Arielle's Closet Cleanse + Organization, Part 1

Not all Closet Cleanse + Organization sessions have to center around massive closet overhauls. Some clients are pretty good at editing their wardrobes seasonly, investing in good quality items, or making harsh cuts to sentimental items. BUT... it's rare that you find someone who does ALL of these things and that's where I come in. 

For today's closet cleanse + organization, I worked with Arielle of Scotch and Nonsense, a design and cocktail blog based out of Richmond, VA. Arielle has great taste and a really unique sense of style that combines masculine touches with some preppy boho flair. Her biggest challenge? Culling through the pieces she's had since college and letting go of gifts (don't those "But I got it as a gift" items get us every time?). 

Arielle's closet befores:

Not that bad right?

Nope. In fact, we breezed through her closet, shoes, casual wear, and accessories in just under two hours. To start, we unloaded this closet onto the bed and tackled behind the door and the bottom of the closet which housed shoes.

We were able to get rid of three pairs of shoes that had seen better days (AKA were broken) as well as pull out a few pairs that were no longer Arielle's style. We got rid of empty shoe boxes and kept a few for her to store new shoes (yay!). We discussed a few shoes that she will hang on to for now while she looks for a suitable replacement. Next up we tackled the clothes.

There were some amazing, one-of-a-kind pieces in here as well as great, quality designer brands. There were also some trendier, cheaper pieces, most of which got passed on to the resale/donation pile for loosing their luster - they just hadn't held up as well as their designer counterparts and didn't hold any special meaning. There was also a fair share of snap chatting going on - the white sequined mini-skirt is pretty much a wardrobe requirement. Kidding! Lest you all head out and buy one. But this skirt is a great example of how a closet cleanse (or any style session) is super personalized. For Arielle, this skirt was something she wore that was related to her wedding festivities - it holds special meaning and just makes her smile. If that's not reason for keeping something, then I don't know what it is!

I'm gonna leave you here with the photo of the snaps that were happening, but we'll be back next week with the rest of her closet cleanse + organization session and her customized shopping list. After you clean out you gotta shop right?