The Wardrobe Audit Explained

Do you need a wardrobe Audit? Are you feeling overwhelmed by an overflowing wardrobe?  Do you struggle to identify your personal style or find yourself holding onto unworn clothes? If so, a Wardrobe Audit might be the ideal starting point for you. 

In this article, we will explore the benefits and process of a Wardrobe Audit.  A thorough audit focuses on identifying and logging everything, categorising it, reviewing colour, style, fit etc.   This process helps to declutter, organise, and refine your wardrobe, enabling you to curate a collection that truly reflects your lifestyle and boosts your confidence.  

What Type of Person Benefits from a Wardrobe Audit?

Wardrobe audits are usually the best starting point for people who have large wardrobes with lots of clothes that remain unworn.  It can be a real frustration to have so many clothes yet still feel like you have nothing to wear.  It can also be equally as frustrating having spent lots of money on clothes and still feeling uninspired by your wardrobe.

Wardrobe Audits are useful for people who are over-spenders when it comes to their clothes too.  It helps us identify spending habits and highlights your actual Return on Investment (ROI) by calculating your Cost Per wear (CPW).

An overflowing wardrobe might be due to bargain shopping or impulse purchases.  Or it could be that it’s a struggle to let go of things due to spending a lot of money on them.   For some people, it can be a range of other emotional attachment issues – so audits are done with great care and consideration. .. 

Understanding what you’ve spent, what you own, and having an inventory of your assets is actually a very useful tool for every woman. It’s a bit like doing your accounts and taxes, you don’t realise what you’ve spent if you don’t keep a record of it somewhere.

I. The Challenges of an Overfilled Wardrobe:

The Wardrobe Audit is often confused with a Wardrobe Edit or Wardrobe Refresh, both are similar but the focus is slightly different. The wardrobe Audit is about understanding and addressing the common challenges that arise when your wardrobe becomes bursting at the seams, and overwhelming you. 

It’s a Struggle to Get Dressed:

• You feel disconnected from your clothes and rely on a few trusted outfits.
• Your closet is a mess.
• You’re dealing with disorganised storage so finding things is a nightmare. 
• You often leave the house with your floor covered in clothes after a try-on session (but end up wearing the same trusted outfit, like always).

It’s a really sad position to be in when you have lots of clothes but 80% of them don’t bring you any joy or offer practical and stylish options for you to feel your best each and every day.

This isn’t motivating or encouraging for you – and it can make social occasions and events a source of stress and fear. Not knowing what to wear can manifest into impulsive behaviour, like panic buying lots of new clothes, ordering hauls online and then holding onto them due to the guilt of not sending them back in time.

Storage and Organisation Issues:

• You’re storing clothes in various locations, such as storage units or overflowing drawers.
• You genuinely don’t know how many items of clothing you have – with no idea if it’s a 100 or 500-piece wardrobe you have…or more.
• You’re having difficulty letting go of certain items due to emotional attachments or indecisiveness. 

Poor organisation of your clothes, shoes and accessories can lead to frustration and a lack of utilisation. This can seem like an unrelated problem, but when you open your wardrobe doors you get a sense of doom and overwhelm that’s not a positive way to start your day. 

II. How a Wardrobe Audit Can Help:

Wardrobe Decluttering and Organisation Benefits:

• An audit takes stock of everything you own, so there are no surprises, no forgotten items.
• The audit helps you to streamline your wardrobe by identifying and removing items that no longer serve you.
• You can organise your clothes in a way that maximises visibility and accessibility.

A Wardrobe Audit addresses the challenges by providing clarity on how much you actually, have, what you need and what you don’t.   There is no denying that a large wardrobe full of clothes can seem daunting to tackle alone.  Get a friend to help, or you can always book a virtual session with me and make an overwhelming process a strategic, and empowering experience.

How I help:

I’ll help you discover and refine your personal style through try-ons and feedback, making the wardrobe audit less isolating and more liberating. You’ll leave feeling confident after:     

• Assessing your current wardrobe to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement
• Reducing excess clutter by eliminating duplicate or unworn items from your wardrobe.
• Understanding the full potential of your existing clothes and learning new styling techniques.

