Think twice before tossing old clothes

Too big. Too small. Too safe. Too trendy. Out-of-date, dowdy, doesn't-go-with-anything, can't-remember-why-I-bought-it-and-I-still-haven't-worn-it.

Yes, I'm talking about my clothes. Not all of them, but as it turns out, more than I'd like to admit.

I think most women can relate. You've lost or gained weight, but are afraid to let go of the clothes that used to fit, "just in case." Maybe you wear them anyway. Or maybe an item fits, but is out-dated. And what about those high-quality-special-occasion items that you spent serious money on and don't want to part with? You love the pattern but the style is all wrong! Or vice versa.

I often feel overwhelmed when I look in my closet, and so I make the same old choices over and over again. Which just goes to show that the 80/20 rule is a rule for a reason. And it applies to clothes. Basically, I've been wearing 20 percent of my clothes, 80 percent of the time.

And so I turned to local fashion designer and consultant Susan Gorra for help. Gorra recently started offering her services through her company, Gorra's by Susan Stewart ("Stewart" is her mother's maiden name).

The service that interested me is called Closet Control. For $75 an hour Gorra comes to your home, goes through your closet, has you try on various outfits, and tells you what to keep, what to alter, what to toss, and how to wear items in ways you might not have considered.

"It's not that difficult to take classics and mix and match them to create a look that's new and fresh," she says.

She'll also accompany clients on shopping trips. In the end, she does the alterations herself, not to mention designing and creating custom items or even a whole new wardrobe, if that's what you want. She has a fully outfitted "salon and atelier" on Vauxhall Street in New London.

Gorra and I took a trip recently into my closet and the first thing I tried on for her was a pair of black and white Capri pants, paired with a black top and flat sandals. She immediately rolled the pants up to just below the knee and exclaimed that I was hiding the shapeliest part of my legs, thus making them look heavier, not to mention making me look shorter. She also suggested a more fitted top, jacket, and heels, and voilá, I had a professional outfit that could go easily from office to evening.

I was amazed at the difference.

Then I showed her a black and white gingham checked shirt that I've never worn. I bought it thinking I'd wear it like a jacket, over another top with jeans. When I tried it on, Gorra said it did nothing for me, especially if not tucked in.

"You're hiding yourself in that."

She plucked a skirt with a completely different pattern out of my closet and said the two would work perfectly together. And yeah, I've seen wildly different patterns working together in fashion magazines, but on me?

Once she had the skirt and top on me, cinched with a thick black belt, I got it. Although it's not something I'd feel comfortable wearing, it helped open my eyes to the possibility.

For each item in my closet, Gorra made a recommendation and in the end, I got rid of about one-third of my clothes, most of which I gave away to charity.

One thing I didn't expect out of Closet Control was to feel better about my body. Gorra put me at ease and was able to quickly and objectively discern my figure's strengths and flaws, and more importantly, how to play up the former and play down the latter.

"Fashion is not a size," she says. "It's fit, color, and style."

She prides herself on being able to show women how to "effortlessly put together fabulous outfits each and every day, so that when you walk out the door, you never look back. You know you're good for the day."

Besides what seems to be an innate fashion sense, Gorra has experience and education in fashion to back her up. It was her grandfather, Namer Joseph Gorra, who started N.J. Gorra & Bros., a fine fashion wholesale and retail business, in 1902 in the old YMCA building on Meridian Street in New London.

"In 1913, Gorra's was the first occupant of the Manwaring Building," she says. "My father, Joseph Namer Gorra, finally bought the Manwaring Building in 1957 and N.J. Gorra's occupied nearly 10,000 square feet there until we closed in 1983. My family also had stores in Niantic and Watch Hill."

In addition to hands-on experience in her family's business, Gorra has worked for a number of designers and other retailers. She has an Associate of Arts degree in Fashion Design from The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, and studied Fashion Design, Haute Couture, International Art, and French Culture at the Paris Fashion Institute.