To truly have a wardrobe that let’s you get dressed for work without any stress, you need to be able to open your closet every day, pull out any item and wear it at a moment’s notice.

Doesn’t that make sense? Why would you want clothes in your closet that you can’t wear? Here’s the thing—getting dressed can be stressful enough for most women. When you don’t have to qualify the pieces before deciding whether to wear them or not, you’ve taken a big part of the stress out of getting dressed.

Suddenly getting dressed becomes effortless!

And when you’ve gotten dressed with ease, confident everything fits, flatters and is appropriate for what’s scheduled…you can forget about it! The rest of your day, the way you’re showing up is a non-issue, and you’re free to turn your attention toward your goals.

And when you’ve gotten dressed with ease, confident everything fits, flatters and is appropriate for what’s scheduled…you can forget about it!

 There are a lot of factors that play into whether you can wear everything in your closet, but in this post, I’m going to talk about fit. Whether or not the clothes in your closet fit well and comfortably is the one thing that can definitely cause us the most mental anguish.

Recently I did a presentation for a group of women at a major financial planning institute. At the end when I was taking questions, a woman raised her hand and asked, “What should you do when you have size 6, 8, 10 and 12 in your closet?”

To that I asked, “Are you wearing all 4 sizes?” My intent wasn’t to sound flip, but I wanted to clarify rather than just assume before I gave advice. She said, “no, but I do fluctuate some.” (I do want to talk about how to handle fluctuation just a bit later…’cuz I’m in that club!)

Having “just in case clothes” in your closet, clothes that are too big or small,                    simply doesn’t serve you!

 Most of the time clothes that are a little bit big can be altered down if they’re still in style. On the other hand, you run into risky territory much of the time when clothes are more than 2 sizes too large. The proportions can get all out of whack.

I remember many years ago, I had a client who had several pairs of pants that were far too big for her. All of them had either patch or welt pockets on the seat. When we examined the pants, I could tell that if we had them taken in at the center back seam, the pockets would be too close together. And even if we tried to take them in at the center back and the 2 side seams, it was going to be costly and just wasn’t going to be ideal. She passed on these clothes!

On the opposite side of the coin…if you have clothes that are a little bit small—well, that’s usually not an alteration that can be made. But that is okay. Get them out of your closet! (If these things are newer and stylish, you can put them in another storage space, just not the closet you’re getting dressed in.)

Having clothes in your closet that are too small wreaks havoc with your psyche. It’s depressing! I want your closet to be a happy place.

Here’s another thing, if you’re losing weight, that’s great. Most of us have been there, but I believe that if you lose weight and go down in size, you deserve new clothes. Chances are good that the size 4 or 8 or 12 or whatever size clothes you’ve gotten back into are outdated.

I believe you fully deserve to celebrate yourself in new and stylish clothing when you’ve reached your weight goal. On top of that, when looking and feeling put together is crucial to your professional image, you simply can’t afford to wear out of date clothes–whether you have sentimental meaning attached to them or not.

If your clothing is out of date, your professional skills will be perceived as out of date!    

So what if you fluctuate in size? Boy, can I relate! So much so that I’m going to use myself to illustrate how to handle the fluctuation and get your closet to the point where you can wear (almost) anything at any time.

I fluctuate between my goal weight and 7-10 pounds higher. (For some reason, it’s never on the low side!) While I have done a pretty good job of staying at my goal weight for some time, I had a several trips and celebrations all starting in mid-May. I like to eat sweets…and drink wine! At the end of June, I found myself up 7 pounds.

And some of my new favorite pants are far too tight around the waist! And these pants, that were actually a little baggy last summer, are fitting quite nicely.

The moral of the story? It’s okay to have a few pieces of clothing that are 2 different sizes, but not a full closet’s worth.

I’m no diet coach, but I also advise not buying clothes when you’re in this flux state, (or at least not many unless you absolutely have to.)

If you want to have a wardrobe that’s easy and makes you feel confident all day long, it takes some discipline and work on the front end. You have to be rather brutal, (in a loving way of course,) when it comes to editing your closet. The ease and peace of mind from getting dressed when everything in your closet fits is well worth the exercise!

I’m an image and wardrobe consultant who helps female attorneys, CPA’s, CFP’s and other highly successful, professional women create wardrobes that make them feel polished and put together, leading to even more confidence! Contact me today if you’d like to explore working together and finally getting your closet and wardrobe to the point where you can wear anything at absolutely any time and feel great!

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