What does your wardrobe say about you?

So, last week I happened to mention on twitter something about folding underwear and my phone BLEW UP with responses from people wondering if I had gone mad.  FOLDING. UNDERWEAR?  YES. 

To the faithful few that owned up to doing this – I salute you.  I have no shame about it, I like my underwear folded. 

It got me thinking about the rest of my wardrobe – the fact that I definitely operate best out of a place of order and logic (in wardrobes and in life in general).  I guess I just assumed this was normal to most other people but I guess not – lots of people have no system for storing their clothes at all.  For me, I think that having my wardrobe in some sort of logical order helps me save time and fuss.  I know where stuff is and it’s easy to see everything at a glance.  I really think our wardrobes say a lot about us (hello, CONTROL FREAK MEL!). 

I’m a purger by nature.  I don’t like accumulating stuff and if it has served little purpose over the last year it gets sent to the charity shop.  So this is my gear.  All my clobber.  All of it.  We scored in the built-in wardrobe department in this house – oodles of space and a great layout.  As you can see everything has a home. Dave doesn’t believe me that I have an average amount of clothes and that lots of people have drawers and drawers of clothes as well as wardrobes.   

I like to sleep.  I’m also a mother, and those things don’t always marry well – so for me, not having to search or dig to find something to wear in the morning is as much a survival technique as it is pernickety. 

If you are needing a purge or a good sorting out – I reckon I could help but I have to warn you that I’m ruthless.  I leave little room for excuses.  If you’re not using it, wearing it or it doesn’t fit – give it away.  Ask my mother-in-law.  Imagine the combination of someone who easily accumulates clutter in their home also owning a charity shop – that’s her!  I wouldn’t change her for the world but she often asks me to help get her sorted.  Now, we love each other enough not to fall out during our annual ‘Get Iris Organised’ sessions but it can be heated as we discuss why she might need 5 different sets of soup bowls. 

Anyway, back to clothes. Here’s how I work.

Clothes that hang are from left to right in this order (for ease of access & most frequently worn):

– blazers & jackets

– long sleeved shirts

– cardigans

– dresses

– short sleeved shirts

– trousers

– skirts

You may have noticed that I have all the same black suede hangers.  I will admit, that is a step too far into full on OCD.  Feel free to give me grief about it.

On the shelves jammies, shorts, bulky jumpers, long sleeved tops, short sleeved tops and vest tops are in separate piles.  IT MAKES SENSE.  I then have separate baskets for my (folded) underwear, socks & tights.  So many pairs of tights.   

I imagine I am opening myself up to some serious slander here but I wonder if there are any other crazies out there that care about this stuff?  Do you have a system?  What works for you?  How do your clothes live?

Spring is springing and we could all do with having less stuff cluttering up our closets.  Along with this I know that even charity shops are feeling the pull on their profits because of the economy so organised or not, why not have a purge and give some of your good unused clobber to a good cause?