How to Sort and Sell your Clothes

Our wardrobes are jam packed – the average wardrobe holds 100 items, 22 of which are never worn. The average British woman has over £1000 worth of underused (only worn once) or unworn clothing items (tags still on) sitting in her wardrobe. Whether you want to move a few items on to make room for the new season purchases or you want to go on holiday this year but your bank balance is telling you ‘NO WAY’, then look inside your wardrobe: that’s money sitting right there!

Before you start there are 3 things to consider. Firstly, you have to be clear what you want to achieve – how much money do you need to make? This will keep you focused, and if necessary, ruthless when tackling your wardrobe. Secondly, the selling won’t happen overnight: expect a 2 month turnaround. Thirdly, only sell what you can see yourself without; selling then regretting is a horrible experience.

Ready to sort and sell? Let’s go:

1.      Focus on one section of your wardrobe at a time. Trying to tackle the whole wardrobe at once can be stressful so initially focus on 1 area: summer/winter, work/play, bags/clothes.

2.      Give yourself enough time. I clear out 1 section of a clients’ wardrobe in 3 hours but this includes re-styling the clothes as well. Set a stop watch for 30 minute intervals and see how many items you sort in the time allotted.

3.      Be prepared: lay out clothing bags on the bed and label them ALTERATIONS, SELLING, EBAY. You may come across a designer gem of a dress but the hem has dropped: put this in the alterations pile. A small outlay to get the hem fixed is worth it in the long run to get your dress sold.

4.      What are your sticking points? Those items we don’t wear any more but can’t bear to part with. My business The Wardrobe Angel, specialises in decluttering wardrobes and I know how hard it can be to let clothing items go but think of your goal: car, holiday, house deposit, wedding. You can’t wear memories so if you are keeping hold of dress because you had a particularly good night out wearing it, find photos of that night out instead and sell the dress.

5.      Be honest with yourself. How much you have used and worn your bags and clothes? If an item still has the tag on, this shows you didn’t love it enough to cut the tag off and wear it. Items with tags on sell really well; on eBay they are described as BNWT (Brand New With Tags) which gives you license to price them higher than a second hand item (no tags and which you have worn).

6.      Keep in tune with the seasons when you clear out. Coats and knits sell great on eBay from November through to February. Summer listings start to creep in around March. Don’t forget festival season as well – head bands, jean shorts, crop tops – all essential festival wear.

7.      What labels do you own? Mid to top-end high street labels like Zara, Whistles, Reiss sell really well on eBay, as does suiting and plus sized clothes. During the 3 years I have been running The Wardrobe Angel I have found that jeans don’t sell well, however blouses, tops, jumpers and coats do. Any vintage clothing should be taken to a specialist vintage dealer.

8.      Designer labels less than 2 years old sell really well. Sites such as Vestiaire Collective and Buy My Wardrobe offer a haven for second hand designer clothes. That said, classics will always sell: Channel bags and jackets and Louise Vuitton bags for instance.  Ring local dress agencies to ask what labels they stock and what their turnover of stock is like. You want to move your clothes on as quickly as possible so you need to make some decisions – sell on a designer clothing website (may sell immediately or not at all), sell at a dress agency (could sell in 6 weeks) or put on eBay (could sell in a week)? All have pros and cons.

9.      Always check an equivalent item on eBay before you list your item. This will give you an idea of how much you can expect in return. Don’t forget the charges! eBay and PayPal both charge you for using their sites as do dress agencies and online dress agencies. As a rule of thumb, whatever your items sell for you will get 50% of the sale price.

10.  All clothes should be clean and in a saleable condition: no holes, stains or alterations, ironed, crease free and on a hanger. Designer bags sell better with their dust bag so dig that out and iron it. Place the clothes for the vintage dealer and the designer clothes for the dress agency on wooden hangers and package them in a garment bag. Present your clothes like presents.

