I thought I'm going to share with you my Closet Journey. Maybe we'll all learn something. Currently my closet does look very similarly to Lesley's scary overstuffed closets. It's probably going to hurt a little to clear it. I'm thinking of all the cash that is going to be thrown away, but in reality, the cash has already been thrown away when I bought the things I don't wear... By thrown away I mean given away to charity - so someone will have use of my unused stuff. I've been following MissusSmartyPants on and off and half-heartedly following the tips, while probably trying to learn as much as I can. But suddenly, everything just clicked recently and all the "knowledge" puzzle-pieces fell into place. I'm probably going to make a lot of mistakes, but I think it's going to be fun.

As it was suggested, I'm going to go step by step. I've decided to start with pants. My take on that is that the bottoms are the true base of a wardrobe. And I know I have far too few of those. I have a hard time finding things that fit, and it's so easy to get dazzled by a top (or a skirt).

So I grabbed all the pants I have in the closet and looked at them. Here are the criteria: 1) Does it fit? 2) Is it the "right" color? 3) Is it Base or is it "Fun" (Trendy, patterned, something I like wearing)? All the "no:s" left the closet. What I had left were 2 pairs. A pair of basic blue jeans (that I really love), and a pair of fun black, striped pants with suspenders.

Then I browsed online for basic wardrobe pants. What I found isn't necessarily going to make into the closet, because I don't know if the things fit yet.

The uploaded images show both my pants, and the pants I found.

What a great way of doing this! I think I will follow your example and do my wardrobe in the same way, just one sort of clothing at the time (trousers, shirts, skirts). It is so easy to get overwhelmed, and this way you make it a bit more easy to deal with it. Thanks for the tip!

The time has come to curb my skirts. I pulled out all of the skirts from my closet and those that have been stashed away. 23!! And just 2 weeks ago I threw one away that was of bad quality!! 10 A/W; 13 S/S/A

Other news is that I ordered more catalogs. While I like ordering online, catalogues are often sorted into style-groups and not only into garment types (like pants/tops). H&M for example has both pages with basics that are mixed and matched, but also a part they call "Effortless Elegance" that contains elegant-looking basics for professional look.

Speaking of H&M, I live in the city H&M was started, under the name of Hennes (H&M is Hennes & Mauritz, a name of the company that is most often used in my city, instead of the initials).

Another news is that my first pants are on their way, which just reminded me that I forgot to order one pair (GAH!!!). I'm waiting with other stores 'till I decide if I'm happy with those I ordered.

After the curbing, I have now 15 pairs of skirts. I have a few doubles, but I don't know which to choose, so they're keepers. - 3 denim skirts, though 1 is definitely summer only, and the other I only wear during A/W (5 if I count a brown-colored long one that I only wear in A/W, and a white one for summer). All are in different cut and different shade of denim. 2 linen skirts in different shades. I have no pencil skirts, most are A-line and a bit wider versions (I don't think I should be wearing pencil skirts considering my current body type). About 8 can count as basic. The rest are patterned. Pictures will be coming later.

Hi Meme, I love the first pair of pants pictured in your second post. Can you tell me what store they are from? Thanks!

If you're talking about the jeans, they're from a company called Bon'a Parte -> http://www.bonaparte.co.uk/ They're a basic pair of jeans - and I love them. I like Bon'a Parte, they have good looking casual outfits with good quality - cotton T:s are of thick good quality cotton. Their footwear though don't hold for long.

If you're talking about the brown pants on the right, they're from La Redoute -> http://www.laredoute.co.uk/. I haven't bought or tried them yet. They are supposed to have elastic waistband and, though they look good on the picture, who knows if I don't look frumpy in them. La Redoute and their sister company Ellos have very varied quality. Sometimes you get things that are nice, sometimes things that are horrible.

I'm not British, but the companys have British sites so I posted these sites for you. Hopefully you'll find what you need.