CONQUER CLOSET CHAOS!
Nine Fashion Feng Shui' Wardrobe Cures
by Evana Maggiore

The Chinese philosophy of Feng Shui teaches that your life is influenced by the conditions within your habitual surrounding. Because it is your wardrobe’s “home,” the physical state of your closet has a corresponding affect on your life. According to Evana Maggiore, president of Fashion Feng ShuiÒ International, the health of your closet, which is determined by the quality of its contents, is reflected in your own well being.

When your closet is filled with efficiently arranged, well cared for garments that you love, need, and wear all the time, your every “clothes encounter” fuels you with positive energy. However, if the condition of your closet is overwhelming, frustrating, or depressing, you can expect the same
kind of energy to manifest around you. Negative energy depletes you, reducing your magnificence and undermining your potential. To help keep chaos out of your life, conquer it in your closet!

FASHION FENG SHUIÒ’S NINE CLOSET CHAOS CURES

1. If you have not worn it in the last year and absolutely do not love it, send it on its way.
This image consulting rule of thumb supports Fashion Feng ShuiÒ’s basic premise of dressing in the NOW. If you have not worn something for more than a year, you intuitively recognize that it is no longer aligned with you and your intentions. To hasten its departure from your life, walk from closet to closet and make a mental note of any excess clothing that you want to clear and what you want to do with it.  Ask yourself, “How does this serve me? Does it lift my energy, or does my energy drop when I think about, look at it, or put it on?” Clothes that empower you make you feel fabulous. Do you deserve anything less?

2. Never keep anything for “just in case.”
Abundance thinking belongs in your closet, too. Saving for a rainy day, will attract just that. However, saving the clothes you wore 10 years ago, when you were 10 pounds lighter, will not bring back your youthful figure. Clear unworn or excess clothes in small segments. Do more if the Spirit moves you.  Affirm that it is safe to let go. Trust the process of life to bring you what you need.

3. When new comes in, old goes out.
Exchange old clothes for new ones to avoid belongings buildup. The more clothes you have, the more your energy is tied up in mundane matters. Release what no longer serves you. Keep the “Ch’i” flowing by turning over your clothes on a regular basis. In Fashion Feng ShuiÒ, investment dressing means investing in something you absolutely love and will wear over and over again — not something basic that you will have in my closet for ever and ever.

4. Avoid “autobiographical” wardrobe syndrome.
Many wardrobes that look like conglomerations of their owners’ past lives. Seventies’ leisure suits hang beside Eighties’ power suits. Hippie frocks abut designer duds. Skirt lengths, lapel shapes and style lines run the gamut of fashion history. Clothing that aligns with who you were needs no longer to be in your closet, or your life. These garments anchor you to your past because of the energy of the memories and associations attached them. Keep your wardrobe in the NOW. Present tense clothes, ones that honor intentions, essence, and physique, as they are today, are the only clothes that belong in your closet.

5. Discard “expired” garments.
You should clean out your closet the same way you do your refrigerator, by checking for expiration dates. Clothes expire just like food does! Clothes lose their Ch’i when they are worn-out, ill-fitting or irrelevant to you and your desires. If it does not fit you, flatter you, fulfill you, function for your current lifestyle, or fortify you to realize your dreams—it’s time to donate it to someone whose life is more in alignment with its energies. Discard any garments that have outlived their usefulness. From a Fashion Feng ShuiÒ perspective, stale clothes create stale lives.

6. Just say NO, thank you
Return or exchange undesirable or unwearable gifts of clothing or accessories. If you do not love them and wear them, you are not fully honoring the giver. Better to fess up and ask for the receipt. Explain your intention to replace it with something more befitting to your taste, physique, or age, etc.  Similarly, say “No, thank you.” to well meaning souls, who are cleaning out their own wardrobes. Prevent your closet from becoming a catch-basin for their cast-offs by accepting only hand-me-downs that mirror your personal energies and honor your good taste.

7. When you think you can’t afford NOT to buy something, DON’T!
If more people had that attitude about shopping, they could trim hundreds of dollars a year off their clothing budgets. Is your closet full of unworn “bargains?” Say good-bye to good buys that don’t align with your personal clothing criteria.

8. Don’t buy to buy.
Shopping has become a recreational sport. Filling our closets is the new national pastime. Ask yourself, how many clothes do you really need. Many people buy because they are lured by off-prices, peer pressure or just plain boredom. A well thought out wardrobe plan can save you hours of mall-hopping and keep your savings account intact. Investing in focused, quality goods will attract focused, quality energy into your life.

9. Change of mind, body, or spirit calls for change of clothes.
Change indicates that the Ch’i is flowing. As the circumstances of your life evolve, so should your personal style. Allow your appearance to go with the flow, by keeping you closet current with the times.

EVANA MAGGIORE is an award-winning professional image consultant and internationally recognized feng shui practitioner. President of Fashion Feng ShuiÒ International, she is the co-founder of the Fashion Feng ShuiÒ Facilitator Professional Training Program and author of Dressing the Whole Person, Nine Ways to Create Harmony & Balance in Your Wardrobe & Prosperity in Your Life! and the Fashion Feng ShuiÒ Wardrobe Planner series. Contact her at evana@fashionfengshui.com.  To learn more about Fashion Feng ShuiÒ visit www.fashionfengshui.com.

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© 2006 Evana Maggiore Fashion Feng Shui International