Storage wars: clothing edition
The unseen side of apartment organization as a clothing person & advice on how to smash your fashion together (somewhat) neatly
Get more from storing
Similar to going to the dentist, clothing storage carries with it a certain avoidance in conversation; yes, partly because it’s mundane but I think also because it’s a little freaky. Besides the dentist’s chair, is there anything more vulnerable to reveal than one’s closet organization, (or lack thereof)? Add in any amount of clothing (+accompanying footwear and accessories) collecting or overbuying + NYC apartment dwelling, and you’ve got cramped living quarters real quick. I haven’t mastered the storing of all my fashion things, but I have improved upon my methods and learned to limit my intake in buying tons of new items. Plus I sell on eBay/Depop, etc. if I realize I own a piece that no longer serves me. Taking all this into account with the additional fact that I do not live alone, I hope you’ll reserve judgment for the scattered, even potentially overwhelming to some, “storage” that is my wardrobe(s), which I am sharing in detail this post. While I plan to advise on the best organizational tactics for clothing+, I will also be providing general recs for some solid ways to store and upkeep clothes, both for a similarly limited space living situation, or for those with the luxury of more space and/or less belongings.
Hung up on not hanging up your knits
This may go without saying to many, but I still see too many sweaters on hangers for my liking when I’m shopping used online, or even—gasp—in store window displays. Sweaters should never be hung up as it distorts their shape and unevenly stretches their yarns. That means all sweaters must be stored “loose,” and in a New York City apartment, if you’re somebody with hella knits, the requirement to store them then demands drumroll, please: BINS…and bins in a small apartment means….another drumroll: under-the-bed placement (fml).
What bins are the best, you might ask? If you have separate areas for storage where you don’t have to look at your bins daily, go for plastic as it dissuades moths which are apparently attracted to body odor.
Woven basket bins if you just feel like having something cuter to look at under the bed & letting your sweaters all hang out and your cats climb all over them, here for $37.49; nicer version with a lid, here for $149
This was a reason for which Sue, my knitwear creative developer and maker friend, said she washes all winter sweaters before tucking them away in storage bins (in her barn, no less). Other than that, Sue recommends for knitwear upkeep a care package from independent knitwear label 4 Objects (linked below), inclusive of 3 organic merino dryer balls, one 20 wash bottle of eucalan, and one sweater stone (great for de-pilling).
And of course Sue threw in the Olde English recipe for moth repellent from Shakespeare’s Macbeth:
“Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog”
Daring somebody to give that one a go at home…
How to get in them drawers
As for cut-and-sew knits, I have amassed a sweats collection shared with my man that is bordering hoarder. I just love a merch sweatshirt! Since these types of knits are so bulky, I squish them in a drawer (and pile some on my closet floor), and hope for the best. Same story for workout clothes (they get their own precious drawer even though I wish they didn’t have to). Say hello to my kittens (Thomas had a Babadook moment I had to include); there’s a plush bed above each of the two wardrobes, which have seen many a rearrange.
Even in small apartment life, underthings get their own drawer, as do socks; can you believe it? And with a mere four drawers allotted for two people, space fills up quiiiick. I’m open to trying some of the in-closet/drawer/wardrobe individual organizers, but haven’t committed to any yet because there seem to be a lot of size constraints for opening and closing drawer access. Possibly in due time, stay tuned.
The Container Store has a whole section on organizing projects, some of which cover organizer product offerings I’m kinda curious about, here
Hanging out vertically
I definitely hang my pants incorrectly but that is due mostly to not having enough closet space. If I could all the time, I would follow the “Savile Row Fold,” for pants, which I just learned from this how-to video on YouTube—don’t they look so neat and pressed? Folding your trousers by this method helps them stay secure in not falling off the hanger, and because the weight falls to the bottom, wrinkles fall out naturally. The hanger originally shown in this video contains a felted trouser bar if you feel like being extra tailored in your storage by purchasing some of these babies.
If you’re a real high-class broad, you could try hanging your jeans this way, too, but in New Yawk, we generally don’t have the spatial opportunity for this kind of hanger-bound jeans extravagance.
Hanger types:
Foam/fabric or crochet-covered, or plastic: good for fabrics made of silk, or other delicate fibers: set of 12 vintage crochet-covered rainbow yarn hangers here for $46.80; vintage curved crochet-covered (better for most dresses) set of 5 here for $30,
Felted trouser bar hanger: for the Savile Row pants fold: set of 5 very nice ones here for $50
Curved shoulder hanger: for outerwear, tailored jackets especially: wooden ones here for $38.99
Even with some woven clothing, if they’re made of delicate fabrics like gauze, lawn or voile, I’m often too nervous about these types of garments tearing from the pressure of any hanger. For instance I fold an Edwardian top made from a cotton lawn my sister gifted me at all times to preserve the delicate cloth and lace trim because that’s how much I love my clothes.
