Do the teacher closet cleanout

What is it about teacher clothes? They have taken over my closet, ballooning into an overwhelming majority of what I see when I go to get dressed. If you’re looking to do a teacher closet cleanout, here are some easy steps I’m taking to clean out my collection.

Track it!

The first thing I suggest is that you get a wardrobe tracking app, or some other way to track your closet. I started using StyleBook about a year and a half ago and I loooove the closet stats. The insights, for me, have been: 1) I have way more teaching clothes than I could ever wear in a semester, 2) 10 okay pairs of pants is not as useful as 2 pairs of favorite pants, and 3) it’s time to be more realistic about the temperature in my classroom.

Your insights could be different! You could also track your clothes the old fashioned way, by turning all the hangers around and only turning hangers “right side out” after you’ve worn something.

This tip will cut your blouse collection in half.

The second thing you can do is a fabric edit. Natural fabrics (cotton, linen, silk, bamboo, wool) tend to breathe a lot better than synthetic fabrics (polyester, rayon, nylon). The simplest way to put a damper on a shopping spree is to pledge to buy only natural fabrics…seriously watch your options diminish in a store like Old Navy or H&M!

A common culprit in the teacher clothes collection is the synthetic blouse. I feel like Loft has been churning these out in cheerful prints for years. And they’re certainly cute! But if you don’t like being too warm or realizing your top is really not feeling that nice on your skin, cut polyester from your collection. More on work blouses here!!!

Do the pants audit

Whyyyy are pants the most painful category? I think because they are where we feel size changes the most acutely. But pants don’t need to suck, you just need to gently part with the ones that don’t feel good. I did this with my denim collection this year and was left with one pair of jeans, woops. Put the pants on. Take an outfit selfie in each pair. Then leave the pile on the side and review the photos the next day. I find this makes me way less harsh about how I feel I look in pants and more able to neutrally view if they fit and if I like them.

If you suddenly find yourself with no pants, I have a slightly unorthodox suggestion, which is that you go to the mall, drink exactly 1 glass of wine, and then go try on every pant silhouette in a big store. Take pictures. Assess the next day. This is how I found out I like cropped wide leg pants and kick crop pants and I am a researcher, so.

Analyze the giveaway pile

This step has been huge for me! I started a phone note that lists observations about why I gave clothes away. The repeat comments:

-Sleeves too short

-I don’t like medium-sized screen tees. Oversized tees only!

-No more vintage denim. I know the cool girls are wearing it. NO MORE.

-If it’s from ____ store, it’s always in the giveaway pile (I know you have a repeat offender).

-Sleeves. too. short.

Writing down these observations has helped me to remember them and use them as a bit of a checklist when shopping.

I loooove a good closet cleanout, but I still have some work to do in this category. Professional clothing always get to me–I think it’s simply the anxiety of teaching, combined with an obsession about always being prepared and appropriately dressed for it. But more clothes is not the answer, of course–having the right clothes is! If you have any additional closet cleanout tips I would love to hear them!

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