How to Dress Well, Efficiently
Feb. 23 -- It's another Monday morning and it's getting late. You're drying off after a shower, looking at an overflowing closet and still can't find a thing to wear to work.
You don't have time for sartorial indecision, not with kids who need breakfast (which you hope they won't spill on whatever clothes you do choose), can't find their backpacks and have to get off to school.
Closet conundrum is bad. It wastes your time, and, when you make do with something that doesn't really work, can detract from whatever image you're trying to project to clients, bosses and colleagues.
There is a solution. It takes some time, planning and money, but it is possible to put together an efficient, stylish wardrobe.
The first step is to make a date with your closet. Put it on your calendar for two hours on a Saturday morning while the kids hop on your bed, says Cari Waldman, a Detroit-based fashion and trend writer. That means pulling everything out and dividing it into three piles: what to keep, what may be salvageable by mending or altering and things you never wear to be given or thrown away. You should have poorly fitting clothes altered, or give them away. Anything you haven't worn for two years should go.
This is not for women only. Men need to get rid of ties, toss dress shirts, replace jeans and T-shirts, says Mike Milligan, a Washington, D.C.-based reporter who decided years ago to take on the project of making sure that he dressed himself in a presentable way.
Guys also have to take a hard look at their favorite T-shirts, football jerseys and sweaters and get rid of those that are too worn, frayed or ripped to be presentable. And, when you put what you're going to keep back in the closet, organize it. Pants, including jeans, should go together, one place for dark shirts, one place for whites, and so on.
"Make sure you can see everything," says Waldman. Out-of-season clothing should go on top shelves, to the side or back of the closet.
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