III. The Wardrobe Audit Process:

A Wardrobe Audit typically involves the following steps:

A) Style Assessment and Wardrobe Consultation:

• An evaluation of your wardrobe challenges, personal style, and outfit goals.
• Discuss your challenges, preferences, and desired outcomes from the experience.
• Setting expectations and creating a customised plan for the audit process which might include a couple of sessions if you have a large closet.

B) Decluttering and Sorting Your Wardrobe:

• Review each item in your wardrobe and make decisions about what to keep, donate, or sell. We log each item on the Wardrobe Worksheet.
• Consider factors such as fit, condition, versatility, and personal attachment.
• Organise items into categories and identify any gaps or duplicated pieces.

C) Closet Organisation and Optimisation:

• We reorganise your wardrobe to maximise visibility, accessibility, and functionality.
• We look at possible storage solutions to suit your specific needs and space.
• Develop a seasonal wardrobe rotation schedule and look at what can be put into ‘seasonal storage’.

D) Outfit Creation (time permitting)

• Part of the fun of auditing a large wardrobe comes after clearing the clutter – rediscovering items you’d forgotten about but love, and getting tips on how to style them.
• The try-on part of an audit can result in some interesting outfit combinations being explored.
• The review and try-on of each item will highlight if the style is right for your body shape too. This is usually done separately (but there can be an overlap) where the focus is crafting an intentional wardrobe, using what you have 9aps identifying the gaps) during a Wardrobe Edit & Styling session.

IV. Benefits of a Wardrobe Audit:

A Wardrobe Audit offers numerous advantages that can transform your relationship with your clothes:

Wardrobe Clarity and Confidence:

• You will gain a better understanding of your shopping habits, style choices and if these suit your lifestyle. 
• Audits highlight the key items that work for your personal style, body shape, and overall lifestyle – and what truly represents you in the present day.

Knowing what works gives you confidence in your outfit choices and knowing how to style your existing pieces.  No price can be put on ‘eliminating decision fatigue’ and saving time in the morning by having a curated collection. 

Streamlined and Sustainable Wardrobe:

• Building an intentional and sustainable wardrobe that aligns with your values is key. 
• Setting boundaries and being intentional with future purchases can help you avoid an overflowing wardrobe in the future. 
• Reducing clutter and creating space for items you truly love and wear not open helps with space, but your mental health (clutter = stress). Hi, my boy
• Making informed shopping decisions and avoiding unnecessary purchases.

I always recommend working on your personal style and really defining your look. If you need support with this you can work with me to create personal style mood boards.

Unleashing Style Creativity:

• Clearing the clutter helps you see the styling potential of your existing wardrobe. 
• Learn some new styling tips and tricks, and discover versatile ways to wear your clothes
• Experiment with different combinations and have fun exploring the full potential of your wardrobe

Wardrobe Audits can feel quite intense.  The reward really comes when you start to see the potential you already have hanging in your wardrobe. Ironically, the process of illuminating clothes that don’t work can help you see more styling opportunities from the clothes that do

V. Cons of a Wardrobe Audit:

While a Wardrobe Audit offers numerous benefits, it’s important to consider the potential challenges and drawbacks:

1. Time and effort required for a thorough audit:
2. The potential for stress and anxiety
3. The rise of emotional attachment issues due to the sentimental value of items:

Re-cap on the Benefits of a Wardrobe Audit

A Wardrobe Audit offers insight into your shopping, hoarding, and storage challenges. The audit will reveal your shopping habits and behaviour and enable you to identify where you can make conscious changes. 

By addressing the challenges of an overflowing closet, lack of personal style clarity, and storage issues, a Wardrobe Audit helps you create a streamlined, sustainable, and confidence-boosting collection of clothes. 

Take the first step towards unlocking your wardrobe’s potential and falling in love with your clothes again. 

Investing time and energy into a wardrobe audit results in a truly transformative experience.  By decluttering, organising, and refining your wardrobe you can destress and look forward to opening your wardrobe doors to get dressed each morning. 

I usually recommend that my clients start the wardrobe audit themselves and save themselves some money – however if you just need some tough love and ‘direct guidance’ to get the job done, you might be better off booking in for professional help!

Let me know in the comments if you’ve been struggling with wardrobe overwhelm.  I’ll reply with some useful tips on how to ease yourself into the process of an audit.