Confessions of a closet organizer

Can’t let that crumpled bridesmaid dress go? You know the one—it might be teal or sherbet-orange, and it’s remained in the back of your closet long after it dropped out of your rotation … which was probably the first day of your friends’ honeymoon.

Maybe you can’t reach the shoes, belts, and handbags stowed in your closet. Or perhaps the racks are so stuffed you can barely pull shirts and skirts that fit from yesterday’s ill-fitting sartorial grasp.

Erica Thevenot wants to help you.

The Baton Rouge native is a self-made wardrobe and closet guru who offers fashion rehab by way of closet editing and organizing, personal styling, and personal shopping.

“I want to eliminate that daily dose of dread when they walk in the closet and think, ‘I have nothing to wear,’” Thevenot says.

With closet editing, Thevenot spends a day or two tackling the closet: throwing out (and often donating) pieces on a love-it-or-leave-it basis, reinventing old pieces, de-cluttering to make the space navigable, and even adding shelving.

Her goal is a positive emotional response when a client walks into his or her closet. By transforming it into a “mini boutique,” her clients visualize a streamlined wardrobe and foolproof outfits.

So why would someone entrust their wardrobe to her? Thevenot earned a bachelor of science in apparel merchandising from LSU after, among other things, a three-month fashion internship in New York. There, she picked up styling skills from the pros, working alongside celebrity stylists and finding inspiration in their work. Back in Baton Rouge, Thevenot worked in retail and applied her newly acquired skills to her own clientele before starting her business in September.

The 25-year-old’s repertoire also includes personal shopping and styling. She accompanies clients on several shopping trips, learning their tastes and, in the process, sharing her expertise. “I hope to make the shopping experience more pleasurable and successful, to help my clients buy only what they’re looking for or what they love, rather than shop aimlessly,” she says.

Personal styling involves dressing clients according to occasion, body type, and their own sense of style. “My goal is to make a person look and feel like they stepped out of a magazine,” she says. “When a client comes to me the day after an event and says, ‘I got so many compliments,’ I know I did my job right because that person felt great.”

Each of Thevenot’s services begins with a consultation to define the client’s personal style. Because what we wear is an extension of our personalities, the one-on-one session covers personal taste across such disparate categories as weekend hangouts and literature. “Erica really listens to the client’s needs,” says Carolyn Hardin, who tasked Thevenot with revamping her lackluster wardrobe and closet. “She doesn’t insert any personal agenda, and she’s not trying to sell some specific look. She taught me to define my style and to become my own stylist.”

Thevenot assigns homework to clients: create an inspiration board from magazine images to serve as everyday, go-to inspiration. “You do that for yourself, not for me,” she stresses. “From that you can discover things you like that you didn’t even know.” The results, Thevenot says, can be surprising. “They just need that little push, and with that, their confidence comes out,” she says.

Hardin agrees wholeheartedly. “Erica makes you more aware of dressing to your body type and bringing that confidence out through your wardrobe,” Hardin says. “She makes you feel really good about working with your shape and what you are right now.”

Later this month she plans to hold her first informational style session, a sort of Fashion 101 during which she’ll share her personal archive of style insights, from closet essentials to dressing for your size and shape. She’ll even send you home with a style guide filled with sample outfits and smart shopping tips. And that’s one thing you won’t want to throw away.

You can e-mail Erica Thevenot with your fashion questions and emergencies and to find out more about her services and upcoming class at [email protected], or call her at (225) 354-5706.

It’s all in the mix: Thevenot combines Carolyn Hardin’s wardrobe classics with statement pieces from the GAP, Banana Republic and J. Crew. “I love how she puts all these colors together,” Hardin says.