has now been out in the world for two months and it's been so amazing to get feedback from our wonderful readers. We've had so many success stories about shared digital calendars and practical ways to share the load.
00:00:51
Speaker
And if you've read the book, we'd be so grateful if you could leave a review on Goodreads, Amazon or wherever you bought the book online. We've picked up so many new listeners on the podcast off the back of all the book publicity. So hello to all of you who've recently discovered us. If you're loving these apps, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen so more people can find us and drop their mental load.
00:01:14
Speaker
So on to today's episode.
Managing Clothes as Life Admin
00:01:16
Speaker
Keeping you and your family clothes might not automatically come to mind as life admin, but it most certainly is. There's the shopping, the storing, the eventual decluttering of our clothes and accessories and shoes. And none of that happens by itself. Someone has to plan for it and make time for it. And depending on your relationship with fashion, clothes, accessories and shopping, these tasks can be a guilty pleasure.
00:01:41
Speaker
a proud part of your identity or a relentless chore. And as you're learning this app, deciding what should be in your own wardrobe can trigger all sorts of emotions that lead to wacky decisions. So in this episode, we talked to Lisa Stockman, who revealed how to see your wardrobe as your fashion collection.
00:02:05
Speaker
how to organize your clothes in your wardrobe and deal with the ongoing decluttering, particularly of your kids' clothes, and that you should think of clothes as an investment and consider cost per wear. If you're like me, have too many clothes but nothing to wear, this ep is for you.
00:02:21
Speaker
Lisa Stockman was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, and in her twenties lived in Italy and Japan. She studied a graduate diploma in education at the University of Melbourne and a master of professional styling at Australian Style Institute. She's worked in the fashion industry, both as a stylist and boutique owner for over 15 years and held global training roles in the retail sector. Her personal styling career began over a decade ago as a side hustle while owning a clothing store in Melbourne. Today, she's a personal stylist with a diverse range of clients
00:02:51
Speaker
and specialises in working with people who are experiencing life-changing events, such as gaining a job, getting divorced, beginning to date, post-surgery, post-baby, or getting ready for an event of a lifetime, such as wedding or anniversary. Thanks so much for coming on the show. Thank you both for having me. I'm so excited for our conversation today.
Wardrobe Organization Strategies
00:03:11
Speaker
So there's a few ways we can approach how to manage the clothes and shoes and accessories in our lives. And we thought it would make sense to sort of follow a chronological order of, you know, the buying and curating of clothes and then storing and organizing them and then working out what to do with them when they no longer fit you or you, you know, you don't like them or need them anymore. So let's start in with the buying and the curating.
00:03:36
Speaker
Yeah, so I think that's probably the biggest life admin area, to be honest, because it takes a lot of time and energy to buy clothes. So having an efficient approach is really worthwhile. Yeah. So what are the common issues, Lisa, that you see in clients' wardrobe? You know, why we wear 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time?
00:03:55
Speaker
Well, I think the simple reason, the simple answer for that is that people don't have a strategy. So what tends to happen in a wardrobe is it's like your diary. It's an accumulation of things that happen in your life and people tend to
00:04:10
Speaker
not cull their wardrobe at all until things get into a dire situation. So it's like it becomes this receptacle of all this stuff and then it just becomes overwhelming. I think people only wear 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time because firstly, you have no strategy when you're buying. So you repeat buy. And I liken it to when you buy a new car, all of a sudden on the road, you see the exact same car everywhere.
00:04:39
Speaker
It's the same for when they're shopping. They tend to go and buy the exact same thing in a slight variation. So I'll go into their wardrobe and they'll have 15 of
00:04:49
Speaker
basically the same item that performs the same function. And as you're saying this, Dan and I have broken out in massive sheepish grins because, so when Lisa came to look at our wardrobes to help us get ready for some, some publicity shots, you know, there are my five blue and white Breton tops staring back at her. And I just had black, just black and pink. Black blazer after black blazer after black blazer.
00:05:17
Speaker
And it was just, you know, I knew they were sitting there, but when someone's cold heart eyes are looking at it and just going, what, you know, why? Oh, my God. You're right. There's no strategy. And I just sort of gravitate to things that look familiar or. Yeah. And I know that we might touch on this later as well, but
00:05:36
Speaker
I have this saying, if you can't see it, you won't wear it. So if you don't have a system on how to organize your wardrobe, which most people don't, they just shove everything in those doors just to put it somewhere.
00:05:51
Speaker
you actually don't know what you have. So it's amazing how many wardrobes I go into and people think, huh, I didn't even remember I had that. And yet they'll go out and buy a similar item, you know, five times over. So how do we, how many clothes do we need? How do we work out what we actually need?
