How to clear out and de-clutter your wardrobe in 5 steps

Because do you really need nine black and white stripy tops?

It's that time of year again. September always feels like a second sort of new year to me and with almost everyone I know moving into a student house or halls, NOW is the time to face that 2/3rds of your wardrobe you never pay much attention to. However, if you're a bit of a hoarder this can seem daunting - so here's 5 steps to help you refine, organise and edit your clothes.

1. SECTION YOUR WARDROBE

First things first, figure out what you own. If you're one of those impeccably tidy people that already have separate drawers, cupboards or a lovely sectioned wardrobe, you can sit back and be smug. If, however, you have all the intentions of doing this then never keep it up because most of your wardrobe lives on 'the chair' (if you know, you know) then get sorting. You can group it one of two ways: spring, summer, autumn and winter clothes or by item aka tops, trousers, shorts, sweatshirts. This one's your choice and it really depends how many clothes you have!

Top tip for girls: Make a pile of 'going out' clothes because lace bodysuits etc can be pretty tricky to find a group for.

2. WHEN DID YOU LAST WEAR IT

Everything you've worn in the last month, put aside. This is most likely to be the 1 third of your wardrobe you actually wear BUT it's also great for figuring out what your style really is. We all have a style we like to think we wear, but are you really wearing it? Or are you just wearing the same few sweatshirts, t-shirt and pair of mom jeans you always go to first?

I'm so guilty of this and so every few months I like to lay ALL my clothes out on a bed, create some new outfits that I haven't put together before, and try and make sure I'm wearing everything I own every now and again.

3. THE GOLDEN RULES

There are three golden rules I've now figured out since clearing mine and Charlie's wardrobe out.

Number 1 - Get rid of anything that is genuinely WORN OUT. Things like a top with a hole that you've sewn up a few times, a pair of shoes that have a broken sole (your feet will thank you!) or a white jumper that, frankly matches the grey walls of your bedroom now. GET RID. That item has plenty more uses as recycled fabric than it does in a bottom of a wardrobe.

Number 2 - Get rid of anything that doesn't fit!! There's absolutely no point keeping clothes that don't fit anymore, especially the everyday sort of items we're talking about here. I'm not just talking too small either. There's oversized, and then there's do I really need another huge pyjama t-shirt...

Number 3 - Get rid of duplicate items! Yes, it might be useful to have two white tops or a few different black ones (me, trying to justify my monochrome wardrobe lol) but do you really need the same crop top in four different colours? Or (all girls are guilty of this) ten million different stripy tops that are all-slightly-different-with-different-widths-and-colours but they're essentially the SAME THING.

4. YES, MAYBE, NO

More like ready, set, go. Make three piles as you're going along and take your time. Yes, you're going to keep it, maybe it might be useful and no it needs to go. I would recommend doing this with a ruthless friend who will tell you "NO you don't need to keep another yellow top you already have three" and "I've literally never seen you in that you don't wear that". It's tough love baby.

Go back through the maybe pile after and decide if you're keeping or recycling.

5. BAG IT UP

Woooo, time to get those vouchers!! Find any normal size bag aka supermarket ones or ones you've picked up on shopping trips and bag up all the clothes you're going to recycle.

Here's where H&M come in. Of course, there are other ways to recycle clothes, such as the big textiles bins you can find in Sainsbury's car parks. You can also donate them to a charity shop, however, the clothes have to meet a certain standard and with be re-used only rather than recycled.

What's so great about H&M's garment collection is that they guarantee that the clothes will either be re-used to make new clothes, re-worn through the second hand market or recycled to be used in other materials, such as insulation. In their own words:

We accept unwanted clothes by any brand, in any condition, at any of our stores, every single day of the year.

As well as this, you get a voucher for doing your good deed! Win win!

A few people have messaged me about the vouchers and how the terms and conditions work. So, to clear it up, the voucher is £5 off a £25 order not a £5 cash voucher.

However, that's still a pretty good deal and considering you don't have to buy anything first in order to get the discount (which is how it usually works, let's be honest) it's a lovely little reward. If you're a H&M member (free to sign up), you get delivery for free too. It's valid until February 2020 which is AGES away so you don't have to spend it immediately. The best part...you get a voucher for every bag you hand in! I got three! If you want to find out more...head over to their website.

The harsh reality is that the never ending trail of fast fashion we are all so addicted to is having a massive impact on our environment. I read a shocking stat the other day and learned that the emissions from the new clothes bought in the UK each month are greater than those from flying a plane around the world 900 times.

Read that again. 900 times. That's just the UK. That's just in a month.

However, as a generation of fashion lovers, it doesn't mean we have to stop buying clothes. It just means we need to be more aware of where our clothes come from. More importantly, we need to contribute to a cycle of sustainability in the hope that we can have a fashion industry that isn't reliant on mass manufacturing. A little bit goes a long way.

If you want to know a bit more about fast fashion head over to this blog post! In the meantime, I hope this helped you get through that big clear out and encourages you to go and recycle those clothes - thank you to the people who have messaged me telling me they've already been! Let me know!

Fancy selling your clothes on for re-use rather than recycling?

Next week I'll be starting a blog post all about the different ways you can sell clothes on - including loads of useful tips, from taking the perfect photos of your clothes to making the most of your social media as a selling platform. Big shout out to Kiana for this fab post idea!!

If you want to stay updated, hit subscribe at the bottom of the page or follow my instagram at @imogenalice_

Thanks!

Imogen