Links:

The Wardrobe Angel

The Wardrobe Angel eBay page – I’m an Above Average Seller. Check out the descriptions, photos and terms & conditions I use to successfully sell.

Vestiaire Collective

Buy My Wardrobe

Short Sleeve Style Spotting

I was never a cheerleader of fast fashion in my 20’s but I admit… I had a few Primark pieces. The shame. But now I am knocking on the door of 34, my aim has become a halo inducing wardrobe filled with ethical, sustainable, quality clothing that I can actually wear. This may seem like an odd concept, of course you wear clothes, but trying to get dressed every day using a hotch potch of trend lead garments in my 20’s made my wardrobes (yes, note the plural) a nightmare.

Enter my 30’s and I’m after easy combinations, lots of versatility and garments which are wholeheartedly ‘me’. I’m a big fan of Lisa Armstrong: her no nonsense Investment Dresser column in the Sunday Telegraph Stella magazine has been a guideline for many of my post 30 purchases. When I read her recent column on short sleeved jumpers I lapped it up – when your wardrobe is stocked with basics it can err into boring – so the short sleeve jumper called to me. I guess it’s all about the nuances, and luck, as I picked up a short sleeve Whistles jumper for the princely sum of £5.99 in the Barnados charity shop in Chorlton, Manchester about a week after reading Lisa Armstrong's column.

In winter I like natural fibres as opposed to man-made fabrics (here’s looking at you, acrylic) which aren’t half as warm as wool and will last your half as long. The material mix on my Whistles beauty is good – mainly wool with a bit of Alpaca thrown in for warmth. It’s a rich, dark, textured green fabric which also gives the eye lots to look at. Add a bit of leopard and you are on to a winner.

I styled it with my Alice & Olivia blouse from The Outnet, H&M Trend midi pencil skirt and my Kurt Geiger leopard boots. Oh, and my glasses. A short sleeve can sometimes look a little masculine if it finishes at your nipple line so I pulled out the blouse sleeves and rolled them back for an extra bit of textural difference. Et Voila!

Work Wardrobe Masterclass

I had a client last week who was shifting gears in her career and needed her wardrobe to reflect a certain level of wealth. However, the wealth of the people she would be interacting with wasn't reflected in her new wage packet - whatever we bought on her Personal Shop had to earn its place in her wardrobe. BIG TIME. I love a challenge like this because it means taking items that the client already owns and combining them with new items to make them work harder. I call this service a Half & Half - half wardrobe clearing and sorting so I know what we have in the wardrobe to work with, then hitting the shops to fill the gaps.

Here are 3 of the items we purchased - an Autograph top and necklace  from Marks & Spencer and the Adrianne Dress from Whistles.

The Autograph top is trans-seasonal and hugely versatile: my client can wear it with jeans at the weekend and with 7/8 trousers for work. The print doesn't tie it specifically to one season and the construction makes it look a lot more expensive than it is.

The Adrianne dress is £95 - not cheap - but this dress will double up as a summer dress out of work worn with flats, and works under a jacket for work as well. For my client I teamed it with a pair of block heels so she could run around all day but still get the benefit from a heel. I am a huge fan of Whistles. During my first year of self-employment as The Wardrobe Angel I had part-time job there and fell for the brand. Known as a "bridge brand" (a brand which sits between High Street and Designer brands - think top end High Street. Another example is Reiss), Whistles may seem expensive but their clothes last and last. Plus they have a high re-sale value on eBay! Get thee to Whistles!

Rachel Wears

I was lucky enough to do a bit of styling for the British brand called Rachel Wears last week (click here for the website). Ethical, sustainable and made here in the UK the brand is fresh out of the fashion box launching only 6 weeks ago. What's that sound? Ah yes - me banging the drum for versatility in clothing - so I stayed with my well trodden path of taking 1 item (in this case the Longline Silk Shirt) and styling it 10 ways: for summer, work, a night out and even the beach.

