Customer Reviews

I Don't Have a Thing to Wear : The Psychology of Your Closet

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My closet was a mish mash of clothing. There you would find the Liz blouse and skirt I wore to celebrate my nephew's birth 20 years ago. A tiny DKNY white jumper and see through mesh top that is cute but maybe a wee bit young for me now. A wonderful, classic pair of Ann Taylor navy blue pants with tags attached. (I never did lose the 5 pounds needed to get into them). Too many other clothing items that are a bit snug here or there and too uncomfortable to wear. A soft white snap up sweater that looks cozy but on closer inspection reminds me of the onesie outfits my children once wore. A red vest that is boring. A sweater with little balls decorating it that is last years news. You get the idea.

Yet it is hard to part with these things. You never know when the weight will drop off. The big shoulder pad look will come back in style. A fuzzy sweater will come in handy to lend to your mom when she vists. The red vest will cheer the residents of the nursing home up when you go there. The Smithsonian will want to display the first suit you ever wore.

And despite having all these goodies in your wardrobe, its hard to find anything to wear! That was my dilemma till I lucked into finding the book, "I Don't Have A Thing To Wear".

The book begins by having you describe your "circle of life". What activities do you do each day. I realized for example I had a dozen or so gorgeous beaded dresses hanging in my closet, but I hadn't gone to a very formal occasion in years.
Yet for lunching out with friends which I do fairly frequently I didn't have many pairs of nice slacks and usually resorted to dressing up my jeans.

Once you figure out what you do. You can then plan your closet so you have clothes to meet your needs. Judie and Jackie hold your hand as you clean your closet. Inspired by the pair, I was ruthless. Most of the beaded dresses set for the consignment shop, other garments for the women's shelter, some to charity, others earmarked for auction.

They also recommend hanging slacks on clipped hangers not folded. This tip alone had my closet looking sleeker in seconds.
By the time the dust had cleared, my closet had only wearable garments in it.

I also started a box with thin clothes. Clothes I loved but just did not fit and I did not want to part with. If they dont fit in 6 months they are gone.

After your closet purge, Judie and Jackie go on to tell you how to make a beeline for the clothes that will work for you in the stores by learning what clothes will suit your body proportions. Learning this will save you hours of time. They also teach you why you should shop from "the bottom up".

The authors also describe dressing styles, shopping on the internet tips, master plans and more.

Another excellent book on bringing your closet into harmony with your life is, "Simple Isn't Easy" by Amy Fine Collins and Olivia Goldsmith. But the Collins/Goldsmith book is out of print and pricey when you find it.
"I Don't Have A Thing To Wear" by Taggart and Walker is inexpensively priced and will do wonders for your wardrobe if you follow the advice.

The proof is in my closet!
Lee Mellott

I would recomend this book to those women that have already bought or read other similar books like Leah Feldon's Does this make me look fat?. Brenda's Wardrobe Companion ; by Brenda Kinsel; The Fine Art of Dressing by Margaux Tartarotti or Looking Good by Nancy Nix-Rice. Women who already know what do they need, what suits them but still they cant put thogether a usefull wardrobe. This book can be a good help to them.

The real interest of the book lies in the psychological approach. The autors work with the idea that clothes are emotional stuff hence why you can buy clothes for a fabulous event when you lack a social life, or cheap clothes even if you can afford more expensive ones or "need" to go shopping even when youre broke, why you always seem to end buying things you dont like or need.

Some of the stuff is a bit un-original like parts on how to plan a wardrobe depending on how you spend yout time, how to find your fashion persona, if your clasic, natural.... some basic data on line, proportions (nothing to compare to Leah Feldon's Does this make me look fat?).
But some are original and intriguing ideas like how to find how do you relate to money and wealth, what are your spending habits, what kind os shopper you are, whats your self image and how it affects your shopping habits..

If you want to clean out your closet, this book will be helpful. I managed to get rid of quite a bit of useless clothes after reading this book. However, if you want a book to help you decide what you should be wearing this isn't the book for you.

It does have a section on deciding what your fashion style is and tips on what to wear for different body types. But, I came away from these sections with little truly useful information. The shopping section also seemed to be geared towards people who can shop for clothes every month or so and spend hundreds of dollars on each trip.

Get this book to clean out your closet and a different book to take shopping for your new clothes.

This was the book that got me interested in style and taught me to invest in myself. I bought it when I was a confused college grad shopping for office clothes. The section on cleaning out your closet and getting rid of things that don't work anymore was priceless-I gave half of my clothes to charity and was much better off. It explains how to navigate stores and teaches a lot about proportion. It has been a wonderful addition to my (growing) collection of fashion books. However, it isn't particularly well organized and there isn't much detail about specific clothing categories (pants, skirts...) Overall, a great read that you will turn to again and again.