00:06:08
Speaker
Well, you might have read that there's lots of things about having a capture wardrobe and the 30 items you need and all that sort of stuff. And I don't think there's a set number for every person. But what I do believe is that if you're wanting to streamline your wardrobe,
00:06:25
Speaker
And the best wardrobes are the ones that are really streamlined and functional is to sit down and actually think about firstly, how do you want to feel in your clothes? And I always suggest that people write down three words. How do they want to feel in their clothes? So it might be words like, I want to feel confident. I want to feel professional. I want to feel colorful. Whatever those words are, write those down.
00:06:51
Speaker
And then I think you need to really investigate what does your seven days a week look like? And that is going to change over your lifetime. So I can't tell you the number of people I go into their wardrobe and they've got this corporate wardrobe of
00:07:06
Speaker
matching suits and dresses and things that they haven't worn for 10 years, and they're probably not going to have that corporate lifestyle again. So why are we hanging on to all this stuff? So write down what is your seven days a week look like? And then think about, well, what are the items that you need to facilitate your lifestyle?
00:07:28
Speaker
So it's amazing how many people I know that work from home and they don't have a great pair of trainers. And yet they've got four or five garments to wear for a black tie occasion that haven't seen the light of day in years. So they don't have the basics. I would say 99% of wardrobes I go into do not have the basics. And that's why they're still only wearing 20%.
00:07:53
Speaker
Yeah. And again, can totally relate to that because my wardrobe is full of the cutest dresses that'd be perfect to go to lunches and wineries and dinner parties. That's not my life at the moment, apart from COVID. And, you know, I think when we looked at what I was going to wear for this shoot, that's one thing. But thinking about the seven days a week, I thought I didn't really have any pants. I had one pair of jeans that don't really fit anymore. And so, yeah, it wasn't matching my current lifestyle.
00:08:21
Speaker
I don't know how that slipped through my fingers. I don't know when that, I don't know if it's just being distracted by kids and other things. And I definitely think the working from home thing has accelerated that really rapidly, certainly for me, because it used to be five days a week, you know, not super corporate, but, you know, corporate wear. And then all of a sudden I found myself wearing the active wear that really wasn't
00:08:43
Speaker
corporate appropriate because it didn't feel right to get dressed up in my corporate attire and sit at home on a Zoom call. But I needed something in the middle, you know, sort of active professional wear has had a category now, Lisa, I don't know. Well, it should be, and I think too.
00:09:00
Speaker
The shift, even for my clients that have moved back into the office a few days a week, things are becoming far more casual and that for people is actually more difficult because the lines are so blurred about what's appropriate. In the 90s, I remember when you'd go to Country Road and buy a suit or a high street store like that, and it was so easy. It was kind of like you had this uniform.
00:09:24
Speaker
But now that sort of idea is really blurred and I think that's where people are getting stuck. Okay. So you mentioned thinking of a few words that help you define how you want to feel in your clothes. You talked about having, I think about your seven days a week and what that looks like and what that fit is. Are there any other points you should keep in mind to help you decide what clothes belong in your wardrobe?
00:09:48
Speaker
Yes.
Mindful Shopping Habits
00:09:49
Speaker
So my other big saying that I know a lot of my clients get sick of me saying is, what are three things you can wear the item with? So unfortunately, most people shop in individual items. So the internal dialogue goes something like this.
00:10:08
Speaker
I need something to wear. So they go online or they go into the store and they are immediately attracted to the shiny thing. It's either got glitter or it's got some sort of sparkle or a massive pattern.
00:10:21
Speaker
And they don't actually visualize, well, what am I wearing this with at home? Or if they're trying to curl their wardrobe, you can use the same principle. What are three things I can wear this with? How can I outfit it easily? And I would really encourage anyone listening to this today to always try and think in outfits. And I do it myself. If I'm shopping for myself or I'm trying to curl something, how am I wearing this piece?
00:10:46
Speaker
If it's too hard, I don't buy it or I get rid of it. And I've started doing that with my kids as well. So usually with kids, it's easier because they just grow out of everything. You're like, all right, we need to go because nothing fits. And I can see, you know, two inches of your wrist and your ankles on all your pants and tops now. So we need to go. And in the past, we would have just grabbed random t-shirts or grabbed random tops or dresses or what it might have been.
00:11:10
Speaker
And now we're much more appropriate approaching that as outfits, but it's not something that I've actually done for myself in the same way, probably because it doesn't feel like I, I guess I'm just, I am buying pieces to compliment what I already have as opposed to leading a wholesale, you know, update.
00:11:25
Speaker
I think I also had this kind of weird mentality about when I buy something, then I save it for good. So it's like that same. Lisa's just put her hands on her hands and she's walking back and forth. I buy it.
