Stylebook Book Club - Book 4
The first few books were all about discovering your personal style, so this month I wanted to pick a title on organizing the clothes you already have. Shop Your Closet by Melanie Charlton Fascitelli aims to help you purge your wardrobe of the items you don’t need so you can get dressed more efficiently - and actually take advantage of the clothes you have.
The author has suggestions on which clothes are the best foundation for a basic wardrobe, but of course these are just suggestions. I skipped chapter 2 because many of the books on our Book Club list already covered how to shop and find pieces to build your wardrobe. The real value from this read comes from her advice on how to organize everything you’re keeping as well as advice on how to clean out your closet. Melanie offers advice for every type of closet from a single wardrobe, a reach-in closets, all the way up to a walk-in closet. She even walks you through how to install closet shelves yourself.
This book is a great guide to helping you let go. She even suggests making a closet inventory - if you use Stylebook you know the benefits of this already! 😉
- Jess Atkins, Stylebook Co-founder
Jess's Take-Away and Discussion
I’ve had “Shop Your Closet” by Melanie Charlton Fascitelli in my book collection for a long time and it has helped me organize the various closets where I’ve lived over the years. I’m lucky to have a walk-in closet now, but most of my adult life I’ve only had a small reach-in closet or no closet at all. Each kind of closet presents its own challenges for storing clothes. Melanie’s core principles of cleaning out what you don’t need, storing off-season items away from the main closet and establishing habits to keep everything organized have helped me stay neat - no matter what.
My favorite tips from the book
Comparing consignment rates - I once practically gave away brand-new Michael Kors boots that hurt my feet too much at a consignment shop because I didn’t read the fine print on their commission. Her advice in chapter 3 on how to compare consignment shops or online resale sites before deciding to consign clothes is key to preventing such tragic errors.
Acrylic Closet Shelves - Currently, my coat closet has a shelf way above my head, so I don’t even use it because whatever goes up there, never comes down. Clear acrylic shelves would make it easier to see what’s up there.
Her Various Ironing Tips - Like me, she seems allergic to ironing and throughout the book she recommends different storage, laundry and small appliances to reduce or eliminate ironing. Thank you!
Strange Closet Shapes - In chapter 4, she details a few common closet problems and how to take advantage or weird spaces or small spaces
Overall, I enjoyed this book’s attention to detail and her creative solutions for common storage challenges. What did you think?
Discussion:
Comment on the Instagram post below to tell me the most helpful tip you learned from the book.
- Did you try any of her tips?
- Do you hang or fold most of your wardrobe?
- What tricks do you use to keep your closet organized once you’ve neatened everything?
- Do you consign your clothes?
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