Why You Can’t Find Anything To Wear In Your Closet

Here’s why you can’t find anything to wear in your closet and how to declutter and rebuild your wardrobe with classic staples.

How many times have you walked into your closet, stared blankly, sifted through the row of clothes, tried on four different outfits, and angrily proclaimed, “I have nothing to wear!”? More than once? Of course. More than twenty times? Probably.

Isn’t it funny how we pile in a ton of crap in there but still can’t find one outfit to wear to the grocery store? By the time you do find something that looks halfway decent, you’re already 30 minutes late. And at that point, you don’t even want to go out anymore. Today let’s break down why you can’t find anything to wear and how to fix that problem once and for all.

Why You Can’t Find Anything To Wear

• You Have Too Much
• You Don’t Have Basics
• You Don’t Shop With A Purpose
• Your Clothes Are Too Trendy
• You Shop The Clearance Rack

Any of those hold true? Chill out, you don’t have to ditch everything you own and max out your credit card to start over again. But by doing at least one of these wardrobe fixes, you can cut your closet contemplation time in half. 

How To Fix The Problem

Downsize

Start by downsizing your wardrobe. In all honesty, you know you’ve got stuff to wear. You just have too many options. If you had less items in the first place, you’d be forced to get creative and mix things up a little. Plus you have less selections so you’ll be able to narrow it down way faster.

Acquire The Basics

That eclectic wardrobe you’re rocking right now is totally fine, but a lot of those pieces can only be worn with one or two other items in order to look right. By picking up the basics like a white layering tee, a solid gray blazer, a plain black belt, a light camel colored bootie, and a versatile pair of jeans, you can mix and match your fun stuff with a ton of different combos. This article from Stitchfix breaks down the 12 basics you absolutely need.

Discipline Yourself When Shopping

This one is a little harder than just buying a white shirt and donating some clothes. This one takes willpower. Just because you find something super cheap while you’re out doesn’t mean you need to bring it home. And just because you saw an outfit on Pinterest doesn’t mean you need to rush out and buy it that same day.

By disciplining yourself to avoid impulse shopping, your closet won’t end up out of control again. Be extra careful with clearance items, and remember, they’re on clearance because people didn’t like them enough to buy them at full price…

Be extra careful with clearance items, and remember, they’re on clearance because people didn’t like them enough to buy at full price…

Lela Burris, Organized-ish

Store Away Out Of Season Items

Another problem that costs you time while choosing your #OOTD is you’re bombarded with stuff you can’t even wear right now. You’ve got tank tops and fur-lined coats sharing a space.

Unless you live in some crazy unicorn part of the country the experiences both ends of the weather spectrum daily, you don’t need multi-season pieces mingling with each other.

Only keep in-season items in your closet, and store the rest away somewhere else. You can keep clothing you can’t wear right now in weather-proof totes in the garage, in Space Bags under the bed, or even in a storage ottoman if you’re living in a small space. As long as you can get them out of sight, your dressing sessions will be so much faster.

Don’t Do Trends

How many times have you scooped up that super trendy piece of clothing, only to wear it once before it’s not a thing anymore? Then it just hangs in your closet, because you know someday it’s going to come back. Here’s the deal. A lot of trends never come back. And if they do, it’s usually 20+ years later.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not hanging onto something for two decades just in case it’s popular again. I don’t have room for that kind of nonsense in my small walk-in closet.

By avoiding trends, you’ll save yourself a lot of money, create your own personal brand, stand out above the sea of people who are trying to just fit in, and have a wardrobe that’s always in style. Not to mention you’ll look classy as hell all the time. A capsule wardrobe is always “in” and never goes “out.” By adopting that mindset, you’ll quit wasting your paychecks trying to keep up with the Kar…ummm…Jones’s.

What’s Holding You Back?

I’d love to hear what your main reasons for never being able to find something to wear in your own closet. Drop a comment at the bottom of the post and share your experiences, your struggles, or even a tip on what works for you.

Give Your Closet A Detox

Ready to get started creating a closet that actually works for you? Awesome. The Organized-ish Wardrobe Planner helps you declutter your existing clothing collection, build up your basics, and create a wardrobe that will last a lifetime. You can find it in the Organized-ish Binder Kit shop here.