If you are longing for an organized CLOSET with which to start your days out right – effortlessly picking out an outfit – shoes, shirt , skirt or pant – the story is the same.

Get rid of all things that do not belong in your closet. Your closet should house clothing, shoes and possibly accessories, NOT toys, tools, baby equipment, things with which you’re not sure what to do, etc. Get out a trash bag and a donate box and do some sorting and purging. You may have spent good money on those clothes, but things do go out of style, our bodies do change, never to be quite like they were and some things that looked good once, just do not look good on us now. We have all bought things on impulse that we should not. Just because you have it, does not mean you have to keep it.

Again, be DISCRIMINATING – TRY THINGS ON – only keep those things that you really like, look good and make you feel good in them. That is what you will wear. There is a statistic out there, we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. If you cannot even see what you have, what good is it to you? Go through your shoes the same way. Make sure you actually have pairs and that they fit and are still in style. Put all your accessories (belts, scarves, ties, etc) together. Keep only what you truly like. Just because it was a gift – you do not have to keep it forever. The book Dress For Success still holds a lot of truths. When we look good and we feel good in what we are wearing, we exude confidence.

Let go of the things that no longer work for you and that are cluttering your closet and your life.

Put all categories together – suits/skirts/ pants/ shirts/blouses/ tops, etc. Shirts/blouses should be put together by color and by sleeve length – so you really see what you have in each category which will make it easier to put outfits together and keep you from buying things you already own.

Color-coding is particularly useful to help you see how many duplicates you have in your wardrobe and how little you need to purchase of similar items in the future.

If you have a lot of clothes with the tags still on them – they are not bargains, as you have not even gotten your money out of them. Consider donating them or get rid of similar older items and start wearing the new.