Some People Are So Organised
Some of this I have already covered in my previous posts. I did see a fantastic example of it yesterday, at my dear schooldays friend's house yesterday. Yes, we have kept in touch, it is such a wonderful friendship for us! I find my friend to be somewhat chic. In each of her two main bedrooms, were large built-in wardrobes. One was across a whole wall, floor to ceiling, with shelves, drawers, space for footwear, and rods for hanging clothes. I have never, ever, had anything remotely like this, to me to have this space for organisation, is so chic.
It's Easier When There Is Space
Looking after & organising one's fashion and beauty life, does indeed require some space. It's easier to be chic if everything is looked after, clean and repaired, as well as everything having a place. Leslie turned her tiny second bedroom in her London flat, into a dressing room, by getting one whole wall fitted out as a three door wardrobe. She had drawers there, two different levels of rods for hanging clothes, plus shelves above the drawers. So that her clothes could be hung up, folded away, and shoes tidily lined up.
Everything was hung up, folded, or lined up, first according to colour, then type. Plus a place for accessories and bags. She also hung ribbon between rwo hooks on a wall, to create somewhere to hang necklaces so that they wouldn't get jumbled, and I have copied this, on occasion.
Leslie rolled up her belts and lined them up, but they could also be hung. And used racks for her shoes, with a rolled up magazine inside each boot to keep it standing upright. Shoe racks are not expensive: I was walking past a $2 shop today & saw one. This was also her sewing & ironing room. I know that sewing is becoming a dying art, sadly, and many of us might only iron a garment once a year, as there are so many wash and wear clothes around.
Making Things Nice
She renovated her old tiny bathroom to make it nice, with a piece of carpet. London would have been cold in winter in 1978, before all homes had radiators. Leslie only kept bath stuff there, like shampoo, lotions, skin care, teeth stuff, razors, etc, all nicely stored in the cupboards she had made for under the basin.
She used her old-fashioned dressing table, in her bedroom, to store most of her cosmetics, especially the ones that she used often. Everything was in little open boxes, to save time. What a lovely idea. And it was here that she applied her make-up. A wonderful fantasy for most of us. Sitting in good light, making ourselves look nice.
So, a good recommendation for the chic life, is to organise everything, according to when and how we are using things. Making it easy to be chic. A place for everything with everything in it's place. I now live in a weeny cottage. I've been given all sorts of great advice about storing things, like hanging a cloth strip with pockets in, over a doorway. All great suggestions, but seeing all that "stuff" would just be so stressful for me. It's better for me just to have less.
The Original Wardrobe Declutterer
And years before we were being told how to sort out our wardrobes by going through our clothes, sorting out "keep" clothes, "mend or alter" clothes, and biff clothes, Leslie was happily telling everyone how to do it.
- Keep clothes which are perfectly, purely, terrific
- In the mend pile you also put clothes which you experiment with - how to use different accessories, change hem or buttons
- And she always gave her nice biffouts, including bags, to her friends
- She then stored clothes which were for summer, but now it's winter, for example, in a large, see-through, plastic dress bag that held about twenty four garments.
Leslie was chic years before it was "in" to be so. It does seem that her determination to be clean, organised, careful with money, and practical, was a big part of it.
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