My first semester in college, I went into the bookstore to get my course texts, and came out with a shimmery, electric blue quilted jacket. I never wore it once, and finally purged it five or six years later. You're nodding, aren't you? You've been there. Impulse buying is an expensive waste of money, and having a closet crammed with not-quite-right clothes is unproductive, not to say aggravating. But you can get a handle on it pretty easily.

If you don't have much free time to analyze your duds, do this quick thing. Turn all the hangers in your closet around backwards. Then, as you wear each item, launder and rehang it, put the hanger in right way around. After six months or so, this will tell you what you absolutely don't wear. At the end of a year, purge anything still on a backwards hanger. Do this every January first, and you could keep at least your hanging clothes under control.

If you have a little more time, and really want to open your closet and see only wearable, stylish, quality clothing that is in good repair, and fits you and your life, devote one Saturday to the project and dive in. Find three large bags or boxes. You'll fill one with donations to a local thrift shop. You'll place recycling in another, and things to give to friends or sell at a consignment shop in the third. Also bring a laundry basket in for items that need cleaned or mended. And a notepad and pen, to note gaps in your wardrobe, and ideas about combinations to try.

Take everything out of your closet and lay it on your bed. (Take this opportunity to vacuum the dark corners and wipe down the shelves.) Then, simply pick up one item at a time, and ask these questions: Does it fit me? Do I love it? Is it in good shape? Do I wear it? If you get four 'yes' answers, into the closet it goes.

If you answer no to any of these, your next action varies. Things that don't fit should go bye-bye. Things you don't love, pass on to someone else. Worn out clothes can be recycled. Clothing that you're not wearing for whatever reason, but that is in good shape, can be donated, sold on consignment, or given to your girlfriend.

Think hard about mending. You can surely sew on a button. But it's unlikely many of us would try to fix a ripped out zipper. Stick it in the recycling.

While sorting, make notes about what garments are needed to fill in gaps, or to replace worn out stuff. Then you'll have something to look for next time you step into a clothing store, and you won't be so vulnerable to whatever catches your eye. Kind of like grocery shopping with a list.

A final idea: when you put together an outfit from your closet that really rocks, take a photo of yourself in it. Print these and keep them in your closet. The the terrific combo won't fall out a hole in your head and be lost forever. Or does that only happen to me?