Are you a double stacker? I need to know: do you double stack your shirts on hangers? I do not; however I know some people who do and claim it brings them peace of mind for the added room it allows in their closet. I just need my eyes on everything I own nearly always, so this covered up method is not for me.
The war of what’s in your wardrobe
Beyond hanger and storage bin types, the management of storing space, especially when shared, can lead to fights verging on personal attacks for those cohabitating couples—what can make a person feel more defensive than when a partner starts comin’ for their STUFF? Of course Aidan & Carrie’s fight comes to mind immediately with one of the best couples arguments ever written, taking place amidst the two characters’ merging of belongings after moving in together. Similar to Carrie’s reply of “Don’t mock the clothes” to Aidan when he asks her (in reference to a gorgeous Roberto Cavalli distressed knit top): “When and where were you planning to wear this?”, I, too, am of the belief that clothes all have their time and place if they’re still beloved by the owner, and have begged my husb not to ask questions of this nature. I don’t wanna overdo the hoarding, but c’mon, you married a fashion gal!
Becoming unfolded
If ever there was a maintenance task that could make me go insane, it’s trying to keep two people’s massive T-shirt collection reasonably organized. You can bear witness in the third pic of the first sequence of photos this very phenomenon: try as I might, the thangs be comin’ undone, as do I. If you’re a T-shirt collector without a buncha drawer space, might I advise to be patient and try to keep easy access to the ones you wear the most? I also organize by plain and graphic tees, sometimes even fitted tees and bedtime tees get their own little piles…woof, I know.
Finding my footing (organization)
The second wardrobe contains stacks of shoeboxes, and the remainder of shoes spills over onto shoe racks stacked in the entry way, and two more stacked in the insane asylum room our apartment features, dubbed the “fridge room.” There really is not a very cute way to store shoes without a gigantic walk-in closet with built-in shelving of course. But I’m doing the best I can with what I got, and what I got is…well, a lot of shoes whose total number shall remain censored unless you’re one of my closest confidantes.
Hats and belts have become insane on the faraway wall in the entry way area, I know, I know. I am working on it but also since there’s a door to this “mud room,” it’s really nice to just slam that thing closed, hiding from view the bamboo pegs containing all the hats and belts, the purse rack, the coat rack, and the main chunk of stacked shoe racks. I can see what all you home-dwellers like about having manifold closets with doors for storage!
The seasonal closet swap
The least glam storage and re-org yet and yet the most necessary (as I have learned the hard way) is the access to clothes in the bedroom versus elsewhere that you wish to wear during a given season. My best advise here is to make your spring/summer wardrobe pieces more available during their time, and vice versa for fall/winter. I move fall/winter clothes into the second bedroom/office when temperatures rise and the opposite swap when temps drop. It’s annoying initially but worth it.
Besides tees, jeans and most cotton casual pants sit folded in the two built-in closets, above the hanging garments on the one scarce and reachable shelf this apartment provides; it isn’t a pretty sight. As for what’s up extremely high on the second tier of built-in closet shelving (not pictured to preserve yours and my peace of mind)—unreachable without a ladder—depends on season: chunky sweaters during summer; and tanks/other teenie knit items, plus swimsuits and shorts during winter.
So what goes into actual storage, if’n you have a separate space?
A CubeSmart that’s extremely difficult to get to in every way—it’s a 15 min walk, and accessible only via one of those industrial rolling ladders; plus it’s a unit which you cannot stand up in and must therefore crawl beneath a metal caged roof like some sort of victim in SAW—is indeed part of my New York storing. However this storage unit’s “space” is mostly taken up with my brand’s fabric bolts and some holiday decorations. Though I do recommend the below item types as worth the trip as far as clothing goes, if you happen to have any kind of storage apart from your home.
Move to storage if you’ve got it:
Ski/snow gear in summer
Special occasion gown and/or suit(s) if they takes up a lotta space
Winter coats / puffers (although I lazily snuck in some puffers in the narrow space next to the washer/dryer in the teenie tiny closet in our entry way “mud room” heh)
This has not been the most fun or aesthetically pleasing post, that’s for sure; nevertheless I have gotten an inventory of sorts that may help in “managing” all fashion belongings. And doing this practice of taking pictures and logging where and in what manner all clothes+shoes+accessories are stored for both myself and my guy has made me surprisingly curious about what y’all are keeping in your closets, and just who out there is the type of little freak who hangs up their jeans.
xHannah