00:11:40
Speaker
And I, even though I probably, I think it probably passes that test, but then I'm like, well, I can't wear that because that's my new top. And so I put that to one side and I only save it for very special occasions, which is, you know, you know, how you brought up, it's like save the good china and the good tablecloth. And I guess, you know, back as a kid, I used to have
00:12:00
Speaker
my Sunday outfit. And I probably bring that same mentality, particularly if I spend a bit of money on something. I'm like, oh, I don't want to wear it. And so really trying to get myself out of that mindset. If I buy something and I feel fabulous in it, then I should actually wear it every day. I shouldn't save it for special days. Absolutely. Like life is the occasion. Life is too short to
00:12:20
Speaker
Oh, I love that. I love that term. That's great. It's, you know, go out and why wouldn't you want to feel amazing every day? And I also, I'm a big believer in fashion maths, which is dollar for wear. I'm always thinking of dollar for wear. So
00:12:39
Speaker
Even if I'm buying like an investment blazer that's sitting in my wardrobe, I think every time I wear it, I think, yes, you know, this item is just bringing me that maximum bang for my buck. And I actually get joy out of that. That's where you should invest in pieces, is knowing that you're going to wear them a lot.
00:12:58
Speaker
and love every time you put them on. Yeah. So that's a real flip from going from that sort of scarcity mentality that you've got to save it and protect it to actually getting maximum value out of it by wearing that expensive thing as much as possible. Yeah. My husband calls it the CPW, the cost per wear. And he's like, I'm very happy for you to spend a lot of money on something if it's got a low CPW. So we talk a lot about what a CPW is for particularly expensive shoes and things like that. Like it's not really worth spending a lot of money
00:13:28
Speaker
on going out shoes that you're going to wear once, you're actually much better off, as you say, spending that money on the trainers you're going to wear every day or the, you know, the loafers that go with everything. Yeah. So after our little styling session, I went down this whole rabbit hole of trying to come to terms with my mindset around clothes because I recognize I've become a massive under buyer when it comes to clothes. I don't actually have enough clothes.
00:13:53
Speaker
And I'm really reluctant or have been in the past, really reluctant to spend money on clothes. I felt sort of strangely guilty about it. I felt like it was something that was tied to vanity. It was interesting. I sort of got this crazy money story when it comes to clothes. So that made me go and research what does the average person spend on clothes each year and the wonderful Bureau of Statistics?
00:14:16
Speaker
You know, they measure all this stuff. It's part of household expenditure surveys that they run. And it was interesting. So I found that it's sort of middle income and high income households. People spend about three percent of their income on clothes and shoes. And it's kind of standard. It doesn't matter if you're earning, you know, 50,000 or 200,000. You tend to spend about three percent of your income. And when I looked at what I spent, I spent about one and a half percent.
00:14:44
Speaker
So this was like a major like mind drop moment for me because I recognized I'm not being indulgent. I can actually afford to spend more freely and come at clothes without the guilt and without the hang ups because I'm way under the average.
00:14:59
Speaker
way under the average. It surprised me. I just, I don't know. I think I've got this also clinging onto like 90s prices of what I think things should be and haven't quite come to terms with the fact that in 2021, you know, this is an okay amount to spend on a dress or trainers or jeans or whatever it might be. So I did need to update my own thinking about, you know, what is, what is
00:15:23
Speaker
But how much things actually cost? Just come to terms with that. But I think, Mia, I challenge in how you're thinking about this again, because it all comes down to strategy. So to give you an example, I had a male client who he would buy $10 white T-shirts. His uniform was a blazer and a fresh white T-shirt. And he used to go to a high street retailer, which I won't name.
00:15:49
Speaker
and he would buy 15, he'd always have 15 white t-shirts and they were about $9 a t-shirt.
00:15:56
Speaker
And they would sit in the wardrobe and he'd wear them a few times and then throw them out. Not the greatest sustainability. And it was awful. And everyone has this idea of what they're prepared to spend on a particular item. And I ask all my clients, what's your budget? And the reason I do that, obviously, is because I don't want to go over their budget. But I also investigate their lifestyle. And we go back to that thing of, OK, well, if this guy's wearing a white T-shirt pretty much seven days a week, I'm better off
00:16:26
Speaker
challenging his $9 spend on a t-shirt. We spent $129 on a premium cotton t-shirt and we got three of them. And I could see when we were shopping, his heart was racing and it was sort of this freak out. But he has since said to me, I've not replaced my t-shirts. He's had the t-shirts for two years.
00:16:50
Speaker
They fit him like a glove. They look amazing. And he's saving the environment, but it's challenging where you spend your money. So instead of spending it on the things that you never wear,
00:17:03
Speaker
you channel it into the things where you get that maximum bang for your buck. And sometimes it is shifting your perspective on what you're prepared to spend on the things that you're aware seven days away. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, this has been a massive in a year of awareness raising events. This has been, this has been a massive one for me.
00:17:22
Speaker
And I also think that that links to buying things on sale. I think so often people buy things on sale because they're cheap rather than because as they, you know, if you've got those kind of rules in your head, like I have to be able to wear it with three other people, it fits how I want to feel. You're much less likely to be tempted by sale items.
