Ways to Organize Your Closet with Monisha Kapur and Paula Rizzo

Hey there, well, welcome to ListProducer.com. I'm Paula Rizzo and I'm joined today by Monisha Kapoor of 344 PM. You're the founder of this amazing project and website and business. Tell me a little bit about why you started and what you're doing.

Yeah, well, thank you first for having me on, Paula, but I started 344 PM just about 5 years ago and it's a personal styling business that I help women entrepreneurs and business women help them find their standout style according to their own budget. And I started this honestly out of a need for myself, having worked in the fashion industry, even someone like me, shortly after having my daughter, it was hard. It was hard to think about what to wear. There's so many decisions going on in your mind and what do I do? And the last thing on my list was, What do I wear?

Yes, I can imagine. Well, and I read on your website that 3:44 PM was when your daughter was born.

Yes.

I love that. That was the real transition point for you.

Exactly. And that's what it is. And everyone's like, oh, that's so sweet, which it really is. It is sweet that that's the time of day that my daughter was born. But really, as you said, it was a transition point. It was a time where things of my whole life changed. And I think, you know, everybody has their own 3:44 PM moments, whether it's—

Oh. Having a child, starting a new job, you know, so many things. Totally. Becoming an entrepreneur. I know when I left my full-time job at Fox News for over a decade, now I work from home. And so that's a totally different thing. But I find I try to get dressed every day. I do get dressed every single day like I'm going to an office, even though I'm working from home. It really helps like my psyche and makes me feel good and all that. A little background though on how we know each other. I, Monisha, took one of my online courses, Lights, Camera, Expert, that I created with Terry Truspicio about how to get and keep media attention. So in addition to this blog, listproducer.com, I also have been a television producer for a very long time. And so I have that online course. And Monisha, I have to say, like, you are one of the star students. You were like, I wanna get in Sway magazine, right? You did it.

Yeah.

What are some of the others? I think Bustle was another one. Give us some other.

Yeah, no, it was a great course. And thank you to you and Teri, 'cause it really just made me focus and think about getting my name out there. I felt like I had so much to say and I didn't know how to say it. And when it came out to actually doing it, and yeah, Sway picked me up as a contributor, Bustle quoted me, Working Mother, there's a whole bunch out there that when I finally got the opportunity to figure out, hey, I'd like to tell the world, Regarding your expertise, it was great. So I'm getting better at what I do.

Good, good, good, good. Yeah, so in my head, I'm like, oh, well, my expert go-to personal stylist is of course Monisha all the time. And so someone came to me who reads, who reads listproducer.com and said, hey, do you have any apps for organizing your closet or organizing your clothes? And I thought, that's a cool idea. No, I don't. Let me go to my expert, to Monisha. So I asked you about it. So what is your take on apps for organization and styling?

Yeah, no, apps, apps are great. You know, technology, even though I have to say I'm probably not the most techie person in the world, but technology is great because it helps you with everything, right? It helps with those shortcuts. It helps you stay organized. And all of these apps that are out there that help you put outfits together are great too. Because again, you know, what we were talking about earlier with that decision fatigue, you're there's so many decisions you have to make in a day that the last thing you want to think about is what to wear. And in comes the app, which is great because it just helps you quickly put the outfits together, think about what you have in your closet. For example, Stylebook is, is an app that I've even personally used a couple of times.

Oh, cool.

Easier, especially, you know, when you're packing, it really kind of like helps you put those outfits together, not overpack, not underpack. But you know, Stylebook keeps track of things like how many times have you worn an outfit. You know, so if there are days where you feel like, oh my gosh, I'm wearing the same black suit over and over again, like you probably are and your app can tell you that.

Right. I find that it's funny for photos, you know, like if you go to networking events or you go to things that are gonna be on social media and you're like, God, I just wore that dress. Why am I wearing it again? I'm gonna be photographed. You know, I think in that way now it's like, oh my gosh, there might be a picture taken, and I don't want people to think I have only one dress, you know? It's kind of funny. So Stylebook, Stylebook is one to sort of check out. But the idea here is that your system should be set up in such a way that the app actually helps you and you can work better with that app if your closet is already sort of organized, right? Absolutely. So give me a little background. Usually, you know, every, let's say, you know, we're in fall, like in the fall I think, oh gosh, I should go through my closet and get rid of some of my stuff. Is that a good approach, sort of the once a year, or what do you recommend?

Yeah, I mean, ideally, it would be great to do it every season, but I'm gonna be honest, I don't even do it every season. So, you know, that's okay. Once a year is perfect. And it's really, it's not, while it's tedious, and yes, you have to kind of think about it, it's also one of those things where you're like, you know what, I haven't worn this in a while. At the end of the day, look at how clean my closet is. So there's, there's a lot you could do. So one quick trick that I actually use and tell my clients is to, if there's a clothing item that you're not sure about, put a safety pin on it. And if after a year, if that safety pin is still there, that means you haven't worn it. So just, oh gosh, go ahead and donate it. Because you know what, at the end of the day too, and I know it makes me feel good. There's somebody out there that's gonna want that shirt or those pants.

That is true. Someone else.

Donate it. Yeah. It's just gonna collect dust and a hole from the safety pin in your shirt.

