Your Fall/Winter items can use some attention this month. Follow these steps to elongate the life of your clothing. It’s good for our planet, good for your wallet and good for your personal style.
Also, I am a big proponent of separating Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer items into different closets. If you don’t have the space, then place the off-season clothing and accessories toward the back of your closet. The idea is to open your closet door and be able to choose from current-season only. It truly helps when getting dressed each day!
Click this board for some of my favorite tools-of-the-trade for keeping clothing fresh, clean and safely stored
1) Take your wool pieces to the dry cleaner before you store them for the season. Leaving dirt and body oils on the fibers will cause them to deteriorate more quickly. Once clean, they will be fresh and ready to go as soon as there is a chill in the air again. Cashmere can be washed by hand at home! Wool blazers, sweaters and pants that haven’t gotten much use this season can be hung on a rack to air out, spritzed with a fabric cleaner and then stored away.
2) Launder your denim before storing that as well. There are a handful of jeans that I leave in my closet for the Summertime; but generally speaking, jeans feel too heavy to wear during June, July and August. For these items, I wash them inside out in cold water, steam them in the dryer for 5 minutes (don’t walk away!) and hang them to dry. Once completely dry, I store them on their hangers in a separate closet. It’s always so nice to see them still inside out in September and remember that this means they are clean!
3) Buff and puff your shoes and boots. You can clean and polish them yourself or take them to the cobbler to be re-heeled (if needed), polished and shined. Leather will dry out and crack if not treated regularly plus most marks or scratches can be easily fixed at a good shoe repair. Only service the shoes/boots that are in dire need. Check your leather handbags, too—generally these don’t need much attention unless they are scratched or the handle is starting to dry out and crack.
4) Remove any plastic coverings after dry cleaning. Use cloth coverings if a garment needs extra protection. The plastic can actually damage clothing if left on for an extended period of time as moisture can get trapped within the plastic bag.
here are a few of my favorite Met Gala looks
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute is opening a new exhibit this Saturday May 10th entitled Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. On Monday May 5th, the museum hosted its annual gala fundraiser. The Met Gala has become known as the Superbowl of Fashion with celebrities and socialites wearing their most fashion-forward looks honoring the theme of the current exhibit.
This year’s exhibit explores the importance of style to the formation of Black identities specifically through the concept of dandyism. Click here to learn more. I can’t wait to see this one! The show closes on October 26th. If you can’t get to New York, here’s a YouTube video of one section of the exhibit and here’s a sneak peek on Instagram of many of the clothes on display. Enjoy!