00:17:41
Speaker
It's much better to spend something by something full price that fits well and that you can wear over and over than something on sale that languishes at the end of your wardrobe, which I think very often happens, particularly in the New Year's sales and things like that. And don't forget, you know, when I was a kid, we had two sale periods in the year. There was the mid-year sale and then there was Boxing Day. Now there's sales every five minutes, so people are conditioned to wait for sale.
00:18:10
Speaker
But I think that's also a reflection on, you know, producers are making far too much fashion, far too often. And we have this sort of constant need to buy something new. And that's what I try and steer my clients away from and just focusing on those investments. Yeah, I did have a year. This was sort of the 2017 or the 2018. I had a year where I didn't buy any quotes.
00:18:36
Speaker
It was on purpose because I felt like I was falling into that fast fashion trap of just buying cheap, cheap, cute stuff because it was there. And I had a year where I sort of reset. I'm like, all right, I don't actually need any clothes. I'm stopping buying. And I also want to save some money. But I did then come back and think, OK, I do need some things. And I do struggle to find brands that I actually like. And I don't know what you suggest to people, how you help expand their understanding of what's out there and all the choice that they have.
00:19:06
Speaker
Well, I think if you're not in a position to work with a stylist, which a lot of people are not, I think one of the things that you can do is if you're online and you're on Instagram or whatever your choice of social media is, just start screenshotting images of outfits that you like, whether the person looks like you or not. And I think what you should try and do is then look at where those items come from.
00:19:35
Speaker
and try and go into stores or look online at brands that you wouldn't normally look at. And don't be intimidated by going into stores. I know sometimes it can feel really,
00:19:45
Speaker
Particularly, I know a lot of people say, oh, I never go into Zara. It's just too much for me. But I think when you do have time and you're not necessarily looking for something in particular, go in and try things on that you never normally would. So if you love red, for example, but you don't have anything red in your wardrobe, go try stuff on. Stand in the fitting room, see how you feel, because challenge the way that you would normally shop and do something different.
00:20:14
Speaker
You know, like me, you're wearing this amazing dress that we, we bought together, which is bright blue. And think about, you know, is that something that you would have normally chosen? Maybe not. Well, remember the white suit moment when you put me in a white suit. And I think you asked me at the start, you know, what are your, do you have any fashion rules? And I couldn't articulate any at the time, but I think one of them was definitely, I'm not wearing white pants. I just,
00:20:40
Speaker
You know, you said that, too. I'm not wearing white pants. White pants. I thought it was something ridiculous. And then I put on this white suit. I'm like, I'm getting it. And I would not have done that if I hadn't if I'd been chopping by myself, I would not have done that. I think that's a learning for me is to actually shop with other people and go out of my comfort zone.
00:21:00
Speaker
And I do think it's like almost reliving what it was like to be a teenager. You know, in the days when we used to go to Chapel Street or go to Chadstone and spend hours with no, we didn't have any money to spend. We would just pass the time trying on clothes. And I think as busy working mums, you almost need to schedule that time in to say, you know what, I'm going to schedule in an afternoon to go and browse, even if you're not planning to shop a lot, but you need to give yourself the time
00:21:30
Speaker
to not like I certainly know myself in the past, I'm always buying in a rush or buying online and buying online from one or two brands that probably suited me 10 years ago. But, you know, I just had, you know, I hate going to Chadstone. I hate it. I hate it with a passion because it's tied up with all of that buying stuff for the kids. And, you know, just feels like wasting time and that kind of thing. But, you know, then I had a weekend away recently and spent time shopping in the Emporium.
00:21:59
Speaker
with a friend and we were we had lunch and we tried on things and it was it was an outing so it was a scheduled outing not a chore if that makes sense. So I think really giving yourself the permission to have enough time to make it a fun experience rather than a rushed in and out really does change that how it feels for you. And I think Diana you raise such a good point because
00:22:23
Speaker
When you compare those two situations, what is different is your headspace. If you're going to a big shopping center when you're not feeling great and you're under pressure, you're not going to make smart purchasing decisions. But when you're a bit more relaxed and you're having a bit more fun,
00:22:40
Speaker
Even if you shop less, but you shop under those circumstances, you will make better decisions. And at shopping centers, they do have personal stylists and personal shoppers that you can access, don't they? That are free. They do. And you, all you need to do is, is make a booking for those. So I think certainly make use of those things, particularly if you've got, you know, something specific you're looking for that you're really struggling with.
00:23:05
Speaker
I would definitely use those services. Yeah, that was something I did when I lived in the UK and going to a wedding and I went to like a department store and got two outfits in an hour. And yeah, much better choices than it would have been if I'd gone and in one hour tried to do by both those outfits. So definitely worth having a stylist or even bringing a friend you trust, someone whose style that you admire and that, you know, maybe something that you aspire to looking like them. I think that can be a really great option too.
