How to Detox Your Wardrobe

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With Dry January out of the way and your body akin to a temple (right?), February is the perfect time to go ahead and detox your wardrobe.

Why not spend some time this month looking at what you have, and what you might need, and to get really organised so you look fresh and polished from now right through to the summer.

Set aside a morning or afternoon when you can turn the phone off and just get on with the job in hand! Put it in your diary and stick to it.

Ready? Let’s go.

The six-month rule
If you haven’t worn something in your wardrobe in the past six months, the chances are, you won’t wear it again. This is a time to be honest and ruthless so as you go through your clothes, make three piles – keep, sell, and give away. Those bright pink skinny jeans, the fluffy bomber jacket and those lime green cowboy boots didn’t work for a reason, so don’t hang onto them just incase.

Quality over quantity
You might feel good knowing your wardrobe is bursting open with hundreds of items, but how many do you actually wear and really like? You might not believe us, but having 30 pieces you really love to wear will make your clothes work so much better for you. By doing this you can also see what is missing and what you need to buy, if anything.

It’s a matter of jeans
OK, how many pairs of jeans do you have in your wardrobe? 5, 10, 15…..more???? Jeans are a staple but one that is hard to crack. They need to be the right length, colour, shape, style and only then are they perfect. Cropped jeans elongate legs and there is nothing like a flash of ankle, mid-risers are hip flatterers and skinnies work on so many levels. See which ones fit, get rid of the ones that don’t, and buy a couple of new pairs that make you look, and feel, amazing.

Jump to it
Come rain or shine, winter or spring, fine knits in black, grey and navy are essentials, end of. They are the most versatile items in your wardrobe, so it pays to invest in the best you can afford. They can be worn with tailored trousers for a smart casual look, match them with those perfect jeans you have found, or pop over a dress and you look as if you have pulled a new skirt out of the wardrobe!

Stripes
Whether you are 13, 30 or 83, a long-sleeved Breton t-shirt will always be your fashion friend. They are brilliant to wear with trainers and jeans on the school run or pop under a jacket and you have a more tailored look that will work well for a meeting with clients or lunch with friends.

Go by the seasons
When you are organising your wardrobe, do it by the seasons. As we are in the middle of winter, you can pack away bikinis, kaftans, flip flops and straw hats – wrap them in tissue paper with moth balls, and store away until the snow has thawed and spring is in the air. You want everything else, to be visible so you can grab, and go.

Be an outfit builder
If you want the clothes you have kept to really work for you, create three outfits from each item you have kept. For example, that long-sleeved floral maxi dress can be worn alone, add a jumper and boots and you have a daytime staple, and if you layer with a fine knit and fake fur gillet, you have a boho look that Sienna Millar would be proud to be seen in.

Fold or hang?
If you want them to keep their shape, always fold knits, t-shirts and jeans. You can either layer them in a chest of drawers or get storage accessories that hang in your wardrobe. Trousers and skirts can be hung on clip hangers and for dresses, go for slim hangers. The golden rule with hanging is that you should be able to fit two fingers between each hanger, and this way your clothes don’t get crushed or lost in a blur of fabric.

Sort it out
If you have taken the time to find the clothes that work for you, it is worth sorting them out in a way that works too. Hang dresses, jackets and shirts together, and then have subcategories of work, home, gym, out-out and if you want to go one step further, complete with a spot of colour coordination.

So, now you know what you have to wear, you just need to fill your diary with events to go to.

Team Pure Beauty

Distract Yourself During Dry January!

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adult college, ageing, bath, body, Christmas, conditioning, cookery, December, dry January, excess, excesses, face mask, January, language, languages, learn, learning, mind, nail, nails, process, relaxing, rest, skill, sleep, treatment

Photo by Yuri Efremov on Unsplash

January is here and after the excesses of last month, many of us are opting for a dry January (i.e. no alcohol!) to try to give our bodies as chance to recover and start the new year off right. However, for some of us, a glass of wine in the evenings is our main way to wind down after a long day, so what do we do to relax and distract ourselves during dry January? We’ve got five ideas:

Get a Hobby

January is a great time to start a new hobby; it’s miserable outside anyway, so unless your hobby is gardening, it’s a great excuse to stay indoors! It’s a known fact that mental stimulation helps to keep your brain active and slows down the ageing process, even helping to halt the onset of Alzheimer’s, so a hobby will benefit both your mind and your body.

Get Some Extra Sleep!

So many of us stroll through life feeling totally fatigued, yet when it comes to it, we stay up to watch just one more episode of whatever show we’re into at the time instead of getting some sleep. Allowing yourself to get regular early nights will not only have massively positive effects on your body and its ability to heal itself, it’s great for your mental health too, especially when you wake up feeling rested.

Learn a Skill

Is there something you’ve always wanted to learn? A new language? A new style of cooking? January is a great time to take the bull by the horns and learn a new skill, so why not take a look at what your local adult college has to offer?

Pamper Yourself

Cold nights, long evenings spent at home – has there ever been a better time to pamper yourself a little? Instead of reaching for a glass of wine, have a relaxing bath, use a face mask, and treat yourself to a conditioning nail treatment. Indulge yourself at least once a week and your stress levels, as well as your body, will thank you for it!

Do Some Reading

So many of us have fallen into the pattern of work, home for dinner, kids bedtime routine, collapse on the sofa to watch the telly or stare at your phone screen and we then say “I never have time to read a book”. Often, finding time is just about having a re-shuffle, and if you really want to fine the time, you’ll put down the smartphone or switch off the TV!