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How to Do a Closet Purge BY K A RA A L L E N
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aving a great wardrobe starts with having an organized closet. Most clients wear 20 percent of their closet 80 percent of the time. That’s kind of crazy, right? But it’s true. You don’t wear what you don’t see. Organization saves you time. I tell my clients not to shop before they do a closet purge because you don’t need a bunch of duplicates. After you complete this exercise, you will know exactly what’s in your closet and what you need to purchase. You’ll also need three bags and huggable hangers, which you can find at Target, Walmart or online. Let’s get started! 1. Give yourself about three hours. There is a lot involved in the purging process. Clear your schedule and turn off your phone and TV. Put on some upbeat music and party. Also have a few snacks and libations on hand, in case you get hungry or dehydrated. 2. Take everything out of the closet. Yes, everything. Lay them out on your bed or floor, by color, in neat piles so you can see what you have. 3. Try everything on – everything. You need to know what fits and what doesn’t. Be in a ninja state of mind. 4. Make four piles. (1) Create piles for tailor/ cleaners, (2) back in closet, (3) giveaway – donate or consignment; and (4) throw away.
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| HERS Ma gazi ne | Dec ember 2018 |
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5. Be honest with yourself. Ask yourself these questions while trying on: • Does it fit? Yes: keep going. No: why doesn’t it fit? Can it be tailored? If no, add it to the appropriate pile. • Is it relevant to who I am today? Yes: keep going. No: add it to the appropriate pile. • Do I love it? Does it need to be tailored/ cleaned? Yes: add it to the appropriate pile. No: it goes back to the closet. 6. Be ruthless when going through this process. Only pieces that fit, are relevant and ones that you love should be placed back into your wardrobe. 7. Give yourself a high five. That took a lot of courage. 8. Put only qualified items back. Start putting your items that fit the criteria back into the closet by color. 9. Sort the remaining items. Put the items that need to be tailored in one bag, the giveaway items in the second, and the throw away in the third bag. 10. Get ready for consignment. Call the consignment shop to see what items they will accept. Most have to be fashion labels (Donna Karan, Gucci, etc.), less than 2 years old and in good condition. 11. That’s it. You’re done. Great job! Now you can put together a shopping list based on the items you need to complete your wardrobe.
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| H ER S Ma gazin e | D ec em ber 20 1 8 | 17
Dealing with Sexism in the Kitchen Conversation with Chef Amy Thielen
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dapting to living in a remote cabin was surprisingly easy for Amy Thielen, who grew up in Park Rapids, Minnesota, and graduated from Macalester College. Her husband, Aaron Spangler, an artist, had built a secluded cabin right outside Park Rapids, where they lived for three years with no running water or electricity. Twenty-one years old at the time, she explained, “I didn’t need much. I think it was kind of an adventure at that time in my life. I liked the adventure of it. I didn’t have a child. I wasn’t, like, washing diapers in the creek or anything. I didn’t have very many requirements.” She loved living in “a different time” even though she admittedly “was not an earthy girl,” someone who was into the outdoors. Her reason for being there, though, wasn’t merely for love or adventure, she was there to cook, getting her ingredients directly from her wooded surroundings. “[Hiking] was never really my thing. It became my thing because of food. That was the pursuit.” She eventually moved to New York to work with chefs like David Bouley and immerse herself into the culinary arts. Transitioning from the cabin to the big city wasn’t difficult because she has always lived in her head as a writer. “I didn’t have a hard time going in between,” she said. “They’re both really dramatic places. Well, I’m a writer…writing is really, probably, my touchstone and what I like to do best. So, as a writer, you kind of live in your own head. You’re kind of spaced out. So, I could really live anywhere, and it’d be the same.” An award-winning writer, Thielen has written several cookbooks, as well as a memoir. In her most recent cookbook, she features her all-time favorite dessert. “I really do love the cranberry tart from my last cookbook,” she said. “It was really lovely. You puree the cranberry, 32
| HERS Ma gazi ne | Dec ember 2018 |
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and it’s very smooth, kind of like a lemon curd, but it’s cranberry and it’s a very beautiful color.” While working with Food Network, she created many desserts that became some of her holiday favorites. “I did something on Food Network, and that was the buttercup squash smores. That sounds bizarre, [but] I was toasting marshmallows for my kid and then one thing led to another and I started experimenting with smores recipes.” In this health-conscious age of low fat, low carb, and organic diets, Thielen enjoys cooking with an array of ingredients – whether they are deemed healthy or not. “I’m not somebody who cooks what you call low fat or anything, but I do like to put vegetables, fruit and something good in as many things as I can, just because I like the flavors so much. I really believe that once you listen to your body and your body kind of craves something — you can crave vegetables and meat, different grains — your body will regulate itself.” She said she uses “a lot of butter” and “a lot of animal fat” in her dishes. “I like meat a lot, but I also cook a lot of vegetables.” Starting out as a home cook, Thielen had much to learn about cooking as a profession and the culinary culture itself. While working in restaurants to improve her skills, she dealt with disrespect from her male co-workers and superiors. “I was definitely treated differently and unfairly as a woman working in kitchens… but nothing ever really major happened to me, it was more like…the small things that really get under your skin, and they keep you from advancing. Mostly, though, what really always hurt was the salary. I feel like there was definitely a girl price for a line cook. A line cook who was a woman would get paid less than a man. When I became a sous-chef, I was definitely paid a ‘girl price’ and it was less. That happened all the time.” Working 70 to 80 hours per week to be able to afford living in New York City and getting paid less than her male counterparts was a “problem.” She said, “It would make me really angry.” Despite this fact, she doesn’t mind working with men. “I always felt like I could hold my own working with men and that may be because I grew up in a pack of six cousins and I was the only girl. And I don’t hate men.” The 43-year-old chef is raising a middle school-age son with her husband and believes that men are raised to feel dominant. “They don’t necessarily want to be that way… It’s something that society has made. We created this.” Although she understands why gender inequity occurs, she feels that women “don’t deserve it.” | H ER S Ma gazin e | D ec em ber 20 1 8 | 33 ~AJ