Living in Paris for a month was a life (and style)-changing experience. Paris is known for its fashion and everywhere I went I saw stylish women who inspired me. At least once a day, I passed someone on the street and wish I could ask them to stop so I could take a picture. Basically, I was living in a real-life Pinterest board. So, you’d think I’d come home with the desire to purchase more and more clothes but living in Paris had quite the opposite effect on me.
I’ve returned back home to my New York City apartment and every crevice and corner of my small space is stuffed with clothes, shoes, bikinis, and coats. I’m grateful for my amazing wardrobe but if I’m being honest a lot of the more trendy pieces no longer speak to me after spending time in Paris. When I began to unpack I immediately realized that over the past few years, I had accumulated a lot of clothes that I simply do not need.
I am planning on hosting a lot this summer and want to have a clean apartment to do it in so with a lot of tough love and emotional support from my friends who sat with me as I shifted through things, I decided to clear out my wardrobe. The donation bins are high and I’m the proud owner of my first-ever storage unit. Below, find the 8 things I immediately dropped from my wardrobe after living in Paris for a month.
I’ll admit it. I bought into the designer logo tank top trend and high-key I regret it. Simply because, I’m already over it and it’s been less than a year. I like my designer purchases to live in my wardrobe for at least a decade so watching myself lose interest in something so quickly made me decide to not fall for that impulse purchase again. It pained me but I donated a few designer items with flashy logos to make room for more luxury wardrobe staples that I can wear forever.
T-shirt trends are always so easy to buy into. Since they aren’t too expensive, I’m quick to shop them. I remember how excited I was about the shoulder pad t-shirt trend and I also bought into some asymmetrical options over the years. At this point, I’ve collected one too many of these trendy buys so I decided to say goodbye to a few of them. In Paris, no matter how cold it was, people loved layering up a ‘90s inspired tank top. I’m doubling down on that part of my closet and avoiding trends.
I went hard for the tiny sunglasses trend. My sunglasses rack is an area of my closet that I often overlook during a cleanout but taking a closer look at it this time around, I realized that I was a fool to never shift through it. It was getting cluttered with styles that were either broken or that I just simply never wear. One of the trends that I’m saying goodbye to especially after witnessing the way that people accessorize in Paris is oversized sunglasses.
Do I really need 5 seemingly identical white button downs? When asking myself this question I had to remind myself that they aren’t actually identical. Some of them are higher quality than the others. In order to make room in my closet for shifting through fun pieces that I’m excited about wearing, I decided to donate a repetitive item or two. This will actually be really good for my personal style because it’s an opportunity to wear my high quality items more often.
Print trends come and go. This closet cleanout led me to believe that a lot of the prints I’ve bought into in the past have already lost my interest. While I donated outdated graphic prints, tie-dye t-shirts, and overpowering florals—pinstripes seemed to stick with me. If you like statement dressing and wearing prints, try shopping for pinstripes. I guarantee you that you’ll hold onto them much longer.
New Yorkers love their trendy costume jewelry. We layer and layer up on gold chains, chunky rings, and statement earrings. I was on a jewelry high before I left for Paris but coming back, I’ve started to strip down to my roots. Growing up, I always wore the same necklace every day, simple studs, and maybe one or two rings. I still have a love for jewelry but I’m more interested in shopping for high-quality pieces now.
I feel like cropped pants and jeans make me look shorter and I didn’t see anyone wearing them in Paris. I took it upon myself to dump this item in favor of the wide leg jeans that everyone was wearing. French people also loved straight-leg jeans but right now I can’t get my mind off of wide-leg styles.
A lot of scandalous dresses line the walls of my closet. It wasn’t too long ago that I loved hitting the club every weekend and I’ve been hanging on to some of these dresses simply because of the memories I have in them. Memories are sometimes better remembered using photos so I decided it was time to bid these dresses adieu. Sometimes more modest styles are even sexier than baring it all. The below dresses prove my point.
