How to declutter yet get new outfits without buying anything new

Over lunch today, my friend, L (late 30s), said she wanted to clean out her wardrobe because she had too many things that she didn’t like.

It was a perfectly normal sentiment to share – I hear it a lot from other ladies, especially those going through major life transitions.

But for L, it was not normal for her to say that.

It was not normal because she had just cleaned out her wardrobe exactly a month ago!

Despite decluttering… despite freeing up space… and buying new things… she still felt like her wardrobe was full of things she doesn’t wear.

As her friend, I had to help her. I encouraged her to try a different tack instead of another wardrobe purge. I shared with her my 3H method which allowed her to discover new outfits from her wardrobe and spring clean.

Here’s how it works:

#1 Identify your HARDWORKERS

Do you know what you pick out regularly from your wardrobe? One easy way to figure this out is to take OOTDs every day for a week or so. It’d just take 10s a day. Over 7 days, that’s approximately just a minute. You will soon start to see that you gravitate towards the same few items.

These are my outfit regulars according to a wardrobe app I use to log my outfits.

Your Hardworkers are generally basics but can also be dressier items, such as the black waistcoat that I have in the picture above.

Accessories can also be Hardworkers. My mahogany leather bag is in a timeless colour and has a simple hobo shape that allows me to wear it with multiple outfits. It has been easy to use these Hardworkers as they are in neutral colours (black, white, ecru) and in silhouettes that I am comfortable in.

We will use your Hardworkers as bases to build outfits from, and to introduce trickier items, which belong to the next category – HEROES.

#2 Work your HEROES

What are the items that you’ve bought and have not worn as frequently but have sparked an inexplicable joy for you?

Here are two things that Heroes have in common:

Firstly, they have stand out features like a unique colour or a special collar.

Secondly, they have a “safe” feature that makes them easier to pair with. Examples of “safe” features are neutral colours or a classic structure (e.g. a button down).

Left to right (clockwise) 1. J.Crew Sailor pants; 2. Fashmob floaty white blouse, COS Linen green tie back top; 3. Jacquemus butter yellow kitten heels; 4. Massimo Dutti red cardigan.

I don’t own any of these items in the Heroes collage but here’s a little thought experiment on how I’d be able to use them. I’ll use two Hero items from the collage to demonstrate this:

• Item 1: the J.Crew Sailor pants
• Item 2: the Fashmob floaty white blouse

Hero Item #1: J.Crew Sailor pants

• Stand out features: unique shape, gold buttons, nautical themed
• “Safe” feature: Neutral colour (i.e. navy blue)
• Potential outfit combis: Pants + the Hero tops in this collage below.

Hero Item #3: Fashmob floaty white blouse

• Standout features: volume of the top and sleeves, ruffles on collar and cuffs, translucent texture
• “Safe” feature: Neutral colour (i.e. white)
• Potential outfit combi: Blouse + my Hardworker light rinse straight leg jeans (see collage below).

• Potential outfit combis: Blouse + other items in my wardrobe that I have been unsure about (e.g. a staid looking work trousers that I’ve been thinking of giving away because it looks boring). But, when paired together, the dressiness of the blouse is toned down by the simplicity of the work trousers, yet the details in the blouse give a slight element of dramatic flair (see collage below).

For more on what makes a Hero item, blogger Kelly Williams writes about this in an insightful article here. There might be a paywall if you’ve read articles from her blog. If you are a first time reader to her Substack then enjoy it for free!

Hot Tip: Start Editing

The first 2 Hs helped my friend, L, create fresh outfit combinations that she could wear immediately, without shopping for additional stuff! She did so without decluttering her wardrobe.

I’d share with you another tip which I didn’t get to share with her.

Tip: Take outfit photos to create an outfit diary to help you be more intentional in putting looks together.

You can also use a wardrobe app to start inventorising your Hardworkers and Heroes. Again, you don’t need to start spring cleaning. Simply take 15-30 minutes to snap a photo of what you’ve visually identified in your wardobe as items that belong to the first two categories.

Wardrobe apps such as Indyx, Whering and Acloset also help you to build outfits as well as track usage of your clothing items. Do this in lieu of browsing social media for new style trends or looking at your usual shopping websites. Your wallet will thank you 😉

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#3 Ditch the HOPELESS items

Only after you have gained clarity on the outfit combinations that you like, you can then start clearing out your wardrobe. As you look through clothes that can’t really be categorised as your Hardworkers and Heroes, run through the following checklist:

A full disclosure of my Hopeless items are as follows (from right to left):

• The two tops – I have duplicates of both tops in my wardrobes in other colours, which get a lot more love than these versions. This is me learning from my buying mistakes in getting things in multiples. I’ve written about it and you can read it here.
• The puff sleeve dress cannot really be worked with my Hardworkers or Heroes. It is a one-piece item and most of my Hardworkers are pants. I also find myself not enjoying the feminine details of this piece.
• The white slides are similar to another pair of tan brown weave patterned leather slides that I prefer. It was a no brainer to gift it to a friend who suited this style more.

With the 3H Method, you’d end up with a pile of clothes that you can donate, sell or giveaway. Your wardrobe looks cleaner, you have more outfits to wear, and you might even have better ideas on what you would like to add on to your wardrobe. The actual cleanout would have been faster and way less frustrating.

Unconventional wisdom helped you

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At TWDY, we really believe in a good wardrobe edit versus a closet clean out.

Tell me if you intend to try out this 3H Method and share your experience with me. I’d love to hear how it went for you.

Write to me at hello@thewelldressedyou.com.

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