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WARDROBE WAKEUP CALL
Your own personal Gallery Opening

It's hot. Really, really hot. And this leads us to a quandary: do you take your beautiful self outside in the ghastly heat and (ulp!) perspire in your linen finest, or do you huddle in the climate-controlled comfort of your crib/office/car/favorite shopping milieu and waste this gorgeous summer day so you can remain your cool, collected self?

If you're tired of the humidity-induced frizzies, here's an indoor project to legitimize your indoor exile (I can just hear my mother: "It's a beautiful sunny day—go outside! You'll regret this in February, you know…"): Closet Overhaul. I'm not talking about Stacy-and-Clinton, dress-you-down-in-front-of-millions, dumpster-filling overhaul, but a sensible, thoughtful, and rational assessment of what's what in that dark and daunting pit you call a wardrobe. What, after all, is in there? How can you possibly be expected to assemble a devastating ensemble in the bleary-eyed hours before eight AM when things keep sliding off the hangers and draping themselves over your mismatched shoes on the floor? And which wardrobe staples are missing from your inventory, to help you look smashing in seconds without any thought at all?

What you really need, my kumquats, is infrastructure. The backbone of your wardrobe is your display space, as any museum curator will tell you, and how can you admire or access it if you can't see it? Follow the roadmap below and design your dream gallery (why else do the designers call it a collection?).

RACKS:

Begin at the beginning: measure your space (and do consider turning that underused guest bedroom into the dressing room of your dreams!) and count your clothes to determine how much space you need. Do you have full-length dresses or eveningwear that needs more hanging space, or can you double your storage with half-height hanger bars? Do you store t-shirts, folded jeans (and if you haven't yet picked up a pair of dark wash or black jeans, do so immediately because they are one of this fall's hottest items!) and sweaters on shelves? Are your beloved shoes on racks, on the back of the closet door, or stacked in boxes? Do you have an extensive range of handbags to accommodate? Based on these answers, troll around for a great system that will maximize your efficiency; there are options for all kinds of budgets. And if you have no personal planning skills (guilty!), consider calling a professional or consulting an online customizer.

CONTAINERS:

Baskets on shelves or in cubbies look lovely, and are all the organizing rage (evidence every TV show about clutter cleaning), but they really take up a lot of extra space and aren't the easiest way to access your clothes. Consider square boxes that use every inch of the shelf and are clear plastic to let you see what's inside; if they have lids, they'll keep the dust out, too, and you can rotate them seasonally from low shelves to high without having to juggle different boxes. These are ideal for those gorgeous cashmere sweaters, darling knit tops and your fabulous swimwear collection.

As much as I love the appearance of shoeboxes stacked neatly in grids—and with labels or photos on the outside to easily differentiate between saucy slingbacks, posh platform pumps and fabulous flats (which I do myself and for which I have been sorely mocked as an OCD footwear freak)—they do take up a lot of space. Try stacking shoe racks or gridded cubbies to keep your kicks in line. You can even hang a pocketed bag over the door to gain more space. If you have the space, however, these foldable stacking shoe storage boxes are fabulous!

If you have more shoes or more folded clothing than hanging, consider adding hanging shelves for vertical storage; they put your favorites right up there where you can see 'em, and keep the floor clear for dust bunny removal (if you're that sort of person).

HANGERS:

This is almost as important a decision (with respect to your wardrobe) as what you use to get to work every day: it's transportation for your threads. While the dry cleaner does hand out all those free hangers every time you pick up, they're just like grocery bags for your food: for portage home ONLY, not for storage. They'll ruin the lines of an über-chic jacket right quick, and the sticky stuff they put on the cardboard tube under your pants will leave a nasty stripe that collects lint if you leave those fabulous new wide-leg trousers on there too long. Invest in some quality carriers, all the same sort to maximize ease of slide and visibility of garments. Wood or plastic is a personal choice, but uniformity is the key. Hanging suits together on jacket/clip combo hangers will save space, but you may forget that the blue pinstripe pants go really great with that flowered blouse and cute jacket if they're hiding under the suit jacket all the time. Padded fabric hangers pamper delicate spaghetti straps, and any hanger with fabric or rubber will keep wide-necked or strappy garments from sliding ungracefully to the floor. Trousers should be folded and hung over or clipped at the waistband, but hang them all the same. Hang like items together: blouses and shirts, then skirts, then pants and long dresses. Not only will this help you put outfits together, but it will create a predictable space underneath the clothing rack, based on hem length, that will accommodate shoe racks, stacking shelves, or a hamper for laundry.

OFF-SEASON:

Never. Store. Garments. In. Plastic. Once you've dry-cleaned your clothes at the end of the season (What? You haven't? Well, get crackin'.), take them OUT of the dry-cleaning bag and put them together in a vinyl-and-canvas or all-canvas hanging bag for an out-of-circulation closet elsewhere. Sweaters should be cleaned and folded neatly (with tissue, if you're really picky [like me]) and packed into vinyl or canvas boxes for top-of-closet shelves or under-bed; add lavender or cedar sachets to keep the bugs away ( so much sexier next fall than smelling like mothballs).

ACCESSORIES:

I could go on all day about the various accessory racks, boxes, dividers, and drawers that you can find to house scarves, belts, jewelry, and more, but what you select is completely dependent on what you have and how much room you can devote to these items. (She She Me recently admitted to upsizing her jewelry box to accomodate all the lovely little necklaces and bracelets, earrings and rings that she has acquired since discovering her favorite new online boutiques!) The good news is that because they're mostly small, you can divide your stacks and tuck them into the littlest spaces that remain in your gallery. Just make sure they're accessible and well-lit, so you can get at them when you need to frost the sartorial cupcake you've just created.

Take heart, take stock, and then take off—it's summer, for heaven's sake, and you can always cool off in your nearest watering hole; what did you buy that beautiful bikini for, anyway?

Stay cool,

Shop Girl

As seen in the Life & Style Magazine, on Fox News and NBC!

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