Vintage Where: Your Closet- A style THINtervention

Many of us are suffering from "so many new trends, so little dimes," an unfortunate epidemic in which our paychecks aren't enough to suffice for our need to shop. So many new styles of clothing are emerging, but instead of going out and buying the first trend you deem wearable, you first need to have a THINtervention. This is where one would take out every piece of clothing he or she owns and assesses its importance and appropriateness in his/her life. I know what you're thinking, "This girl is crazy if she thinks I'm going to throw away my hard-earned money!" But you'd be surprised how much you have that you don't wear. Think of it as condensing your closet to be able to introduce a new style for the new year.

Place all of your clothes in order of importance, with your most valued garments off in a "keeper" pile. Another pile should consist of essentials. This pile is for the basics for your wardrobe (camis, basic tees,  and jeans). Try not to keep those basics that have not only seen your basic days, but your gym and house work days as well. As easily as you put those on to do your dirty work, is as easily as you can toss them into the trash pile.

This brings us to the donations pile. This is for the items that you know haven't been hip since grape and mustard were the season's go-to colors. They aren't extremely worn, nor are they ugly, but they're old, and anything gaining years in your closet, that isn't timeless, is also taking up valuable space for more current, fashionable trends. You could even do a yard sale instead with this pile. That would get you some extra cash to shop for those ever-emerging trends.

An idea that I've personally adopted is that if you have had a piece in your wardrobe for a year and haven't worn it at all, toss it. I would even take it a step forward and say that if you haven't worn it in a few months, then off to the donation pile it should go. Also, for those items that you keep saying, "well, if I just buy this one thing,  that shirt/skirt/trouser will be perfect," let it go. You'll never buy whatever it is that will make that item work, especially if you've gone to the mall on countless occasions and hadn't made an effort to buy it already.

Once these piles are made, hang up your clothing in order of importance/color coded/by season, or something that shows order, then off to your nearest clothing drop! You will be less likely to mess up your closet with worthless clothing, and you'll see all the available space for all of the new styles that keep emerging every season! The trends are not as important as what works, and after eliminating those "clutter clothes," you'll see what you have in your wardrobe that already works, and the things you REALLY need to buy. Don't get me wrong though, the occasional impulse shopping is fine, just make sure the item is timeless, or at least worth a year's occupancy of closet space. Happy Thinterventing!