5 tips to detox your wardrobe for spring

It’s time for a wardrobe spring clean...

Boxes at the ready, it’s time for a major wardrobe spring clean and the team at Vestiaire Collective has worked with Anuschka Rees of Into-Mind.com to help us all find our inner-minimalist and thoroughly cleanse our closets for the summer ahead.

Their simple guide aims to help women achieve a more refined wardrobe, free us from our stressful clutter and salvage our enthusiasm for our own personal style. It’s all about re-focusing on the essential, high-quality pieces you love and letting go of the rest of those toxic commitments, says Anuschka, and we couldn’t agree more.

So, fashion folk, here are their five top tips... 

Take everything out of your closet to assess Now this is the hard part. You need to ask yourself which items are actually important to you. Look at each item individually and start piles for items that you still wear all the time, those that are of sentimental value, those that are off-season, and ones that you’re not sure of. It’s not easy to make up your mind on the spot, but it might help to be more critical when the mountains of clothes start to surround you.

Beware of the excuses Truth: whenever the time comes to say goodbye to our wardrobe relics, we always manage to find a sympathy excuse to keep them. Anuschka says we resort to one of three lines of reasoning; ‘I might want to wear it again some day’, ‘that top reminds me of something’ or ‘I spent a lot of money on that!’

But, she says, ‘If you haven’t worn an item in past year, it’s unlikely you’ll suddenly want to start wearing it again any time soon. If the money is already spent, then the only thing left to waste is energy and closet space. And pieces that remind you of happy times aren’t clothes anymore, they’re keepsakes and should be stored somewhere other than your wardrobe.’ She’s right, and we know it.

Get things repaired How many items in your wardrobe just need cleaning, or fixing, to get a second lease of life? Don’t put it off, get all your repairs in a pile and sort them out now. A few adjustments could save that beautiful lace dress you always loved to wear.

Sell the pieces you were going to throw out Just because you no longer love it, doesn’t mean that someone else wouldn’t. Second-hand fans will be pleased to get their hands on something you thought had lost its wow-factor. At this point, it’s Vestiaire to the rescue. Their easy re-sale website can help you sell your old clothes online, pocket some cash and do something good for the environment by not just chucking clothes into landfill. Hurrah.

Now re-build your perfect, refined wardrobe  Along with reflecting your personal style, ask yourself, ‘Do you have enough clothes for all of your different activities?’ Keep a balance of items and make sure you’ve got things that cover these three categories; personal style essentials, plain basics and statement pieces. Any fashion gaps? Well, what did you think you were going to spend all your hard-earned re-sale cash on?

The Ultimate Wardrobe Detox Guide was produced by Vestiaire Collective in partnership with Auschka Rees of Into-Mind.com. For more information and tips, visit Vestiaire Collective online.