Fashion Over 50: Thinking Kimonos and Closets

The weather is heating up in South Texas, and kimonos are one of my go to pieces especially for hot weather  I recently found this one at one of my favorite boutiques, Andie & Barbara in San Antonio…and it was on clearance…score!  The tank I am wearing is a light brown Chicos Travelers’s tank because the same brown is subtle in the print of the wrap.  My denim are my favorite Soft Surroundings Metro Leggings….which are really just skinny jeans. Besides wearing kimonos, something else I do when the seasons change is clean and re-organize my closet.  For the last five years, my closet has been orgainzed into colors…all like minded colors hanging together…and then a prints section.  But what I discovered is that I am usally looking for specific brands… asking where is that Chicos jacket, where are those Soft Surrounding’s pants…etcl.  So, when I re-organized the closet recently, I hung my clothes in families!  After two weeks, I am loving it.  I can find things so much easier.  Most of my wardrobe is in five major families…then there is a miscellaneous section.  So far, it works great..so much better than the black section, the white section, the blue section, etc. etc.  I also like it better than the pants section, the jacket section, the top section…I will let you know if my love of this pattern continues.

Would anyone else like to share your closet organization secrets?  Please share and then……………….

KEEP SMILING!!

29 Comments

  1. What a great idea! While that is NOT the way my thought process works when thinking of an outfit, it is your’s and you organized your closet to work for YOU…it makes perfect sense! I will have to give some thought as to what I might consider doing to improve in that area….one thing I have noticed is that when all my black items are together, they tend to blend into one large “black hole”, making it impossible to distinguish an individual piece without actually laying my hands on it. Other than that, I have to say that organizing by type of garment, then within that category, by color, has worked out fairly well for me.

  2. What a lovely outfit and I bet the kimono is cool to wear too.
    I like your new way of organising but it wouldn’t work for me as I buy and have many brands.
    My wardrobe(closet) in our spare room has my coats,jackets and dresses.In my bedroom wardrobe, I have short sleeved tops sorted into colours,then longer sleeved tops sorted into colours,skirts,then pants and jeans sorted into colours.It works most of the time but I might play around with it soon.I have my shoes sorted into casual,sandals,trainers/runners,heels and fancy shoes for going out or special occasions.I really need to sort my handbags out though.

  3. That is what was happending to me, Deborah! Describing it as a black hole is perfect! This is worrking so much better. Thanks

  4. I love to hear how different people make it work. Thanks for sharing Julie! I find I start my day with less stress if my closet is easier to navigate.

  5. I’ll be giving this some thought as I change over my closet (hopefully can do this soon, but snow predicted this week.) Right now I’m organized by type (i.e., pants, skirts, dresses, tops, jackets) and then further by color. It has worked for me. In the spring and summer my colors are much lighter and more varied, so while the “type” organizing works, the color does not! I don’t think I have enough of one specific brand to do it that way, but this gives me something to think about, how I might do it differently. I also further break down by “casual” and “work”, but hopefully that will soon be coming to an end too! Lately, my focus has been on purging. There is just too much stuff, and while I like the things I have, there are too many of them to be practical and not enough places to wear it all. Ruthless purging has been going on!

  6. This subject is near and dear to my heart, because i have an extra bedroom (empty nester) that i want to convert to my closet. i have pants in my bedroom closet, lingerie/tees in a dresser draw; i have shoes in another room and the bulk of my clothes are downstairs on a rack on the wall in our “laundry” room. Putting together 1 outfit is an adventure. Any suggestions on where to start in converting a small bedroom with a closet into a useable closet for ALL my clothes? I’d appreciate any help. Thank you

  7. I have my closet grouped by colors as well. I have multiple pairs of black and navy pants and it was hard to find the pair I wanted. Yes, I distinguish among them, full length, ankle length, crop and more categories. I finally put a label on each at the top of the hangar. I use a piece light cardboard with a hole punched in the end. I then label by brand or category so I can tell at a glance which pair is which. P.S. I know I’m lucky to have this many pairs of similar wardrobe pieces.

  8. I love reading about closet organization! Thank you for inspiring me!
    I recently purged my old clothing and replaced them all my hangers with the velvet kind that really keeps my clothes hanging neatly and my clothes are no longer disheveled or fall off the hanger . Last week I invested in 2 more shoes racks that I got at Lowes and for the first time in YEARS there are no shoes cluttering the floor in my closet! It feels so good to walk into a clean organized closet! And I love your kimono BTW!!

  9. Here goes–my closet is organized by type, then by color and on tops and pants by length within the colors. So the pants section is organized by color and then length within the color. Jackets by color, dresses by color, sweaters by color, tops by color and then sleeve length etc. I also have outfits put together on the same hanger. I’m a busy woman and not a morning person. Don’t judge 🙂

  10. I am looking forward to a closet “re-do” myself – my daughter is getting married in June and will be taking all her stuff! She currently has her bedroom closet, her brother’s bedroom closet (he married&moved out 10 years ago) and all the dresser drawers in both rooms as well as random piles in the extra bedroom. Now of course I love my daughter very much and will miss her dearly – but looking forward to this very much. My husband always complains about my stuff migrating over to his side, so this will work for both of us. Great post, Pam! 🙂

  11. You look darling! I am in the process of reorganizing morning closet now and you have given me some things to think about!

  12. Recently, I recruited my teen daughter, to help me style a few outfits. Using what I had, I discovered many forgotten accessories. We styled three or four COMPLETE spring outfits. Mostly, it was just plain FUN! On my lazy days, the “go to” outfits were easy. I was surprised at how many fall accessories I have. Putting spring and summer outfits together has always challenged me. An addition of statement necklaces, scarves and ruanas seems to help.

  13. My focus has also been on purging lately…it feels good, doesn’t it? Thanks Karen…

  14. Wow…I would love to have this challenge. How exciting to have a complete room to deal with as a closet. I think I would want to line two walls with racks for clothing and have one wall with a full length mirror and eith vanity or table….to hold fresh flowers and scents and perhaps hair needs. I would use the small closet for shoes and accessories. And I would hang a chandelier and place a small rug in the middle of room…perhaps even a small chair. Is that too frivilous? Sounds fun….

  15. I know how you feel…I miss all my children and love them tons…but the extra space to play with has been nice!

  16. I love to find accessories I have not worn in awhile…it is like a treasure hunt! Thanks Linda!

  17. Hope the thinking helps! I do like my new plan so far! Within each family, I have separated pieces into categories.

  18. In a related vein, I do not stress out about what to wear in the morning any more. Instead, when I get home at the end of the day, I either hang what I wore or put it in the basket for washing. Since I’m in the closet anyway, I decide what I’m wearing the next morning and do whatever needs to be done … steaming, pulling out scarf, jewelry and shoes. It completely takes away that panicked, nothing-to-wear, where-are-my-red-earrings feeling that makes for a nasty start to any day. And since I’m just home and still in work mode, I’m less likely to forget a meeting or some work occasion that needs a more specific look. Simple, but game changing!

  19. Great ideas! I especially like how to label all those pants so you can quickly see which style they are. I have a spare room but i share it with a desktop computer my husband uses so not quite my fantasy room yet but thanks for the ideas Pam! I do find I am running between the two rooms a bit too much but I guess I shouldn’t complain!

  20. p.s.Love the kimona. At the moment I can’t remember what warmth is but when I feel it again i will wear mine too!

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