Remember when I said I was changing my life and going through a lifestyle REVOLUTION? Well this was the first part of it. My lifestyle revolution is that I am going to live a more uncluttered life. Im not going to say MINIMAL, heaven forbid! But more organized and neater. AND I’m not going to let sentimentality (unreasonable sentiments, not normal ones) and stuff have power over me. Its been about 2 weeks since I started this and I actually feel so much better… lighter, in a way. The stuff was getting in the way of my life.

I’ve spoken about my hoarding many times before…It’s not so much that I let things build up to gross and disgusting levels of clutter so much as I have a hard time parting with things, plus I’m unorganized. So my apartment was pretty much starting to look like a little mini antique shop… and in terms of my closets… they weren’t horribly messy, just literally JAM PACKED.

Two of my best friends decided that I needed an intervention. They started a company called C&C Closet Concierge, and thought I should be a client. First they organize your closets with you, and then they help you figure out what you need, don’t need, and should never wear again!

Here is a little bit about what they do:

So obviously, I agreed. These are the girls I go to when I have parties, photo shoots and need some tips! BUT lets just put it this way, throwing things away did not go down easy. AT ALL. I was like the worst patient ever. I went down kicking and screaming over every pair of jeans from 2001 (True Religion 3 sizes too big, am I EVER wearing those again?!? I hope not…) Gap maternity button downs that I used to cover my love handles in my 9th month…. 8 billion black t-shirts…. Ugly things from H&M or Forever 21, you know the things you buy when you are test driving a trend, but not ready to commit to it… those things. Ugh…. So here it is, the before, during and after. And the during was a really really really hard thing for me… Painful, but necessary.

BEFORE:

So you see, it wasn’t so messy (it could be neater) but it was just too jammed and apparently, I had everything in the wrong spots… And no one can get over that I fold my jeans, but I do, and its something I will never change! (You know I had to make the before photos black and white like those commercials…)

DURING:

A sweater in mid-flight and a heap bigger than my 3 year old.

Surveying the damage….It had to get worse before it got better!

Violá!!! 6 garbage bags full of giveaways. Not to mention the shoe boxes, which I don’t know why I bothered keeping for the past 6 years.

After:

And now, color coded everything, sweaters with sweaters, shirts with shirts, blazers with blazers….

That beige belt is vintage Alaia from my mom. It fits like a corset, and I get dizzy from no breath when I wear it, but by god, I will never part with it!

When I had the closets made, I had a hamper built in to the closet because I didn’t have room in the bathroom. I chose not to put in a lot of drawers, because I find they are terrible and get messy so fast and so I just keep work out clothes, underwear, socks, bathing suits in the drawers… I also keep a leftover Ikea stool from a party I made for Cookie in the closet so I can reach everything.

Bags and clutches are moved out of the way so pretty sweaters can be the first thing I see. Jeans and T shirts are also easily accessible.

I had a very shallow wall on one side of the closet and rather than leave it empty or have belt hooks on it, I had the closet guys build in 3″ shelving… I absolutely LOVE these shallow shelves. I use them to hold my belts, some of my jewelry, gloves etc… I also leave my contact lenses, deodorant and some make up in there because sometimes I like to put those on in the closet.  Its also where I keep extra business cards, check book and other stuff I don’t want flying around the house. 

After my friends left, I was still kind of nervous that I threw out something good. Then I dropped them to my moms house so my sisters could look it over, and while a lot of it was good stuff, it was nothing that I would or could ever wear again. Most of it was stuff that I NEVER EVEN LIKED IN THE FIRST PLACE! Things that never fit right… shirts a bit too low cut to wear, shoes a bit too small etc, things that I just held on to for no reason.

Next came PART II, THE FUN PART!!!!

Claudy helped me figure out what items were missing from my closet… Here are a few looks she put together for me along with a closet analysis. She mixed high and low to help me fill in the blanks.

LOOK 1:

My Closet Analysis from Claudy:

One thing that I noticed and loved about Nicole’s wardrobe, is that she’s not your typical shopper. Unlike everyone else, Nicole’s wardrobe is filled with statement pieces as opposed to basics. For example, she has a shrunken vintage brown leather jacket that doesn’t close, but doesn’t have a decent black leather jacket. She has a floral blazer, but her only black blazer was made out of sweatshirt material. The only problem with that is that there were no basics to pair these statement pieces with!!  My suggestions for Nicole were to add in some everyday basics to mix and match with her trendy duds. Like most of us, she is guilty of gravitating to the same style and color palettes ( Nicole is like a downtown hipster meets Ralph Lauren equestrian). The pieces I suggested for her would give her wardrobe a bit more of an edgier\ city sheek look for a more complete wardrobe.

 Bluelab reversible skinny jean in Cheetah HERE with a grey tshirt tucked in ( $29, Urban Outfitters)  topshop leather jacket ($260, TopShop ), topshop mesh chain bracelt bumper set ($40,TopShop $) with rag and bone newbury booties (saks.com $495) or her Jill Sander black oxford laceup shoes for warm weather days and a ps1 small leather satchel ($1225, netaporter.com) 

LOOK 2:

Start with wine colored Rag and Bone jeans that Nicole already owns HERE, paired with her Isabel Marant DIY beaded navajo belt. Denim topshop button down( HERE ), or a crewcuts denim top size 14!! (HERE) Lanvin wedges (HERE) since nicole mentioned that she needed a nice wedge for day/night, or you can pair it with the Rag and Bone Newbury Booties from the first look. 

LOOK 3:

Helmut Lang leather pants HERE- if you’re lucky you may be able to score a pair on bluefly.com for 60 off!! With a light blue button down shirt by Caroline Hedaya (contact Caroline for more info) and my all time favorite black Isabel Marant mony fringe boots. HERE  

Of course if you arent one of the lucky ones to score the leather pants on sale and you dont want to break the bank, you can always substitute them with the bluelab reversible jeans that i put in day outfit #1 and wear them on the black wax side, along with the denim button down from day outfit  2 and this floral blazer that Nicole and i both snatched up from Zara HERE.

Accessorize with my all time  favorite Yves Saint Laurent arty gold plated glass ring available in many different colors HERE or with any  gold cuff you can find at H&M, Topshop, Forever 21 etc.

For  a TRIP:

Since vacation season is approaching and many of you are going to be jetting off to warm sandy beaches I figured I’d put together a few outfits you can wear to the beach or out at night.  Here are some simple and chic outfits.

Bathing suit shopping doesn’t have to be painful. For the honeymoon HERE,for the small chested,HERE or  for the bustier woman, HERE for the stomach conscious HERE.