Is your closet like a hotel? Then you’ll never have cohesive style

Cohesive style. Closets. Hotels. It comes together in the end.

I’m currently reading an Agatha Christie novel and one of the characters was said to have “a heart like a hotel” – a revolving cast of love interests, none of whom stay long.

I find this an amazing phrase, and reminded me immediately of one typical closet state I see.

There are a handful of typical states that I see in people’s closets (none of which will create a wardrobe you love):

1. Might as well be empty. Even if there are technically clothes available, they aren’t really working for you.

2. Too full to know what’s in there. You might have an amazing wardrobe, but it’s too full to know.

And 3. What might be described as: a closet like a hotel. A constantly rotating cast of characters that never have time together to build cohesion.

The state we want our closets in is the Goldilocks state – our personal perfect balance between trusted and novel, well loved and brand new, staples and spices.

More about #3 “a closet like a hotel”:

This is such a perfectly evocative phrase for this state that closets can fall into.

Clothes constantly checking in and out, with maybe a few stalwarts. Some stay for a week, some for a month, many for just a night or two. Even the few that remain steady maybe didn’t intend to move in and always feel like they could checkout at any time. And even if you have quite a few who moved in semi-perminently, the average length of stay is quite low.

Cohesion and trust are two of the key qualities in a wardrobe you love. Because a wardrobe you love has your cohesive style (even if it doesn’t fit into a traditional style box).

A short length of stay and high turnover doesn’t let you build cohesion in your closet.

Keeping your clothes longer sparks familiarity, familiarity sparks cohesion, cohesion is one of the keys to a wardrobe you love.

I know it feels anachronistic or just out of touch to say “take your time” in a world of micro-trends and same day delivery and yet, love still takes time to develop.

(Even for a wardrobe you love.)

If you’re balking at “take your time” remember that time here is being used to bring you to familiarity, which brings you to your cohesive style.

We can speed up the timeline from unfamiliar to familiar by adding focus and intensity. It still takes a little time to find familiarity, but less than you might think. If you want to do that, find out how we can work together here.

Whether you currently have a closet like a hotel, one that might as well be empty, or that’s too full to know, we can cultivate the Goldilocks state – your perfect balance between trusted and novel, well loved and brand new, staples and spices.

Here’s to building a wardrobe you love.