How to cut down an overstuffed wardrobe might be the most frequently asked question I’ve seen in online discussions around minimalism. Fast fashion has created a situation where almost everyone has closets stuffed with an overwhelming amount of clothes, shoes, and accessories. Those of you who are familiar with Marie Kondo’s KonMari Method know that clothes are the first area she recommends tackling when decluttering your home. Her reasoning is that we know clothes are easy to replace and it’s therefore a relatively low-stakes process to hone your decluttering skills with. But I’ve found it plenty difficult to part with clothes, even when I know I have too many. And I know I’m not the only one. 

In my years-long process of gradually decluttering and moving toward minimalism, I’ve come up with these 10 key questions. They’ll help you sort what you actually need and love from clutter without the cycle of overthinking and indecision.

1. Does it fit right now? 

Many of us have wardrobes full of a range of sizes. Maybe our weight fluctuates, or our size has been trending up over the past few years. But we’re sure we’re going to get back down to the size we used to be, and we’ll need those old clothes. 

One lesson of minimalism is: Don’t keep things because you hope they’ll fit one day. Please destroy the concept of “aspirational” clothing that hangs in your closet as a reminder to lose weight. All it will do is a) take up space, and b) periodically make you feel bad that you haven’t “succeeded” in some hazy and undefined fitness goals.  

If that sounds like giving up, think of it this way: if you do end up losing a significant amount of weight, wouldn’t you like to reward yourself for that hard work by buying a few new items? 

2. Does it flatter my body? 

It can be hard to know what types of clothes flatter our individual bodies. Shows like “What Not to Wear” made hundreds of episodes about people choosing clothes that don’t flatter them at all! But in fact, you don’t need a stylist’s help with the basics. There are some quick references that are useful to learn up front to guide your decluttering project. 

One is body shapes in the most general sense. If you don’t already know your body shape, here’s a reference that explains the five main ones. Here’s a similar article for men. You can spend less than an hour identifying your body type and reading about styles to embrace and to avoid. Then you can use that knowledge to make decluttering and shopping much speedier forever after. 

I’ll share a personal example from my adventures in decluttering. I had a very nice designer cardigan that was mid-thigh length. It was a great cardigan. The material was high quality. It was versatile- it could be professional with slacks or casual with jeans. I kept it for 10 years and moved house with it several times. Every few months, I would fish it out of my closet, but I always ended up taking it off. I’m fairly sure I never actually wore it in public. Nevertheless, I kept it because I couldn’t see any reason not to. It was nice!  

After researching my body shape (pear), I realized I always decided against it because the length was not flattering. It wasn’t atrocious, but when I checked the mirror, I wasn’t altogether happy with it. Each time, I ended up reaching back in my closet for something that stopped at the hip bones. As it turns out, that’s the more flattering cut for pear shapes. I wasn’t educated about clothing styles and body shapes a the time. Yet I intuitively knew it didn’t look great and replaced it with something that did. Learning that guidance helped me articulate a reason to get rid of “nice but not for me” items like this. 

3. Does the color flatter me? 

You may have heard of color analysis. If you’re like me, you dipped a toe in, became totally overwhelmed, stared at your veins for way too long trying to decide if they’re green or blue, and gave up. There are some great resources to explain the whole theory. However, I advise you not to get too deep into the details. If you’re referencing it for help decluttering and creating a capsule wardrobe, you don’t need to overthink it. Stick to the main four “seasons” and decide what’s the most likely for you. Then, get a sense of the colors that look good on that “season” and those that are especially terrible. Use that as another guide when deciding for or against a particular item of clothing. 

I’ll give you an example of how this helps decision-making. I used to have two sweaters that were perfectly good. They were the right style for my body, warm in the winter, versatile, and easy to care for. But every time I put them on, I ended up changing before I left the house. I couldn’t put my finger on why at the time. Color analysis helped me realize that I was never satisfied because the colors made my complexion look awful. While they survived a few declutters because of the positive qualities I mentioned, I was able to use color analysis to justify getting rid of them for good. 

Similarly, I never liked how silver jewelry looked on me even though I couldn’t really explain why. Understanding I was an “Autumn” helped me to get rid of my silver jewelry and focus on a jewelry capsule of simple gold pieces. 

4. Does it fit my lifestyle? 

First of all, does this item match the climate where you currently live? Go ahead and chuck anything that doesn’t. 

Secondly, are you often in situations where this would be appropriate? A classic example is someone who buys beautiful dresses and heels but doesn’t go to formal events very often. Remember that a piece can make you happy and look great on you, but if it’s not useful, it becomes clutter. 

I used to work in an office where people dressed very professionally. I had a wardrobe of pencil skirts, tights, heels, and blazers. When the pandemic lockdown began, we all went remote. Assuming this was temporary, I kept that wardrobe even though I was really only wearing the tops with yoga pants to look presentable on camera. A couple of years later, our CEO announced that we would be going permanently remote.