Right, exactly. It'll be a big dent. Yeah, it's true. You know, I do love Marie Kondo. I don't know how you feel about her, but the idea of like, does this still spark joy? You know, holding the item or putting it on. And I do have a couple of things and I'm sure other, you know, everybody does, but it's like you bought it 'cause you thought it was a good deal or you thought, oh, I'll wear it. And it's just there. And every time I like look at it, I'm like, meh. I just don't like it that much. Or I put it on and I'm like, meh, whatever. And I still keep it in the closet. But you're right, someone else would actually be much better suited for that outfit. So I might as well just toss it and get it going. What about the actual hangers? You have a very specific way of doing the hangers. So tell me about that.

Yeah, yeah. So, you know, sometimes we just use those dry cleaning hangers or whatever, and that again will cause clutter. You may have the right clothes, you might have everything hanging out well, but just because your hangers are either, you know, hung the wrong way or things look— it just gives that sense of clutter and kind of going back to your Marie Kondo kind of thing, right? We just want it clean and we want it open so that your app can go ahead and do its job and help you put together outfits, or you can look at it quickly visually and help put together outfits. So keeping your hangers consistent is really great because it kind of takes the eye off of that clutter and you're actually able to see your clothes clearly. And I prefer wood hangers. It could be plastic hangers, but the most important thing is that all the hangers should be the same. Right.

So I tend to use the plastic ones. I like those because the wood ones, I mean, you correct me if I'm wrong, but I, yeah, I feel like they take up too much space. And then, but that does help because you shouldn't overclutter because then you're like, you can't even get anything in or out. So I guess that's a good, Trick, you know, to not overdo it. But what about the ones that are like very specific? Like I have like the skirt ones or the pant, the, you know, I have like pant ones.

Yep, absolutely. Um, you know, I would definitely recommend doing pant hangers because again, if you have it folded or if you just have it hanging on a regular hanger, you forget the look, you forget how it fits. Is it a, is it a, you know, a long pant, an ankle pant? Is it a skirt? You know, so there's, there's so many things that when it's hanging and it's right there. Again, you just want it to be fast and easy. You don't want to have to think about, oh wait, what, what are those pants? You know, they're hanging out, or if they're hanging on a pant hanger, you could see it, you could grab it, and boom, you're done. And you're like ready to go and your outfit's put together.

Yeah, it's almost like thinking about it as if it were a store, you know, like you walk in, you want to be able to see and identify things and say like, would I buy that? Would I wear that? You know, and just being able to have it be really clear and clutter-free.

Yeah, exactly. That's a great example. You know, when you're going to go and buy something, you know, if the pants are just hanging on a regular hanger, do you feel like, oh yeah, I'm gonna— I'm attracted to that? Yeah, no, it's— it's— you've got to kind of think of that way of your closet, just this clutter-free open space so that your mind doesn't have to think too much of the what do I wear. You know, half of our what do I wear is just— it's overwhelming for us.

There's too many options. Less overwhelming. Right, right. And what about folding? Because, you know, Marie Kondo again has a very specific way of folding and not necessarily the, you know, the best or the perfect way. But, you know, there is something to be said to put like things together.

Yeah, absolutely. Folding too is important because the other thing is when things are folded, you can't really see that clearly. So a system that I do, especially with like t-shirts and shirts, is solid shirts together, printed shirts together, work shirts together. So again, If you're dressing for the weekend, you know, you're not going to go look at your work shirts, right? You're just going to go straight to whatever. If you have, to your point, a speaking engagement or being on video, we know solid colors are always good.

Yes.

Grab, you know, those solid shirts and you're just looking at that one section of your closet. You're not kind of perusing the whole thing like, oh, I have a print in here, I have a solid in here. You know, again, just keeping it organized just helps you. Boom, boom, boom. Like, like a grocery store, right? You know, all the milk is together, you know, all the eggs are together. So.

Right. The decisions are much easier. It's like, okay, this is just the only area I have to look in. I don't have to look through the whole closet. It's just this part. And then lastly, what about accessories? Because sometimes, you know, you have the best of intentions to accessorize, but then you have tangled messes everywhere.

Yes. Yes. Yeah, no, definitely. And it's accessories are always usually the, you know, the last item that you go to. So you don't have to put your whole outfit together and then open your drawer and it's like, oh my gosh, it's this clutter mess. And, you know, the good thing about accessories too is they actually can help make the outfit. So if you're just quickly getting dressed, you just need that quick necklace or those earrings, your accessories are there. So it really is so important to have them organized. So I just say, you know, the easiest thing and the quickest thing is go to The Container Store, go to Target, go to the dollar store, get a couple of clear bins, put your necklaces in the bins, you know, you can get a couple of long ones so that they're all just out there. If you have pull-out drawers in your closet, you could just set it— you dedicate one drawer to that. If you just have a dresser, dedicate just the top to that. And this way it's all organized. You know, earrings can also go in a bin. Earrings, sometimes I say just take a piece of cardboard even, you know, yeah, poke holes in them, put your earrings so that they're all out there standing in front of you. And it's It's that simple.

Right, it's about making it really visual so that you can see and identify it and say, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that," instead of like, "Oh, I forgot about those," and you dig through and you finally find it. Well, this has been so awesome. Thank you so much, Monisha, for sharing all of your insights. And Stylebook, I'm gonna have to download it and check it out. But first, I'm gonna go to the closet, make sure that I, you know, get rid of some of the stuff for the season, and then I will move ahead with the apps. So thank you, and tell everyone where they can find you.

Sure, yeah, no, so my website is 344pm.com. You can learn about me, you can learn, I have a blog out there. So if you're looking for some style tips or just have some questions about styling, you could go check out the blog. And I'm all over social media @344pm. But thank you for having me, Paula.

Of course. Well, thank you, Monisha. See you later. Bye.