Be Better Guys has looked into the soul of your closet and decided that “This place could use an enema!” There’s too much clutter, clothes covered in lint and fuzz thrown on shelves, suits draped on broken down wire hangers, and shoes curling up in piles deep in the back on the floor. Why spend the money and effort to get great looking clothes only to lose them in a landfill of high school letterman’s jackets and Coogi sweaters? David and Brian have been there before and we think we can help with the purge.

Discard These Items

• Any gnarled, tunnel-brimmed baseball caps that you don't wear anymore, particularly ones from your fraternity, Jose Cuervo, or the University of South Carolina (you know, the one that says "Cocks: in all caps. . . very JV).
• Ties with kids' cartoon drawings, from the Warner Brothers or Disney store, or with excessive holiday imagery (bells, Christmas trees, reindeer -- especially reindeer).
• All tank tops and old t-shirts, especially any that were party favors from your old college girlfriend's sorority Winter Formal, or from the Brew-Thru, or a Jimmy Buffett concert.  If you can't throw them away, keep them a rags.
• Dress shirts with frayed cuffs or collars or fully ingrained ring-around-the-collar.
• Any clothing in which you can immediately identify the era in which you bought it. Such as Ocean Pacific corduroy shorts, Travel Fox sneakers, Members Only jackets, acid-washed jeans, baggy, tiger-striped workout pants, the Michael Jackson-inspired red leather jacket from the "Beat It" video, painter's pants, and anything in vivid turquoise, peach or electric green. 
• Any suits with more than 3 buttons or NFL-regulation shoulder pads.
• Mock turtlenecks.
• Holiday-themed sweaters.
• Overalls – yeah, we had them, too.

Donate these Items

• The following shirts: banded collar shirts; any shirt that fits you like it's a muumuu; any Hawaiian shirts -- you're not Magnum, PI; all the flannels shirts worn to Soundgarden shows.
• polo or denim shirts with a company logo on the chest.
• Dress pants with more than 2 pleats.
• Suits that have become shiny from too many dry cleanings. 
• Any pants that are too short, too tight, or have a cut that is out of date (i.e. full-cut, MC Hammer-like baggy pants)
• Jeans that are 2 sizes too big and that sit halfway down your ass, showing your underpants. Since you don't roll with the 40-duece Crips, there's no need to try to dress like them.
• Any belts that are too short or too thin or too plastic.
• Shoes that are too tight. If you have more than one pair like that, get your shoe size checked.
• Ties painted by Jerry Garcia, those with vertical stripes, or any that have abstract patterns that resemble vomit.
• Those hyper-colorful, violently itchy sweaters made of llama hair that you find sold on the street in any cold-weather college town knitted by Peruvian laborers from the Andes.
• Any other piece of clothing that you haven't worn in the last year, like the letterman's jacket. Seriously, no one cares that you competed in County 3A regionals 10 years ago.

What's Left?

If that's your first question, then you should consult the Your Clothes section for the lists of necessary items for work and for play. You want to group like things together (sweaters with sweaters, shirts with shirts, etc.), if only to make your life easier.

But how do you keep your remaining wardrobe looking good? It's all in how you store the clothes. Simple things like hanging your suits and using shoe trees will add years of life to your stuff. It will preserve the investment you've made in your clothes and keep the closet a much neater place. Weigh the options: throwing away shoes every year because they're curled up like a genie's or keep them for 5-10 years by shoving shoe trees in them. We recommend the following tools for your closet:

Shoe Trees -- Ideally, one pair made of cedar for each pair of shoes.  If that's too much to you, then get one pair to rotate into the shoes worn at the end of every day. Help shoes to maintain their shape while they dry and smell fresher. 

Hangers -- One hanger for each suit, each jacket, and each pair of pants you own. There's a difference between hangers for suits and those for pants. For your suits and sport jackets, use hangers with rounded, curved shoulders to hold the shape of the jackets. We recommend wooden ones. Pants can go on plastic tube hangers to save expense.

Tie Rack -- It neatly organizes your ties and belts. Now, the ideal way to store a tie is to roll it and put it neatly in a drawer. But if space is limited, a tie rack keeps them from becoming a tangled ball of silk.

Cedar Blocks, Balls, or Bags -- Store them with your sweaters and other off-season clothing or hang them in your closet. The ceder helps keep moths from making a meal of your clothes and keeps your closet smelling fresh.

Tape Roller and Clothes Brush -- Removes lint, dog fur, dirt, and the hair of your last date form your clothes.  Brushing your clothes will reduce the amount of dry cleaning you do each year, which is extremely hard on clothes.

It's not easy to let go of the clothes you had for years and the memories they evoke, like an old, stained concert tee and recall how rockin' that Winger show really was. Or that pair of mock crocodile loafers you wore on your very first job interview, even though they were a size too small and your feet fell dead asleep. It's hard, but here's a tissue and a Hefty bag, because brother, it's time to move on.