Spring cleaning and saying goodbye to long-beloved clothes has always been tough for me, which is why I finally decided to enlist a little help.
I’ve always aspired to be like Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City — hence why I’m a writer — someone with an expansive collection of clothes and shoes who somehow makes it all work in a New York City apartment with the help of her oven (iykyk). And while I do work in publishing, my life is not a TV show (except for my cameos on the PEOPLE app’s new show, The Fourth Wall, which you’re all watching, right?).
When I got to the point where I couldn’t find anything in my closet because it was too crowded, and I couldn’t close my drawers because they were overflowing, I knew I needed a intervention, so I turned to a stylist who could help me live bigger with a smaller wardrobe. Coco Schiffer, who specializes in capsule wardrobes, was the right person for the job.
While she claimed to have seen it all, I couldn’t help but notice the shock on her face when she realized just how much she was dealing with. Luckily, she was up for the task.
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We started with my greatest fear: taking out all of my bottoms — skirts, slacks, jeans, shorts, etc. — and trying everything on. There was a lot of sweating and a lot of saying “Are you sure?” or “Let me explain why this works” when Coco told me to get rid of something. But somehow, we downsized my collection. Coco also taught me which shapes of bottoms and skirts work best for my body type, and how to pair them with tops and accessories that actually flatter me.
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Next, it was time to tackle my shirts and dresses, which take up the bulk of my closet. I learned quickly that it’s never a good idea to wash and dry a button-down poplin shirt, and that just because you loved a dress once doesn’t mean you have to keep it until it falls apart. Slowly, the “donate” pile grew larger and larger until I realized: we had eliminated half of my wardrobe.
Lizzie Hyman
Lizzie Hyman
Reflecting on the clothes I said goodbye to, I can’t think of more than three items I’ll truly miss. Maybe it’s because college was the best four years of my life and the “going-out tops” stuffed in my drawer were the last remnants of that time, or maybe it was the sweater from my childhood best friend that felt too sentimental to part with, but I realized so much of my closet had less to do with fashion and more to do with memories.
After letting go of six boxes (!) full of clothes, I took a page out of Coco’s book and embraced the “less is more” mentality, choosing to buy staple pieces rather than chasing trends.
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To help, Coco created a personalized style guide just for me, with curated recommendations for jeans, tops, skirts, shoes and accessories that both flatter me and fill in the gaps we uncovered. She also makes a generalized “super guide” for everyone: a 50+ page breakdown of the “best of the best” in every category.
Lizzie Hyman
Coco Schiffer
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When I asked Coco for her best advice for people like me who don’t know where to begin, she said, “I think the way to start is by looking in your closet and recognizing what you don’t have — not the trendy jeans, but the quality pieces that make a wardrobe you can wear season after season.” Her top five essentials? “White t-shirt, blue jeans, black trousers, black blazer and a pair of loafers.”
Now, as I glance at my respectably sized closet and start collecting the timeless pieces I’d always overlooked, I finally understand that modifying your wardrobe is really about curating your identity, and learning to let go is the first step toward dressing like the person you’re becoming.
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