All of this sh*t to wash, nothing to wear.

For the past few years I’ve been playing Stylist with my sister-in-law, Tania. Actually, she has been entertaining my delusions by letting me advise her a little too close to the sun. Either way, I take this work seriously – our goal is to create the ideal, the all-mighty wardrobe that works for her and not against her, that is conscious and unique and ticks all of her boxes of functionality, fit, and fun.

We’re still working on it – but through the years of listening to her experiences and frustrations (which have been both similar and different to mine), I have arrived at the conclusion that laundry day makes many of us feel like shit (pardonnez mon français).

There even are memes going on around – it takes 1 day to wash clothes, then 8 business days to fold them and put them away.

What exactly is it that we dread about doing laundry?

Yes, it’s the physical labor (which is greater when you also do laundry for people other than yourself) – but it could also be an indicator of something deeper.

Imagine that you’re in the process of building (or re-building) your wardrobe. Maybe you went through a life change: You changed careers, you had kids, your weight shifted. Or, let’s say you don’t need a big life change to feel like your wardrobe sucks. Regardless, you might feel like you’re going through a wardrobe crisis.

Then, of course, you have to work, pay bills, cook, clean, keep your social life, keep the spark in your romantic life, get enough sleep, stay well-fed and hydrated, in some cases, keep others well-fed and hydrated, etc. And, your pants don’t fit right, your shirts are stained and the rest of your wardrobe is not for the right occasion, or, if it’s none of these things, then it might be that you just feel uninspired, bored.

When laundry day comes, you’re already frustrated at the lack of functionality and inspiration in your closet, and when it’s time to empty the basket, the clothes seem to have multiplied. You wash them, put them in the drier, try to take them out before they wrinkle, and lay them on your bed or sofa or chair to fold and put away sometime soon.

Many times, this process has made me (and my sister-in-law) feel like “I have all of this shit to wash, yet nothing to wear.”

Laundry day can be just a metaphor – it represents any point in time in which you have to do a rundown of your wardrobe, be it mental or physical.

But laundry day can also be a practical reminder of the state of our wardrobe, and, if we’re happy with it, then laundry day is just a chore, but if we’re unsatisfied, it exacerbates frustrations. Add in the fact that fashion is emotional – It’s always linked to some form of ideal: our ideal version of ourselves looks a certain way. If we don’t feel closer to that ideal, of course we’re going to feel unsatisfied and uninspired after an activity that forces us to review our wardrobe.

Reducing Frustrations

Here are some ideas for reducing frustrations related to laundry day, as well as practical steps during laundry day that can help with the overall state of our wardrobe.

1. First, accept that some tasks you need to do are unavoidable and you’ll have to do them anyway. I’ve come to peace with this.
2. Figure out how to make the task less haunting. When I started living alone and doing adult tasks by myself, I would dedicate an audiobook solely to the time I spent doing laundry. I looked forward to listening to the story even though it would be linked to a task I didn’t enjoy.
3. Troubleshoot. Every time you fold something, think about how you like it, why it works or doesn’t work, what you can wear with it, or what you’d like to replace it with. This helps you be more aware of what you own and make mental (or physical!) notes of your needs and feelings.
4. See what items you wash the most. Most of these things are what you wear on the daily – Are they a true representation of how you’d like to dress day-to-day?
5. Make a resolution based on what you noticed in your wardrobe – maybe you need more comfortable basics, or less black tops. Resolve to balance your wardrobe in a way that makes it more functional and inspiring to wear.

In general, though, slow down. Don’t simply run to buy more. Be more strategic so that what you *do* wash and wear doesn’t feel like just more shit, but rather part of a closet that you love and enjoy, even if laundry day per se continues to suck forever.