There’s just something about a clean, organized closet that makes me feel radiant. Going through my hangers and shelves and parting with unused, or overused (!!), pieces refreshes me. With summer officially starting in just a few days, a closet overhaul can help transition into the shorts and dresses season.

Capitol Hill Barbie wrote a cheeky but truthful step-by-step guide to getting organized. She suggests donating your slightly used items and offering others to a nearby consignment shop.

We love the charity Dress for Success, which is a global organization that accepts donations of professional women’s attire. Their mission says that they “…promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.”

Once Upon a Prom is a Washington, DC based charity, where “every girl is a princess.” The charity collects dresses and distributes them to high school girls in the metropolitan DC area so that they can feel like a princess on their prom night. Even though prime Prom season has passed, if you are in the DC area, consider donating dresses that you have grown out of. Consider yourself warned: once you have donated, you may feel the need to replace the old with new. In this case, refer to the ClassyFabulous posts discussing dresses and several of our awesome Sale Alerts! to garner inspiration.

Finally, don’t forget your local Salvation Army or Goodwill. Be sure to wash all clothes and strip them of excess lint or pet hair before donating. Check for stains, seams gone awry, loose or missing buttons, frayed material, and holes. If anything is fixable, such as re-sewing a button in, then go ahead and take care of it before you send it over. If there are problems, then you should set the clothes aside and refrain from donating them. Instead, search the web for ways to reuse the material, or recycle it if possible.

Cleaning out my closet always gives me the chance to do a basic inventory and I always rediscover pieces I’ve forgotten about. Consider it a win-win situation when you make room for your new purchases and give your stylish threads to someone who will use them more than you have.

For more information on Dress for Success, visit www.dressforsuccess.org

For more information on Once Upon a Prom, visit http://onceuponaprom.org

Related: [Capitol Hill Barbie] The Closet Chronicles

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