00:23:34
Speaker
But I would definitely go back to those words on how you want to feel. Because when you're in the fitting room, you know, I do love retail stuff, but sometimes they can say, oh, you look amazing in that. And you're standing there just thinking, I just feel really just so wrong in this. So you need to really tune back into how you want to feel and it will guide you. I've written it down. I've made a list on my phone.
00:24:01
Speaker
I've got it in my notes. It's one of my little reference lists. I've got, how do I want to feel? But I want to project to the world. I've got those words so I can remind myself, is this hitting the mark? Yes. Are there any other tips you would suggest for helping colour your wardrobe? Yes. So once you've got your words on how you want to feel and you know you're seven days a week, so you know your lifestyle and what you do every week,
00:24:25
Speaker
I think think about, have I worn this garment in the last five years? And if you haven't, you need to be really honest with yourself. Does it fit you anymore? I mean, so many people say, I'm going to fit into that one day. Why torture yourself with it? You know, that item of clothing could go to a really good home, someone who could use it today, and it's just taking up space. So give yourself permission to let it go. And it's amazing how many people hang on to sentimental items. Have a couple of sentimental items, but
00:24:55
Speaker
if you're getting to 15, 20 items that you're hanging on to.
00:24:59
Speaker
you need to actually ask yourself, why am I hanging on to this stuff? And some of those things, like if you love that t-shirt so much because there was some concert you went to and, you know, blah, blah, blah, take a photo of it. Keep the photo of the thing. You don't naturally need the t-shirt itself. And I think definitely when it comes to accessories, we were talking about this before that actually accessories is another area where it's very easy to accumulate a large amount and often people buy them for you as gifts.
00:25:27
Speaker
Then you have the attachment of someone gave that to me as a gift. But I actually recently completely decluttered my accessories. And then as you said, you know what you've got and you're much more likely to wear them and you think about which clothing you can wear them with. It's definitely an area of shoes as well, I think is an area where people hang on to shoes. And then it makes it much harder to find the ones you're looking for.
00:25:49
Speaker
I think, too, it comes back to that guilt factor. So a lot of people don't want to cull because they think, I spent so much money on those items and I feel guilty letting them go. But you got to leave your guilt at the door because if they're just sitting in your wardrobe and they've been there for years and you're not wearing them, you know, what's the point? You got to give yourself permission to let it go. Embrace a bit of Marie Kondo. Thank them for their service and let them go.
00:26:18
Speaker
All right, so we've touched on stuff sitting in our wardrobe. Let's talk about how we should be organizing our wardrobes and drawers that are packed full of this stuff that we're not wearing enough. What are the hacks here? Yes. So please remember, if you can't see it, you won't wear it.
00:26:37
Speaker
When I organize a client's wardrobe, I always organize it in sections.
Organizing and Caring for Clothes
00:26:42
Speaker
So pants, skirts, dresses, tops, you get the idea. And then once in sections, colors from dark to light. And the reason for that is I'm quite a visual person, but what I try and encourage my clients to do is visualize their wardrobe when they're shopping online and when they're in store. So if you've organized it in colors and in sections,
00:27:06
Speaker
you can take a mental snapshot and say to yourself, I've actually got 16 white shirts. I don't need another one because guaranteed you're going to go into the store and look at the white shirt again. Cause that's what your brain is conditioned to do. So that's how I organize it. I also, because I only buy investment shoes, so I don't have many shoes, but I, I always keep the boxes on every shoe box. There's a little picture of what the shoe is.
00:27:36
Speaker
And I always have that facing out towards me. So I know exactly where my shoes are. And I do do the summer winter switch. And the reason for that is just for ease. But also when I come to the end of winter, do I need to dry clean anything? Do I need to hand wash any of my woolens? Do I need my long boots sitting
00:28:00
Speaker
you know, in front of me when it's summertime, probably not. So if you do have space to do that switch for those big bulky items, you know, that's a really good idea. But always come back to that. If I can't see it, I won't wear it. I do love the seasonal swap over. I started doing that after living in the UK and the US, where you really have quite a different winter wardrobe to your summer wardrobe. And I just didn't have the space to have everything in the cupboard at the same time.
00:28:27
Speaker
But it's such a nice sort of natural point when you bring down the bag. Oh, getting reunited with these clothes that you might have forgotten about. And it's actually easier at that stage to be less sentimental about, you know what, I don't like this anymore or this is actually looking a bit tired. I'm going to let this go and do a bit of a cull at that point. I find each season when I swap things over, it's a nice moment to just let some stuff go.
00:28:50
Speaker
and get excited again about what I can now wear that looks, feels fresh and new. So while we're also talking about wardrobes, should we chat a bit about kids' wardrobes and dealing with hand-me-downs and different sizes and things like that? Lisa, do you have any tips for managing that kind of admin hassle? The biggest tip I would say here is keep on top of it because your kids grow obviously so quickly and it comes back to if you can't see it, you won't wear it. So I do still, even with I've got two boys,
00:29:20
Speaker
They're teenagers now, so their wardrobes are their responsibility. At the end of every season, I say, dudes, what doesn't fit you anymore? You've got to curl those out immediately before anything new goes in there. And tell us more about the wardrobes being their responsibility. What do you mean by that?