Here are the pics! I hope you can take some inspiration from these and create some new outfits out of what you already own...

With boyfriend jeans (old), Kurt Geiger boots, H&M Trend jacket and gold necklace (old)

With boyfriend jeans (old), H&M Trend Jacket, Whistles Clutch, Vintage pearls, shoes from eBay

    


So here is the shirt styled two different ways in two colour palettes. The one on the left is "for work" - a cashmere jumper, silver jewellery and suede courts. The outfit on the right is "for a wedding" with a lace skirt, gold accessories - I went for a whole load of gold: bag, shoes, ring - and D&G sandals.

One dark, one light  - see the possibilities.

I love a tie - not the best if you have a short neck and large boobs - but these outfits show you can rock the shirt for work with a pencil skirt, and then with jeans. Last winter I wore this cardigan a lot instead of a coat and bloomin loved it.

Lolling pool side?Still need to stylish. Double wrap belt from COS.

High-ho, high -ho, it's off to the beach we go. Silk may be a bugger to iron and not the greatest thing to pack in your suitcase but if you are headed to a fancy resort then a silk shirt will not only keep you cool in the heat, it will also help you feel a little bit luxurious. 

Tucking the shirt into High waisted shorts will accentuate your pins. 

Til next time...x

Jumper jumper on the wall - show me ways to wear you more

So I was at a client's house the other night and got a tad obsessed with a jumper she owned. With the great British weather being so changeable of late a jumper is still the cherry I am popping on the top of my daily outfit cake. So back to the client's jumper. She was wearing it with jeans, I showed her a few more options:

This is THE JUMPER teamed with ....a maxi dress. No? Really? Why yes. The maxi certainly ain't a beach/holiday maxi - there wasn't a beaded tassel or frill in sight. The dress in question was from Whistles and when you buy from Whistles you want to get your wear out of it.

Here's why it works: the monochrome maxi lends itself well to the bold lime-yellow of the jumper and teamed with a bold satchel bag and pointy boots the dress becomes a skirt. There is a simplicity to the outfit in the colour combinations but a striking textual difference (think chunky knit vs. soft cotton vs. leather) which means the eye will rest longer to drink it all in.

Here's the jumper with a sheer shirt underneath it (unworn - you can see the tag still attached just waiting...hoping...wondering in the wardrobe "will I be used?" Why yes, it's time to cut the tags off), a leather pencil skirt and the same accessories. The low scoop of the jumper neckline reveals the sexy sheer shirt but by popping the jumper over the shirt the sheer shirt becomes suitable for the weather (no freezing in the name of fashion here). No coat needed: the jumper does the hard work #bonus.

The leather panelled skirt sings with the bold satchel bag and pointed boots smartening up the jumper and making it suitable work wear.

THE JUMPER gets teamed with 7/8 trousers, ballet flats (note the studs though - more on them later) and a printed shirt.  It's the British equivalent of Parisian chic. Perfect weekend wear/hot second date/city break fodder, this outfit is smart but on-trend and stylish.

Again using the monochrome back drop of the outfit to make the jumper POP, the jumper stands out but the pattern on the shirt keeps the outfit from being dull. Which is the perfect segue into the studs on the shoes I asked you to keep an eye on. The studs and the metal casing on the satchel keep the outfit away from classic/feminine and steer the outfit into cooler territory.

Til next time....x

Bags of awesomeness from Bagable

Last year I tried downsizing to a Whistles clutch. Great for a night out and a day out but not so great for a client facing day when I have all my bells, whistles and the kitchen sink of wardrobes to carry around. The Zara bag I was using couldn't handle the pressure and the bag straps are somewhere between useless and broken so I was in desperate need of a new season bag when the awesome peeps at Bagable sent me the Fiorelli Chelsea Tote Bag. 

