"If you don't see it, you won't wear it," says Fashion Stylist, Amy Salinger. That's why in this episode of Sass N Style,
...
she shows us some great ways to keep everything under control in our small closets!
Tags:amy salinger,fashion stylist,sas and style,Sass N Style,closet,fashion,organize,salinger,sass,style,stylist
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Transcript
Hello, and welcome to this edition of Sass N Style. Obviously, you are still here watching, so either you think I am funny or you're actually learning something.
Today, we're going to be talking about closet organization. Now you maybe saying you're a fashion stylist, why are we talking about closet organization? It's like one and the same, meaning if you don't know you own it, if you can't see it, if you can't find it, are you going to put it on? How often do you look through your closet, and you are like, oh my God! I forgot about this. So the best way to be in style properly is to be able to see everything you own, and have some sort of order to the way in which you put in your closet.
Lucky for you, we're going to be looking through my fabulous closet today. So here's entry into a fashion stylist's closet. So my shoe collection. The truth is this is only about, I would say a third of it. Obviously, I own a lot of stuff being a stylist. Shoes are something that you should hold on to; it's clothing that tends to be easier to get rid of and revamp. Anything in your closet, like I mentioned, you should be able to see it. Your closet might be set up differently, but a hanging shoe-rack is a great way to visually be able to see every single style that you have. These are my heels.
In another closet, I happen to have my flats and my sandals hanging up. A great trick, especially if you've a smaller closet like I do living in New York City is to put your boots in a regular old laundry basket. They are bigger, they are bulkier and so they are not as small and don't tend to get lost. You have to know a little bit about what you own obviously, but I know that I have my riding boots, high heel boots, these are big chunky items, and they are easier to find. Then, I have my go-to shoes, sneakers I use everyday, and then my big snow boots, my Chewbacca boots. They are everyday items, so I know I can retrieve from.
The next we have my bag collection, otherwise known as my baby because I don't have one yet, and this is where I spend all my money on. Bags, great investment, they are something that you wear every single day. If you think about the breakdown cost of that, they really don't cost that much. If you are wearing something four days a week, break down the cost over the year and it's worth every penny. So here are my everyday bags. They are out, they are open, I can see them. Obviously, they are hanging on my walls. I can dream about them as I sleep. And these are the ones that I know that I will reach to everyday, they are my neutral bags, they are my big bags, and they are daytime bags.
So now we are going to go from my everyday bags into my closet where I have my wonderful clutches. I love clutches, be it from thrift stores, vintage stores, Banana Republic. One of my favorite purchases I just made is actually this black clutch. It was from my consignment store, $120, but it's a big black clutch. If it's a good item, if you know you are going to use it, if you know it's classic, and it's going to be timeless, spend the money on it. I am going to use this thing probably at least once a week coming in the winter. And it goes right up here with the rest of my clutches that I can easily see. Know what you need to use, know where to find it.
Now my favorite, favorite section of my closet; my accessories. And trust me, you can never have too many accessories because they are easy to store, and unless they start tarnishing or going out of style, the truth is I really don't get rid of any of them. These are always going to come back. Hopefully, I'll be able to toss them down into a lovely little daughter, who is going to probably not appreciate them the way I want her to.
So, first things first. You have to have a great hanging jewelry organizer, this has changed my life. Every single one of my friends has one of these. It has individual single pockets that you can put each individual pair of earrings in. You can see everything that's in it. The greatest part is it actually has two sides. And this side stores all of my necklaces. You are sitting and going, where is my other earring? Guess what? I know where my other earring is. It's the hanging jewelry organizer, it's $25 at the Container Store. Jewelry boxes, being at the top!
Now what about your chunkier jewelry? Just like with the boots, chunkier things you can see. I actually just use a decorative box to put all of my bangles in. I own quite a bit of bracelets here, and then I have my magic box with necklaces and rings. It obviously looks a bit messy. The truth is, you guys, it is messy, but it's organized for me, meaning I know that all my summer necklaces are on the bottom, so I can get to all of my gold necklaces on the top for winter. And then my massive collection of rings right there on the bottom with some of my watches.
And folks, even I'm a corporate -- if you can't see, you don't wear it. I was organizing this today, looking through it, and I managed to find three of my rings in there, and I have put them all on one finger because rock what you got. I may have gotten this when I was 12 but if you put them all in one finger all of the sudden, they are actually quite trendy enough at the moment.
And now for -- I would say the most important ingredient in your closet, the clothing, unless you are walking out in your underwear. I have a couple of different ideas, obviously. I'm starting with vest all the way to the left, then we are working into blazers, obviously I have all of my black blazers together. I work into the leathers, and then I finish up with my jean jacket. It kind of goes like this throughout the closet, all the way shirts are together. You know what, I need that perfect white buttoned down, and I need it to be long sleeved, you know the exact section to go to, to get that.
Another very important thing is those pieces that you don't use all of the time, such as your cocktail dresses, your evening dresses, keep them in the back and you know they are there, and because they are extra long, you need more space for them to hang and drape evenly. I do have all of the space at the end. Clean out your closet at least twice a year, as it's getting colder and as it's getting warmer what I suggest. I can see I have this shelf up here that I can't reach but who cares, because it's summer stuff.
The other great thing about switching out your closet is you are cleaning it out as you go, you know your pile for your friends you might want to give to them, and then your pile for consignments that you might be able to sell, and then your pile for Salvation Army. Your trash might be someone else's treasure and vice versa. So you know folks, it's a matter of knowing and remembering what you own and if you go through it twice a year, it's hard to forget.
Amy Salinger is a nationally recognized fashion stylist who is dedicated to bringing fashion out of your closet. She has worked or appeared on The Today Show, Oprah, MTV and What Not To Wear!
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