00:29:38
Speaker
Well, so they're 13 and almost 16 and I've grown up with them trying to show them about looking after their clothes because kids clothes can be really expensive and I want them to take pride in what they have and not buy the things that they don't need. So they're big condition to organize their wardrobe in sections and also still in colour order. Both big sports fans and so
00:30:09
Speaker
They do keep some of their soccer jerseys that, you know, they've been gifted from overseas and whatever. But I always say you're not getting anything new until we know that's what you need. And hand-me-downs are always in good condition. Yes, at the end of every season, it's dudes what doesn't fit you anymore. There's another nice trigger. I think we do it before birthdays and before Christmas, where there's often an influx of stuff from, you know, gifts from relatives or friends.
00:30:36
Speaker
And it's nice to know, well, what do you actually need? What have you grown out of? So give people some gift tips or just stop that. The avalanche of clothes, it can happen. I know when the kids were much littler, people would literally hand over garbage bags full of clothes to saying,
00:30:53
Speaker
you know, you've got a two-year-old, my four-year-old doesn't fit any of this, here you go, and thinking awesome, but also thinking, oh wow, now I've got to wade through all of this stuff and work out what do I like, what actually needs to go to the op shop, or what actually can go to be recycled because it's got no knees. Dealing with that when the kids are littler, that's actually a bull lot to stay on top of. And it's still a thing for me, even though my son is 13 now, he still gets hand-me-downs from a friend of mine who generously gives
00:31:22
Speaker
a large amount of clothes, but she's not going to do the work for me. She just basically is his cupboard out of her son and gives me the bag. And the thing I've really learned is you need to curate immediately because it's that same thing. You know, you need to be able to see it to know what you've got, even if it's a few sizes ahead. So as soon as she gives me the bag, I curate in terms of getting rid of the things that, you know, they're too worn out or they're not going to, you know, the fashions kind of moved on or
00:31:52
Speaker
even t-shirts that I don't think are appropriate sometimes. Oh, it's licensed brand. It's like, oh, Jesus. And curating immediately down to the amount I think you will need and then storing it where I can easily see it so that it's a stack behind. So that the next size up goes behind and anything that's the biggest size goes up in the top of the cupboard for a sort through.
00:32:15
Speaker
I think that it can be very easy for that to get out of hand. And particularly if you've got multiple children in your family, having a really good system for moving it to the next kid's wardrobe and putting it in a place where you know you've got it is really important so that you make the most of it rather than it becoming just another area of waste. Do you ever come across clients? Have you ever worked with people in their kids' outrageous wardrobes?
00:32:41
Speaker
We have a few friends who have, we're not mentioning any names, their kids have more clothes than we do. It's just shoes too. Are there rules of thumb that people can follow about how much clothes their kids actually need?
00:32:55
Speaker
Well, I don't think there is in the sense of specific numbers. And I think what COVID did was it threw out, you know, if your kid normally would wear a uniform, homeschooling and lots of people were buying. I mean, the sales of kids clothes online just went skyrocketed because of the lack of needing a uniform. But
00:33:15
Speaker
I think it's, there's nothing wrong with educating your kids in looking after their wardrobe like it is their own fashion collection as well. You know, just having what you need. You don't need, your kid does not need and our money. I don't know why I'm picking our money, but I feel like a lot of parents, they have guilts about certain things in their life. So they dress their kids in these ridiculously expensive clothes to somehow show that
00:33:42
Speaker
you know, they're looking after their kids. I don't know. It's a really emotional area, clothing. I think there's some people who are vicariously dressing their kids too, in terms of they might not dress themselves very well or spend a lot of money on themselves, but they're spending a lot of money on their kids looking cute. And it's like, you could afford, you know, spend some on yourself.
00:34:04
Speaker
I definitely think that fast fashion has got a lot to answer for there. I mean, I think that if you can buy t-shirts for $3, $2, $3, $4, the temptation for Bagel to buy 10 is quite intense rather than to actually buy two or three good quality ones that will wash well. And certainly, you know, one of the things that's come from these hand-me-downs for my son
00:34:25
Speaker
is that we've got expensive polo shirts that have come from the hand-me-downs and I've realized that actually that's amazing because I've already been through one child. They've come to my child. He actually only needs three polo shirts. They wash really well and he's happy to wear them. So we just, we actually now buy the expensive brand because we know that then that's all he'll need. The couple of items in my boys' wardrobes that get
00:34:48
Speaker
recycled and moved around the suburbs a lot is the grade six graduation hours. Because it literally gets worn for one night. So there's a pair of chinos, a blazer and loafers.