Delivery was quick and painless (I know some of you are still hesitant about ordering online) and so you know exactly what you are getting the Bagable peeps give you the dimensions of the bag on the website so you can double/triple check your requirements AND you get a return label in case in need to send it back. It comes double wrapped so no danger of any damage, the handles are also protected in transit plus there is even a handy 10% off leaflet for your next order. 

                           

                           

Here's why I love the Fiorelli Chelsea Tote Bag: it is the size perfect for my wallet, phone, Ipad, pen, notebook (I am still in the old school of actually writing things down), diary (see previous parenthesis) plus my trusty lippy, keys, chewing gum...my life is literally in my bag. I've cracked it out already to rave reviews and I love the fact it has two handle options: to crook arm or not to crook arm, that is the question. 

You can order online at www.bagable.co.uk and tweet the bagsters on @BagableLtd. Here's how I styled it all ready for winter: 

You'll find in this blog post for whatever reason, I decided not to look at the camera much. 

                       

Outfit: Silk Shirt from River Island, Necklace from H&M, Coat from Cos, Trousers from Preen, Shoes from ASOS. 

Topshop and the over 30's woman...

LOVE the clutch

A couple of weeks ago I went to a Topshop event in Leeds to publicise their Personal Shopping service. Now, being a woman over 30 (holla!) I have steered away from Topshop in recent years as I always felt like a granny when I was in there. Plus the sizing was a bit on the small side for me. But in a room with interactive models I found my opinion starting to change....

I was pleasantly surprised by the name of the game the Personal Shoppers (PS) talking about: VERSATILITY and ways to wear - take to suit above for example. The PS ran through a list of ways to wear the suit: separate, together, shoulder robed. They were also fully aware of the fact that Topshop is popular with teenagers hence the PS experience is perfect for the older lady ...

Amazing neck candy

Amazing heels

In a cut throat retail environment where new lines are hitting down at a rate of knots, the Topshop team are offering up their styling services in a tranquil, calm shopping environment away from the shopfloor.

More amazing neck candy

Goody Bags. Why thank you, don't mind if I do.

What's on offer with Topshop Personal Shopping

You can ring up or email them for an appointment and when you arrive the room will be ready to fit your brief. They are doing a lot of hen do and honeymoon wardrobes at the moment. The BIG WOW could be something like a first date, the MIRACLE WORKER shows you how to dress something up and down, and the IN AND OUT is designed for those on a time budget.

What I wore: Zara Top, H&M Trend Jacket, Diesel Jeans, Whistles clutch

Word. 

Downsizing Handbag Style

I spend my days working my way through wardrobes which have lost their fashion way, are too chock full to be user friendly or are simply in need of a bit of organisational love so it was a shock when the tables were turned on me.

A few weeks ago I went to a Thirsty Thursday event and had a complimentary shoulder massage from the lovely team at Harmony Hill, a social enterprise based in Leeds. There were numerous knots in my back plus a searing pain over my left shoulder . When asked why I thought this was I said I had no idea. Then the lady picked up my handbag. With a huge heave she lifted it an inch from the floor. Fixing me with a knowing look she replied incredulously "really? Which hand is your bag hand?" Answers on a postcard please! I admit it - I am not a small bag person. When I lived in London I used a weekend bag as my everyday handbag. And with all that lushness of space what is a girl to do? Fill it, that's what. My go to bag for the past few months has been a vintage shop find which I have filled. To capacity:

So that's all the basics which then get added to on a daily basis. Sunny weather? Add sunglasses and sun cream. Nippy out? Two scarves (one knitted, one silk or cotton) and a jumper. Plus my camera for client days and numerous pens and pads for scribblings.

With the threat of looking like the Hunchback of Notre-Dame looming large I was forced to re-asses my arm candy and I was lucky enough to find this classic clutch from Whistles. It feels divine and works with most of my wardrobe. It does feel a bit like a man bag but I think that's just me missing the big ol' bag of yore. 

I have downsized successfully for one week now (thumbs skyward!) and even though there are days when only a mega bag will do, long may the minimalism of arm candy continue.