Although the meteorologists warn that the good weather will still appear again, the cold has arrived this week in Aragonese lands almost suddenly. With him, those outfits that have one foot in the summer and another in the new season already abound and that make one leave the house with 20 layers and return with them hanging from the arm. But halftime, especially in these parts, lasts a sigh, and with the Pilar bridge just around the corner, it's time to start thinking about replacing the short sleeve with the coat.
Like going back to the gym or getting up early, the change of wardrobe each season, especially the one facing bad weather, is synonymous with enormous laziness.
Beyond practical issues, facing a pile of clothes to order hides a great emotional component. It can generate from anguish for not knowing what to do with it to bad conscience for having bought so many things that we now feel we do not need. Those clothes with a musty smell are often a reminder of how much we have gained weight or of that bad day that we thought another shirt would solve for us.
The clothes we store say a lot about our personality and our way of being in the world: what our tastes are, what expectations we have, what our true lifestyle is or how we manage compulsion or frustration.
It may seem exaggerated to some, but that is the experience of the stylist and consultant Paula Amoretti, who has among her portfolio of services that of making 'style therapies' with which she helps her clients to organize their wardrobes or choose clothes according to their true needs, material and, eye, spiritual.
For her, the task of changing the wardrobe each season can be greatly improved if tricks are applied not only in the field of order -"not everything is Mary Kondo", she says-, but also trying to become aware of ourselves and our needs. There are ten tricks designed for a wide spectrum of the public, "that is, those who do not enjoy a dressing room, because most of us have, at best, a built-in wardrobe," says Amoretti.
1. Does what you have represent you?
The change of wardrobe can be a good opportunity to get to know oneself, something that happens by assuming the lifestyle that one leads. In this sense, Paula Amoretti recommends making an act of conscience about whether the clothes that we are going to put in the wardrobe for the new season really speak of us at that moment, if it responds to the most common activities we do or even to our general states of cheer up. "Does it put you in a good mood or in a bad mood to see those clothes hanging there? Does it talk about you?" Amoretti suggests as key questions to ask yourself. "Getting to know each one's style is fundamental," she defends.
Oliver Shower
2. How to organize the closet to see all the clothes at a glance
Having a dressing room is not within everyone's reach, so most of them have a wardrobe with a hanging area, shelves and drawers that, over time, end up becoming too small. This is when one of the most common problems arises: there are clothes that we end up not wearing because we simply do not see them. Or we want to resort to something in particular and there is no way to find it among cramped clothes or hangers with three overlapping garments.
Paula Amoretti suggests solutions. The first is dividing the closet into two parts: the everyday clothes and what she calls 'the treasures'.
Paula explains that one must choose "when you want to shine." That is, there are days when you feel like getting ready more than others. In this sense, Ella Amoretti suggests grouping in the wardrobe the garments that are considered more of a daily basis, those that the force of facts tells us that we resort to more regularly. Elsewhere, we collect the ones we use the least. We are not talking about party clothes or for special occasions, but about those that, simply, we use more from time to time.
3. Change the bottom of the wardrobe for the wardrobe of treasures
"There is a lot of talk about the bottom of the closet, but I prefer to talk about the closet of treasures," says Paula. The daily clothes that she defends are not in a certain way, but "the one that each one wears the most". There are people who don't wear a white shirt in life. So why have it? If at any time you feel like something more special, you go to that area "of the treasures", where one can feel, says Paula, "that you are going shopping in your own closet". From a practical point of view, Amoretti is clear: "The fewer garments you have on display, the less they will wrinkle and the more times you will wear each one of them."
4. Criteria for selection: only the right size
In this sense, Amoretti is exhaustive: "Set aside and discard the clothes that are not your size; that jeans that you reserve to go out will only remind you that you have not lost weight as you thought. Far from generating illusion, what it will cause is frustration". She the same she suggests her with garments that are large, waiting for an arrangement.
5. Do you doubt whether to keep it or not? Get him out of your field of vision
Amoretti is aware of how difficult it is to get rid of certain garments. Either because you really don't know if you're going to wear them or not, or because, after all, admitting that you're not going to wear something is admitting failure or compulsive behavior. "Sometimes a garment reminds us of how we felt when we bought it...and we may not like it." For this reason, Paula recommends removing these garments that are 'doubtful' out of our field of vision. "Albeit temporarily," explains the stylist. "We can put them on a donkey if we have one or on a separate chair, in a room that we use less or where we keep clothes from other seasons, although in this case closer at hand." If we miss them, we must 'pardon them', although Amoretti assures that this "almost never happens".
6. In the case of taking trends into account, these are
In recent years, each season proposes more trends and many of them do not last even two months. In general terms, Paula stresses that the common thread of the new season is going to be the end of the pandemic. That is to say, little by little the concepts of comfort, home and introspection will be left behind to bet on just the opposite: "Fun and games". "It's going to be a time to test, to break the rules, to rethink axioms of the world of style," says Paula. In this sense, Amoretti opts for light-colored garments precisely for the season in which, commonly, it is usual to lean towards dark or muted colors. Cream-colored trousers, a trench coat in soft tones or a white blazer are good bets for fall 2021. The 'color block' technique is a good tool for breaking the mold: "It's about combining colors instead of patterns, but in this case trying to take a bit of risk, for example, mixing orange and green or tones that have always been said not to match: why not mix different shades of green, pink with red, black with navy blue? Finally, Amoretti says that shiny fabrics, such as lurex or sequins, are going to be worn "It depends on the job we have, even for daily life."
7. Only clothing in good condition.
Another 'excuse' to store clothes that we will never wear is to entrust them to an eventual "fix". Amoretti only recommends storing garments that are in good condition. "I'm talking about that button that fell off, or that zipper, or that ripped seam: don't put those clothes back in the closet until you've fixed them."
8. Comfort: a priority.
In this aspect, Paula recommends "no mercy": if the garment is not comfortable, leave it. No itchy fabrics or clothes that pull or squeeze, even if it's our size. If they were bought by mistake or they have outgrown us, all that remains is to accept it and say goodbye to them.
9. All hangers alike
For Paula Amoretti this trick is as simple as it is effective. "The best thing is to choose the hanger that each one likes the most, although for me the best ones are the velvet ones, to begin with because three of them occupy as much as one of wood." In addition, they weigh little and the clothes do not slip. There is one more advantage: "If all the hangers are the same, the overall appearance of the clothes is much better, you will feel that you are in a store."
10. And what to do with leftover clothes?
The options today are becoming more and more numerous. In Aragón, you can donate it to NGOs or take it to recycling bins. Large chains like Inditex or H&M also offer clothing collection services in exchange for small incentives. There is also the possibility of having parties with friends to exchange clothes or attend meetings for this purpose, such as those organized by La Modateca in Zaragoza, for example.