00:35:04
Speaker
And I don't know how many of my friends have used it, but every year the grade six outfit gets handed around. And the only thing that's changed is the t-shirt underneath. So I love seeing that all my friends with boys have basically used the same blazer, Chino and Lofa.
00:35:22
Speaker
I know where to come in three years time. We've wondered a little bit about organization. So we've talked about all sorting things out by, you know, what it is and then the color from dark to light. What about, you know, does it matter what hangers you're using? Does it matter how you're folding things or emphatic nods?
00:35:40
Speaker
Yes, I'm literally after this interview about to record a Reels on Instagram about the five wardrobe resolutions for 2022, which touches on this. So definitely with hangers, the only time you should use a wire coat hanger is to break into a car.
00:36:03
Speaker
They are usually the most evil things on the planet. Why? Why are they so terrible? Tell us, tell us. You know when you see some knitwear and it's been placed on the wire hanger and then you get these shoulder situations that you can never get out and so it's like you've got some growth on your shoulder. A boil.
00:36:24
Speaker
Well, that's one reason. They're really not good for clothes. They do nothing to preserve the integrity of the fabric. So if you're getting something dry cleaned, really just get rid of those hangers as soon as possible. If you're limited with storage, I suggest felt hangers. Felt hangers are very skinny, so you can maximize the number of hangers in your wardrobe, but they really do protect the garment.
00:36:50
Speaker
I actually prefer wooden hangers, but that's because I've got a little bit more space. Definitely my other pet peeve is
00:36:58
Speaker
when people hang pants over the hanger. Oh gosh. Because it doesn't matter what hanger you use, the weight of the garment like that, it doesn't matter but you will walk around with this line in the middle of your leg. Unless you've got an amazing clothing steamer that you're going to use every time you pull your pants out. So I always clip hangers with pants hangers at the top
00:37:24
Speaker
the pants and that way the garment just falls nicely and you protect the weight of the fabric. Okay so with the wire hangers you just take them back to the dry cleaners right they're happy to accept them take them back when you're getting rid of them just take them back.
00:37:39
Speaker
I have loved the wooden hanger. I did have like a massive wardrobe swap over weekend. Writers went to IKEA and bought like 50 wooden hangers. That was fun. It did feel like it elevated my wardrobe somehow instead of random plastic things and random wire things. And I don't even know where, you know how you sometimes look at your wardrobe because there's these plastic hangers and like, where did that even come from? Because you buy clothes and sometimes they come on the hanger. It's like, get rid of them, leave them at the shop. Yes.
00:38:06
Speaker
And it comes back to that, you know, treat your wardrobe like it's your fashion collection. No fashion collection would be on a wire hanger with knitwear.
00:38:15
Speaker
This is one of my resolutions that I'm putting in my video. Always fold your knitwear because if you hang it, it will just, it will be misshapen. And it doesn't matter what you spend on that knitwear, you won't look stylish because it just won't fit you properly. So I always suggest that you fold it. Okay. I've got some organizing to do. All of my pants, all of my pants are hanging over the little bit of long thing.
00:38:42
Speaker
Alright, luckily I don't have very many pants, so my title is... My three pairs of pants!
00:38:50
Speaker
Okay, well, we've talked a little bit about, you know, the need to hand stuff on. Well, you've got to let it go. Obviously, you could give it to friends and family if you know that the thing can be worn. But there's quite a lot of other ways that you can pass clothes on to people who are going to get more out of it. Yes, so I know that women do, in particular, do clothes swaps.
00:39:12
Speaker
Facebook marketplace is a really good place to sell your clothing. And when it comes to kids clothing in particular, I see a friend of mine does this all the time where she sells clothes in bundles. So she'll say, for example, size four kids and she'll sell, you know, like three t-shirts with matching shorts.
00:39:33
Speaker
and she sells them as outfits and she is really successful in that. So I think if you've got lots of kids clothes to sell that are good quality, that's a really simple way to do it. There are also charities like Dress for Success that help women get back on their feet and apply for jobs that might be homeless or victims of domestic violence.
00:39:56
Speaker
So if you've got good quality clothing that needs a home, those sorts of places are really great and you can feel good about passing that item on as well. So it helps alleviate some of the guilt that you might be feeling to know that it's going to someone that really can make use of it.
00:40:14
Speaker
Yeah. Love those suggestions. Thanks for those. I've also talked about some of the Facebook by swap and sell groups that are specific brands, like there's specific ones for Gorman. There's specific ones for Elk and Obus and everyone who's on there, they know the clothes. So as soon as you post something, they know exactly what that item is. And they could be a really confident way to shop because you've probably seen it in store and you're just waiting for someone to let go of it.
00:40:38
Speaker
And this is an area where you really need to know what your system's going to be and implement straight away. So I think that that's if you think you're going to sell it, you need to sell it immediately after it comes out of your wardrobe and not put it in a pile somewhere. And if you're passing it on to someone,
00:40:54
Speaker
Having a place where you store it and you that will remind you to give it to them. So for me, I always give my daughters close to my niece. She lives interstate. So I pack them into the suitcase that my daughter takes to Queensland. So as soon as it comes out of the wardrobe.