I wouldn't recommend this as a "stand alone" book for building a wardrobe. I believe it should be used in conjunction with other books, such as Leah Feldon's Does This Make Me Look Fat? and Clinton Kelly and Stacy London's Dress Your Best : The Complete Guide to Finding the Style That's Right for Your Body. These books are better for helping to decide what looks best on different body types. Having said this, there are several ideas I found useful...such as the circle of life (for determining the types and amounts of clothes needed for the individuals' activities), keeping a clothes diary (to see what money is being spent on) and also cleaning out closets (getting rid of clothes that no longer fit the body or fit the lifestyle). Definitely worth the money just for these three ideas alone.

This book was really fun to work through, thinking about how you have chosen the wardrobe you have and why. One thing I did not like is that the author brings her own personal style preferences into it a little too much, and she just might end up insulting some perfectly nice and stylish fashions that you have. I wanted to organise my closet, not make myself conform to one of the author's preconceived fashion "types".

This book offers solid advice,however, I would not recommend this book to someone who is unfamiliar with fashion terminology or as a "starter" book for one who is beginning to examine her image.

The book was enjoyable and sensible and offered some good psychological insights as to why a closet and wardrobe may be problematic. I would recommend this book be used as a follow up to another, when a reader is ready to get down to the nuts and bolts of building a wardrobe and organizing the pieces she has.

Yes, it is! I enjoyed the psychological approach in this book as to why we dress the way we do. I'd read other "how to" books like Trinny and Susannah's "What Not to Wear", etc., and wondered if this book could tell me anything new.

Up front confession--I love taking tests with a psychological bent, i.e., "what your rising sign says about you", so the quizzes in this book about fashion persona were right up my alley. Sounds silly, but I actually got some valuable insight into how I REALLY like to dress, as opposed to how I THINK I should be dressing.

Then, I purged my closet of all the stuff that's been hanging there GLARING at me for the past couple of years. (I don't have a huge wardrobe, but we all have stuff that we hang onto in the hopes that "someday" we'll wear it, don't we?) I've got some of it up for sale on eBay, and some I donated to our local thrift store.

I think just finding out who I am, deep down inside, and why I want to dress the way I do, was worth the price of the book. Now, when I walk into my closet, it feels more welcoming because I know that I actually wear everything that's in it. "Hello, girls...whom should I wear today?"

This book is actually pretty good. It contains a lot of information, some of it very specific and helpful and quite different to other style manuals. Especially if you really want to look at your closet, or shopping habits, or have trouble choosing what to pack for a trip, or want to understand how to dress according to your proportions. The book is not just psychological, it is very PRACTICAL and motivates you. It also speaks to the reader in a way that makes you understand..despite not having color pictures!! This was why I forgave the book for having superfluous stories and a few silly chapters. It is best used in conjuction with the "lucky shopping manual" to see clothes. Then use "The Science of sexy" or "Pocket Stylist" and this book, to dress for your body. This is because each one of these books, including "Psychology of Your closet" has a different approach to dressing your body type,and takes into account something that the other books have not. So, each of them is valid and WILL help you. Almost everyone will find something of value in this book. It is definitely another string in your bow (just don't use it alone).

Well, I found this book very helpful. I don't think you can find the whole truth in just one book, but this one has done its job just fine, therefore i'm giving it no less than five stars.
What have I accomplished? Well, I used to make poor choices for clothes. I had quite a few (especially cheap stuff) gathered in piles. And of course, I had nothing to wear!
I did everything the book asked of me, step by step. What worked? I had to perform an inventory of my closet and grade all pieces. That was a shocker! Most of them ended up in plastic bags. I 'archived', 'donated' and 'threw away' a lot of stuff that was just clogging the closet. I let go of stuff I graded below 7 out of 10. I did that several times since then (2 years ago). I did not regret letting go of a thing! In fact, I forgot all those items immediately.
After all the useless stuff is gone, and all you kept is arranged neatly in the closet, you can start the 'styling' (so to speak): it's basically finding 'matching looks' for all your items. For instance, I had a blue satin silk skirt I could not match with a blouse for years. Put on your shopping list buying something to complement that skirt. I found it, many months later. What you do is actually go shopping in your closet, but also outside, I'd say 50/50. I walked around with the list and crossed items off it, every now and then.
There are also tons of other rules and tips, such as mixing and matching clothes, and dressing for your figure. Worth reading and applying, even though it sure limits your shopping because you soon start seeing that you were buying wrong stuff for your body.
I would recommend starting with this book, so that you can edit your closet properly; and then move on to Nina Garcia's books which are more entertaining. This book is actually tough on you, psychologically :)