So I woke up this morning feeling a bit guilty, like a had committed a heinous crime. And to some, maybe I did. I massacred a friend’s closet! But while I suffer from the hangover, I am sure she woke up this morning to a wardrobe of gorgeous clothes she can now see and wear.

The spree began around 2 pm yesterday and lasted about two hours. Two full hours of relentless purging. Mel (I will not include her real name for fear of someone going to her house and raiding our amazing liquidation) is a true “fashionista” in every sense of the word. She never leaves her house without looking totally refined from head to toe. She has a closet FULL of gorgeous, expensive clothes. So full, she can’t even see everything she owns. We went through her closet asking three specific questions.

1. Do you absolutely love it? If it is something that you love and it fits, keep it. If you are keeping something for sentimental purposes only, there are two options. Either allot one foot of space in your closet for these things or take a picture of it and create a clothing scrapbook.

2. Do you wear it? Statistically, we only wear about 20% of the clothes that are in our closet. If you haven’t worn an item in the last 12 months, dump it. If you’re not sure, hold onto it for one more season and re-asses next year. If you can’t remember when you bought it and it still has tags on it, (seriously?) scrap it immediately.

3. Do you own more than one? We all have a tendency to gravitate toward to the same things over and over. Clothing that makes us look and feel good. I mean, who doesn’t look good in a black turtleneck, but do we really need 10 of them? Are we predicting a black turtleneck drought?

I think Mel’s biggest apprehension about separating herself from her clothes was the quality of the clothes and the financial investment. I mean, she has some gorgeous pieces! But if you don’t wear your clothes, the less gorgeous they are and the more expensive they really become!

Here is the aftermath of our butchery. Two FULL racks and one large pile of clothes.

Mel is now left with the task of really getting rid of these items. She has plenty to take to consignment or to donate. I’m certain she will continue to look fabulous and fresh with her NEW closet. I, on the other hand might need a little retail therapy to recover.