00:41:10
Speaker
goes into that suitcase. And so when we go to Queensland, they're already there, ready to go. So I don't even have to think about it. So thinking about those systems, decluttering is not going away. So spending some time to think about where you're going to put it, make it accessible, but also that there's that trigger there to take it where it needs to go. So the other places we've talked about is for textile recycling, you can take things to Uniqlo and H&M and Zara.
00:41:37
Speaker
they will recycle textiles. So, for things that aren't good enough to be worn again, you know, things have got holes in them. Thinking about, okay, where are those stores? When am I likely to visit them? Putting it in a place so that you'll remember to take it the next time you go there, because it's very easy for those things to just languish around your home somewhere, giving you that mental chatter of, I must do that, I must do that. I know Country Road and at the moment, as we go to recording, they're offering a $10 voucher for
00:42:04
Speaker
to their store if you take old clothing in there and they will recycle it or re-home it. Yeah, there's lots of good options there for the textile recycling. I've made the most of that. I don't know if I still do, but H&M did a similar thing. And you can take clothes that aren't H&M clothes. It can be any clothes, any fabric, and they'll give you a little discount voucher to spend in store. Nice little circle there.
00:42:26
Speaker
And then I think the other thing that people forget is that sometimes the clothes might just be need repairing or need dying or altering, and then you'll actually wear it. And that idea of sort of moving away from just chucking things out or giving things away and just stopping and thinking, you know what, I can probably upcycle this in a way. Do you do much of that? Do you see that amongst your clients? Yes and no. I think some people are far more conscious of that than others. I know that tailoring,
00:42:54
Speaker
Particularly if you've got an unusual body shape, you know, if you're really small or, and pants tend to be really long, definitely tailoring, knowing a good tailor is really, really worthwhile. But I do come back to that initial purchase period. If it's too hard and it's not quite right, just don't buy it in the first place because you won't wear it. Yeah.
00:43:18
Speaker
I've had, I've got a couple of stories that I've got this yellow jacket that was just, I bought it online and when it came, it was not the yellow I was expecting.
Creative Clothing Upcycling
00:43:27
Speaker
It was really quite a cold lemony yellow and I wanted like a golden yellow and it literally sat in my wardrobe for tears and I never wore it because it just washed me out. And one day I'm like, I'm going to spotlight. I'm buying some dye and I'm going to see what happens. And I've died at this beautiful yellow and now I wear it every week.
00:43:44
Speaker
And I just, you know, the dye cost me $10 or something. It totally solved that problem. I had a similar problem with a bag. It's leather bag that was white and looks awesome for about a year. And it just looked grubby. I couldn't, there's no way I could clean it. And I went and dyed that this charcoal color. And again, it's back in the rotational. I use it all the time. I love that. And there's lots of, um, handbag upcycling, you know, people who specialize like boot makers, they specialize in restoring leather bags. So if you've got,
00:44:14
Speaker
something that's been given to you that's a great vintage bag. See if you can, you know, breathe some new life into it. Now before we wrap, is there anything that we haven't asked that's just demonstrating our massive blind spots when it comes to clothes that we should know about?
00:44:30
Speaker
I think really take a step back from your wardrobe. It can feel overwhelming when you're thinking of culling it or even just opening the doors and just remembering that you're an evolving human being. So you're not going to wear the same things you wore 20 years ago for the next 20 years. Your life circumstances change. You change as a person and feel OK with that. And I always come back to
00:44:59
Speaker
focusing on the things that you need. And then maybe every season, if you want to inject some newness, that's where you can add in an accessory that's different. But get those basics right because they're the workhorses in your wardrobe and it's where you should invest your money. Beautiful.
00:45:15
Speaker
Well, Lisa, thanks so much for sharing your experience and ideas with us today. It was such a pleasure. Where can our listeners find you if they want to hear more or get more advice from you? Well, I have an Instagram page, which I'm pretty active on, and my handle is Lisa Stockman Stylist.
00:45:33
Speaker
I have lots of videos and tips on there. And I also have a website, which is Lisa Stockman dot com dot au. And you can see all my styling packages and my blog on there as well. Fabulous. And what I love about your Insta is that it's not just sort of focused on new fashion, you know, staying up to date and looking contemporary.
00:45:54
Speaker
It's really about feeling authentic in your clothes and really working out what your personal style is and being comfortable with how you're sort of showing up in the world. It's a, it's a beautiful reframe. It's been really fun little clothes journey for me to go on this year. Thank you both so much. And I can't wait to work with you guys again on, you know, in your journey too. Thanks for listening. Show notes for this episode are available at lifeadminlifehacks.com.
00:46:24
Speaker
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