How dare you mum, I was only 13…

I still remember the day I came back home from school to an empty closet. I went from an abundance of clothes to 2 dresses, 2 shirts, and 7 other items.

There had been a crisis in a village in Cameroon, Oku

This village has a lake called Nyos, it emitted deadly gases which killed thousands of people, and left others homeless. It was a terrible disaster and I pray it never happens again.

​Anyways let’s get back to the story. During that period, there were so many people in need of items, clothes, homes, food and so much more. So my mum and grandma decided to help them. They packed up all my clothes and donated them to this cause.

Ohhhhhh, when I told you I was so annoyed, like, I was pissed, pissed, pissed! I cried and cried and screamed and rolled on the floor like a mad woman, I was angry!

Like, WHYYYY?????…. why did they have to take only my clothes, they could have sent money or something else. Heck, they could have sent their own clothes for all I cared! I did not understand why they had to take my precious clothes. You already know how much I care about my clothes, even as a 13-year-old, I valued my clothes so much, even the ones I never wore.

​My mum later sat me down for a chat and it made me realize that I had not worn any of those clothes in months, some I had not worn even in years. I had been wearing the same clothes over and over and she had noticed. She thought the others were useless to me so it was smart to give them away to those who actually needed them, those who would make good use of them by wearing them.

​Like me, you probably have clothes in your closet that have been in the hangar for a year now? How much are you actually utilizing the clothes you have? This may good time to do a closet clean-out and possibly donate some items to those in need. It may become someone else’s treasure and you will be doing a good thing.

​This experience made me realize that I had to make good use of, and appreciate the few clothes I had. I had to learn how to use the few clothes I now had.

​This is how my first capsule wardrobe came into existence and I did not even know it was a capsule at the time but I learned from that experience to utilize my closet to its full potential. You see Lenora, this is a big part of why I do what I do. I want you to use your closet to its fullest potential.

​Research has shown that people generally wear only 20% of what is in their closet, so what happens to the remaining 80% you ask?

​Well that is a good question.

I want you to think about it for a second and let me know what you think.​ Some reasons include the fact that your lifestyle and your clothes don’t really fit each other, your clothes no longer fit you, you have a few items missing from your wardrobe or have a little too much of one item, You have no idea what goes with what, your wardrobe is disorganized, you do not take enough time to get ready, you don’t even know what is in your closet

3 ways to fall back in love with your wardrobe

Tap into your inner child and Play dress up for a day: Do you remember the good old days when we played dress up and pretended to be fictional characters and all( in Cameroon we call it ‘play-play’) those were fun days. But here is the thing. Playing dress up allowed us to have fun with our clothes. It allowed us to find creative ways of wearing things and making them fit the character we were trying to recrecrete. We allowed ourselves to be silly, vulnerable and imaginative Nikki, why don’t you do the same thing right now. I promise it is sooooo much fun. I play dress up all the time, especially when I am creating Instagram reels and videos. I create my own little fashion show and runway. Now thats how you can fall in love with your wardrobe again.

Declutter and reorganise your closet: Change it up a little, change the order, move some things around, change the position, get rid of old stuff and revisit those items hiding in the back. (You know the ones you forgot you had)

Find creative ways to revamp your old clothes: It could be by cutting out certain portions, adding some bling and bedazzle, taking it to a tailor, do a DIY project e.x, turning a dress into a top. Here is some inspiration for you.

Click here to learn more about how you can update your closet and flourish through style ​

All my love,

Lenora