Spring is ahead

It might be time to sort the closet

Hi all,

Happy almost Spring. Thinking of March and April as the season of “Unlocking” rather than “Spring” has been working for me. Certainly the weather has not behaved in what we think of as a Springy way and rather than complaining about it, the usual response, I’ve been observing the gradual unlocking of the earth from its icy, dormant state.  And secretly relishing the thought that we, in the north, the land of 6 seasons, still have the months of Spring, May and June, ahead of us. 

It’s been exciting around here to spend time outside.  In Delano, we’ve been watching the river rise to threatening heights and rush by at a treacherous speed.  Every possible low spot is full of water.  Many roads and bridges are closed due to flooding, requiring us to abandon our usual routes and find new ways to get hither and yon. I can be cavalier about this now that I don’t have a restaurant perched precariously on the banks of the Crow to worry about. Living at the top of a big hill helps.

June 23, 2014 Photo by Mitch Kezar

We’ve been cutting up branches, broken by the recent heavy snowfalls, uncovering tender green shoots from their blanket of dead leaves in the gardens,  and removing the dusty covers from the furniture on the porch.

Then there’s the closet.  I’m perpetually perplexed by the complexity of my closet.  Maybe if you’re a man, or of a different mind than me, this is not of concern to you. But if it is, read on.

It finally dawned on me that living in Minnesota means I will always have more outerwear, more sweaters, more shoes and boots than say someone living in California where dressing in layers is not as much of a thing.  Here again, thinking in terms of having 6 seasons, helps..

With the usual, what I think is a reasonable goal, of having only things I like and wear in my closet, I came up with a plan that feels hopeful.  Let me just say it took me a few days to accomplish this and just reading about it may leave you exhausted. On the up side, I am now familiar with each item in my closet and know when it will have its turn to be worn.  I did put some things in a trial separation Rubbermaid, but so far,  I’ve paid it no mind.

There was a lot of sorting.   First I set aside the Year-round Basics.  There are some things I wear all year like pajamas, yoga clothes, dress up clothes, underwear, t-shirts, bathing suits, scarves, sneakers, etcetera.

After getting those out of the way, I divided the rest of my clothes into two piles allowing me to deal with only half at a time. One pile was the 6 months of clothes for the Getting Warmer Season (March- August)  and the other pile, the 6 months of clothes for the Getting Colder Season (September- February).  Yes, some of the clothes could work for either season, but I made choices based on color, texture, fabric, mood and habit. And I changed my mind about some things several times.

From each pile, to address the nuances of each season, I picked out the clothes I can wear the whole six months and called them “Seasonal Basics”.  The clothes more suited to a shorter 2 or 4 month period I called “Extras”.  These I can rotate in and out of the current Seasonal Basics. I located the current wardrobe made up of Year-round Basics, Seasonal Basics and a few Extras in the most accessible part of my closet.

I’ve tried a Capsule wardrobe before.  You might like to read about it or even give it a try it if you haven’t already. What I liked was it required me to focus on a small amount of clothes at a time and I discovered things in the back of my closet that were obscured by the habitually worn and tired.

What I didn’t like was that it was either too much work or unsatisfying. I found I started from scratch each weather change which took hours and hours or else I stuck with the basics and many clothes never saw the light of day. Granted, I probably did it wrong. What I like about the new method is, if an item has a place in my closet, it will get a turn to be worn or if it languishes unchosen, it will get donated. No more hiding in the corners. And yes, I made a little note to hang on the hanger that starts each section to keep it all straight.

Enjoy the week,

Gina