Organizing your closet for fast, easy workday mornings

by | Aug 9, 2010 | Articles for Both, Image consulting for Men, Image Consulting for Women

Do you stumble to your closet in the morning and pull out the same darn thing EVERY day?

If you are a white collar professional in a traditional industry like finance, your whole world revolves around charcoal and navy, oxford blue and white. You may feel bored by this “uniform” some days, but others if may feel comforting to know exactly what is going on your body at 6am. But most men now can wear “separates” to work.

This means the pants and the shirt, the jacket and the tie are not part of a set and have to thereby be coordinated. Fun in concept, but again, maybe not at 6am. I am a firm believer of making your clothes work for you. So how do you quickly and easily match your clothing, ensuring that everything comes out right in the end?

You create what some Image Consultants call “capsules.”

A capsule is a grouping of clothing that is similar in nature. Instead of arranging your closet with all the shirts together, suits together, pants together, try it so that your main separate pieces, that is, your jackets, and trousers are grouped by color.

First start by sorting your main garments (jackets and trousers) seasonally: wools, tweeds, and flannels for winter; tropical weight wools, linen and cotton for summer . Remove the off-season items to another location, or the back corner of the closet. Then separate by color:

  1. cool colors: black, charcoal, navy, gray and white
  2. warm colors: brown, taupe, tan, beige and cream

If you have a top shelf or drawers for sweaters, do the same separation for them. You can divide the shoes on the floor or rack by cool and warm also. Your shirts will sort into the dark and cool solids on one side moving through the pastels into white. The other side will have warmer dark solids moving to lighter tans, ecru, yellow finishing with cream. Patterned shirts will be place by the predominant color of the stripe or pattern.

Separate the ties on your tie rack into the same two groups also; cool colors are black, gray and navy based ties, along with red, maroon, eggplant, purple, pink and light blues, greens and white. Then the other side of the rack can be warm colors such as browns, tans, oranges, yellows, rusts, beige and cream. Move on, go wild – pocket squares and belts, braces and socks!

At the end of the process, you will have created two distinct wardrobes – one warm and one cool. In the morning, the chances of you “mis-matching” something within it’s warm or cool family will be far less than if you had not separated them. You can have a greater certainty that the outfit you choose, even if it’s at the last minute is a winner! See now?

That ecru shirt will go with the beige windowpane sport coat and the chocolate trousers and the orange and brown paisley tie. And tomorrow, the pale gray shirt goes with the charcoal herringbone jacket and the black pants with the pink and black tie. You see? Easy! And if we were together, we would talk about which one looked better on you!

See the Value but need it done for you? No Time?

The easiest way to look your best is to make a single phone call. What happens next? A Personal Image Consultant shows up and effectively and efficiently

  • transform a disorganized, overloaded closet into a lean, mean business tool machine
  • does the shopping you know you need for you – you show up to a pre-stocked dressing room!
  • OR, brings the beautiful quality, high value J Hilburn line of affordable custom clothing right to your home or office!

I am a Personal Image Consultant and a J Hilburn Stylist, Trainer and Recruiter

I bring confidence, organization, efficiency to your life.

Click here for next steps!