That should have been my cue to cull my work wardrobe that had been sitting unused for two years. But I still rationalized that I may switch jobs and need those clothes. They’re expensive, so it didn’t make sense to get rid of them and then have to buy more, right? Well, another year later, after giving birth and changing clothing sizes, I finally realized it was time to let go and clear up a large space in the closet. I still have a handful of pieces for when I’m called to attend a conference or an in-person meeting, but I feel much better having opened up so much closet space. I was also able to sell those clothes and make a few bucks in the process.  

5. Can I think of a use for it in the next 6-12 months? 

When you apply the “Does this fit my lifestyle?” question to certain pieces, the answers aren’t always 100% clear.  

Sometimes you hang on to things because they might be useful in the future. “I wore this at a wedding,” you’ll think, “Maybe I’ll get invited to another wedding and need it.” That’s fine if you know your friend’s wedding is this year and that piece fits the dress code and weather. But if it’s just a nebulous “maybe someday,” it’s not a good enough reason to hang on to it. 

Six months is a reasonable timeline for those in places where the weather doesn’t change much. But I suggest a longer timeline like 12 months for people in places with very different seasons. 

6. Is it comfortable? 

We all have those pieces that look good on us, but we rarely wear them because they’re uncomfortable. Maybe it’s slightly too tight and cuts into your skin. Or it’s made of scratchy material. Or else it’s a pair of shoes that give you a blister every time you wear them. You’ll only grab those items on a special occasion when it’s “worth” being uncomfortable all day. Please consider this article permission to unload those. I finally took this step when I created an intentional capsule wardrobe. Let me tell you, it is a huge relief to have a closet full of things that are actually comfortable. I never have to decide, “Am I sure I can bear this for the next 8-10 hours?” when I get dressed. 

7. Is it appropriate for my age? 

I will be the first to say that anyone can wear whatever they like, regardless of their age. I’m not suggesting you use a judgmental listicle about “things no man/woman should wear after 30” as a guideline for this question. You are the judge of what you think matches your age, but it’s still a question worth asking. 

When I got serious about decluttering at age 35, I had some clothes that were still in great shape and still fit me. Except, I had to admit that they were more for someone in their twenties, not a mom in her mid-thirties. Decluttering is a process that involves more than our material objects. It’s also a chance to reflect on our current life stage and consciously decide how we want to move forward. I decided I wanted to embrace a more mature (but not frumpy!) style at that point in my life. And I feel much more comfortable in the pieces I kept. 

8. Have I worn this in the last year? 

You’ve almost certainly come across the advice to turn your hangers backwards. The idea is to reverse them when you take an item off the hanger to wear it. After a set time period, you discard anything on a backwards hanger.  

This is sound advice, but it will make this process take much longer. As a less scientific alternative, you can simply ask yourself if you’ve worn something within the last year. If you can’t remember wearing it recently, you can feel confident that you won’t miss it.  

9. Is it a pain to care for?  

In other words, does it require hand washing, dry cleaning, ironing? Of course, you can decide to keep something you love that’s a little hard to care for. But let me tell you, it is wonderful to have a wardrobe full of only things that are easy to throw in the wash and reuse. I am all about reducing the amount of time we spend on things that are low value to us. And I would put things like handwashing clothes, ironing, and heading to and from the dry cleaner in that category. 

There is a way around this in certain situations, though. For example, my winter capsule has several sweaters that require either handwashing or dry cleaning. I used to wear sleeveless undershirts under them. Then I’d either lug them to the dry cleaner or they’d languish at the bottom of my hamper waiting to be hand washed. I finally got the advice to wear inexpensive bodysuits with sleeves underneath. This trick has massively reduced the amount of laundry and dry cleaning I do. The bodysuit stays close to my skin and catches any sweat, protecting the sweater itself. I’m then able to throw the bodysuit in the washer and reuse it often. This way, I can get several wears out of each sweater before I need to launder it again. 

10. Does it match other things in my wardrobe?  

This is the question that it took me the longest to realize I should be asking. I always considered each piece on its own merits, both when buying and decluttering. I’m not a naturally stylish person, and I wasn’t thinking in terms of outfits. In fact, I remember once lamenting to my husband that it’s hard for a woman not to overstuff her closet. You’ll buy a dress and realize all your shoes look ridiculous with it. So, you buy special shoes just for that dress. You’ll buy a top and realize you need a specific bra to go with it. It took me a while after that conversation, and some YouTube videos of fashionable people presenting their capsule wardrobes, to realize that I can avoid that problem by just…not buying those kinds of “one-off” pieces. What a revelation!  

So, when evaluating each piece in your wardrobe, think about which other pieces it can be worn with. If it’s not at least a few, I recommend ditching it and sticking to things that have more versatility.  

Conclusion

So, there you have it. When you inevitably find yourself waffling over a “maybe” item, hesitating to throw it into the “discard” pile, quickly cycle through these questions in your mind. A “no” to any of them will provide peace of mind as you put it aside without a second thought.  

Have you tried any of these techniques? I’d love to hear about your results!