I’m very eager for spring.
So far this year, I’ve made it a real focus to nurture myself — physically, emotionally, creatively — and bit by bit feel like the rose bushes that are blossoming on my street this week are synced with my own rhythm. We’re all looking for a sense of renewal, freshness, aliveness… I’m constantly checking what time the sun will set, how many more days until the clocks move forward again.
This month is all about facing forward and creating anticipation. While the runways have been focused on the second half of the year, fashion month comes to stoke the dying embers of winter and give us something to rave about and emulate in the months that follow.
It has brought back last year’s memories of working the Paris FW showroom for my last job, meeting with buyers from premium retailers in various regions around the world. I’d watch them sip coffee as they did a once-over on our collection, then help the fit model try on the garments they pulled off the racks (either entire outfits or their chosen shirt + a skirt we knew would pair well, for example). Sometimes it would be three pieces, sometimes half the collection, which I remember the Korean clientele in particular had a ball doing the latter.
I loved learning about what ‘works’ or doesn’t for their customer base, which items were clear favorites and who made the most interesting curations. We had arranged the collection in a way that mirrored our creative director’s look book (aka, how to style the collection), putting a skirt with coordinating jackets and shirts on either side of it and color coding throughout the racks so that there was a key thematic presence. The buyers, however, chose their own adventure as to whether the pieces they chose followed suit to the style of the brand or to their own taste and marketing value. This could create a whole other slew of ideas for the clothing.
Moving back to present tense, it took me a year to understand how valuable this arrangement could be for my closet. My relatively rigid organization of ROYGBIV, then brown-white-grey-black, which then fell into short to long sleeve within each color, began to feel tired. I even took the note from some TikTokers to put my most-worn items to the front, to make them easier to grab and help me concentrate on what I wear less often, but this just made me feel disappointed (and borderline hatred) at the back half of my wardrobe.
It also has never been as conducive to new ideas as I, personally, need in my style. As such, I have decided to be my own ‘buyer’, and rearranged my closet so that my ideal outfit formulas and combinations are clearly displayed. Now, rather than clearing out sections with each season, I’m hoping the habit shifts to one that instead ‘designs’ a new collection with the existing items.
Here are the details:
I took everything out of the closet. It would have been hard to keep track of everything otherwise.
As mentioned above, I started with four pieces. This was pretty intuitive for me, though as I moved along I began to reference my Pinterest and screenshots from my ‘style’ folder in Photos to figure out what I’m trying to accomplish with my personal style this season.
I then moved to three or four other key combinations with about four to five garments in each. What I will mention here is I don’t have very many pants & skirts hanging up in my closet, so they are few and far between.
Once these core formulas were up and running, I then took one or two pieces at a time and brought them in. For the most part, I tried not to be too repetitive (all black, or all button ups, etc) because I knew most things didn’t have a fixed placement or finite outfit opportunities.
After everything was back in the closet, I scanned from L to R and occasionally moved an article of clothing up or down, based on a new idea. I also tried putting clothes in a riskier setting so it would force me to try it — and potentially spur other style choices I haven’t tried before.
It’s only been a few days since making this change so I have yet to see how it will impact my creativity in the long run. Not to mention, we had a cold front this week that pretty much called me stupid for having any wishful thinking about spring. Hate that!! One thing I’ve already notice shift is how I feel when I open my wardrobe. It used to be a sense of satisfaction that everything had its place and my brain could easily pick out where things were; now that things have been mixed up, it may feel ‘messier’ in my mind but it has been joined with excitement for potential. It’s exactly what I need right now.
Signing off with something cute I saw on TikTok that apparently people used to write in each other’s yearbooks (much better than my HAGS)…
2 good 2 be 4gotten!!
Ryann x
your closet is so aesthetically pleasing, this is such a smart idea!
That red checkered sweater vest is so cute!