4 Simple Steps to a Minimalist Closet: How to Minimize Your Wardrobe

I’ve moved between three states within the last year and every time it’s caused me to look over my wardrobe and question if what I had was worth it.

The closet cleanse I went through started in California,fd and I realized how many things were just a huge waste of space. I never wore certain pieces and they took up too much room in my suitcase and boxes.

And through the last two moves, I was able to look through what I wore and see if it was seasonally fit. I moved to a four seasoned location, so this was something I really had to think about (yeah, Southern California wasn’t helping me out here).

It really helped me to determine what was necessary, what was just wasted space, and one last thing that I don’t think anyone ever talks about when they write on creating a minimalist wardrobe.

So I’ll be talking about this in the next few steps, how it’s helped me repurpose my past clothing decisions, and even save time and money.

Step 1 – Categorize the Clothing in Your Wardrobe

Everyone talks about doing this as the first step when creating a minimalist wardrobe, and for a good reason. It’s necessary.

Take all the clothes out of your closet (or dresser… or floor), put them in a pile on your bed, and sort through them.

Then put them into three categories:

1. My Go-To‘s

If you wear certain pieces a lot, your “go-to’s,” you’ll wanna note that they’re usually comfortable pieces that fit you right and probably make you feel more confident when going out. This usually defines your style.

What to do: Once you’ve decided that, don’t put them in your closet just yet. Keep them out, there’s one last step you need to do with them so that you can create an intentional closet.

2. Sometimes

Your “sometimes” category is made up of pieces that you occasionally look at and have the urge to wear on any random day. They’re not frequent days and that may be for a few reasons.

Perhaps they’re not as comfortable, you don’t always have an occasion to wear them, or you’re not sure what to pair them with.

What to do: Put them into a neat pile so you can sort through them at the end. This will be apart of the step I’m leading up to for this wardrobe audit

3. Never

Then there’s the “never” pile. You bought that one skirt from your favorite store two years ago and for some reason, it never makes it out of your closet.

It could be that it doesn’t fit or it’s just not your style anymore.

What to do: Put these together neatly so they’re easily sorted and visible for the last step before being thrown or donated.

Step 2 – Sort Through Your Seasonal Clothing

Now sort your clothing by season.

Go through each pile and see what items would be best for the different seasons.

So if you don’t live in Southern California as I did, then the majority of your clothes aren’t going to be light dresses, tank tops, and bright colors.

Have a heavy coat that’s a staple for winter, but it’s still mild autumn weather? Put it in the winter category. Or is it a light blouse, but the spring weather hasn’t set in yet? Put it in the spring category.

Do this with each of the three piles. Don’t worry, it’s not as intimidating as it seems; not all of your piles are going to have something for all four seasons.

And most likely, you can pair spring and summer or fall and winter together if it works.

Once you’re done: You can put all of the seasonal clothes together (but keep it separate!). So for instance, your summer go-to’s, sometimes, and never piles all get put next to each other.

I promise, there’s a method to the madness when it comes to decluttering your closet and creating a minimal wardrobe with these steps.

Step 3 – Test Out Certain Pieces

So here’s the step I’ve been leading up to that comes before the last step. It’s something that really helped me define my style and organize my closet.

I noticed that every time I moved, there would be outfits I could have gotten rid of because I barely wore them… but chose not to. I knew that they were great pieces and I kept on telling myself, “Oh, I know I’ll wear this someday soon!”

So when I cleansed my closet during those three moves, it opened my eyes to something I had been ignoring.

And I finally came to a decision by the last wardrobe cleanup. There were a few pieces in the Sometimes and Never Pile that I had to utilize, or knew it was too great not to try to pair with something.

So I experimented. I tried on each of the clothing pieces, and figured out if it fit me well or not (or could be fixed if damaged). Then once I decided which pieces worked well for me, I kept them and put them in my Go-To pile. Sounds weird if I never wear them, but this way, I wouldn’t just be wasting my money on clothes. I’d be making use of them, putting them where I could easily see them, and making the mental decision to work them into my outfits every week.

If it was something cute, but I didn’t know what to pair it with, then I’d go through the different piles and see if I could put it with something that worked.

Sounds counterintuitive to the minimalist lifestyle, but I promise I’m still on the minimalism fashion track.

My reasons for this is because many times, people will purge themselves of clothes when it comes to the last two piles, and then buy more. It’s a temptation! They threw away perfectly good clothes and then saw that they were lacking in areas, so they needed to compensate and spend more money after throwing away so much of it in clothing-form.

Step 4 – Cleanse Your Wardrobe

This one is the easiest step and it’s two-fold.

If you have pieces that you found still worked for you and can go into your “go-to” pile, then divide them up by season, put them in a box (labeled with the season), and slide them under the bed.

This will efficiently simplify your closet and clear your clutter.

The second part is to take all of the clothes that didn’t work. So whether it was a style you didn’t liked anymore, or it wasn’t the right size, put it in the donate pile.

If it’s unfixable (torn, broken zipper, etc.) throw it in the trash.

This step is pretty simple, and probably the most satisfying. You’re decluttering your wardrobe and giving to people who are in need.

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Doing a wardrobe cleanse is also a great way to cleanse you of stress, and help you with money management.

It’s honestly a lot more than being organized. It helps you feel better about yourself and your decisions.