These days, Ann Fitzpatrick, director of the personal-shopping team at the Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills, cleans out her closet with surgical precision.

Thirteen years ago, before she moved into a home with smaller closets, Ms. Fitzpatrick purged her wardrobe of pieces she no longer needed, including dated dresses from Paris that she still loved but had stopped wearing.

She has regretted the loss ever since. 'I am still pining for those pieces I let go that are not replaceable,' says Ms. Fitzpatrick, who spent many years helping clients shop and weed through their closets and now oversees the service. 'I wake up in the middle of the night sweating.'

As a result, Ms. Fitzpatrick now makes sure to hold onto beloved pieces that are in good shape, even if she no longer wears them or they're out of date. She has learned, she says, that alterations can easily update looks.

She changes buttons on old cardigans and jackets to create a more modern look and has hemlines taken down or up as the style dictates; on one Calvin Klein skirt, she has let the hem out twice. （When shortening, leave your hems wide for the future, she notes.） If she has a hole in a cashmere sweater, she often looks for an artisan who can reweave it. And she wishes she had tweaked the big shoulders on one of her Parisian dresses instead of giving it away.

Avoiding large purges, she weeds through her wardrobe every season, getting rid of items such as shoes with worn-out toes or chipped heels （shoemakers can't do their magic on them）, sweaters that can't be rewoven, cotton shirts worn down by starch and trousers that have been dry-cleaned so much they shine or can't be adjusted to the right length. She also weeds out items that don't fit or have colors she no longer likes.

She'll let her two daughters have first pick of the cast-offs and then will give the rest to charities. Nothing gets thrown away. 'I believe that there has got to be a home for any of the things I've owned,' Ms. Fitzpatrick says.

As for restocking, Ms. Fitzpatrick says she's always replenishing her supply of cotton shirts, and at least annually, she'll buy more investment pieces that serve as the core of her wardrobe （such as a perfect black dress, skirts, blouses, trousers and handbags）, and she uses new accessories to refresh them. For instance, she recently bought a Giambattista Valli jacket with a more-structured shoulder, a new look that she thinks will have some staying power.

'By adding a belt, putting a great necklace on or dropping a vest over it, you can change that core piece to have a little different look,' she says.

如今，比佛利山（Beverly Hills）的萨克斯第五大道（Saks Fifth Avenue）店个人购物组的负责人安？菲茨帕特里克（Ann Fitzpatrick）以堪比外科医生的精准度对她的衣柜进行清理。

十三年前，在她搬进一个衣柜较小的房子前，她把自己不再需要的衣服都处理掉了，包括从巴黎买的连衣裙，这些连衣裙已经有些年头了，她仍很喜欢，不过已经不再穿了。

那以后，她一直后悔当初把衣服处理掉了。她说，我现在仍在怀念那些被我处理掉、难以替代的衣服。她为客户买衣服和清理衣柜提供咨询服务已经很多年了；如今她已是这项业务的负责人了。她说，现在我半夜醒来，还会浑身冒汗。

因此，她现在一定会保留那些自己喜欢的、状况还很好的衣服，就算她不再穿了，或是衣服已经过时了也不会处理掉。她说，她已经懂得了稍微变一下就可以轻松地让旧衣换新颜。

她会变换旧开衫毛衣和夹克上的纽扣，让衣服样子看起来更摩登，还会随时尚潮流的变化，调整衣服的下摆长度。她曾经把一件CK衬衫的下摆调整过好几次。（她说，当缩短下摆时，把边留的多一点，以便今后还可以再调整）.如果她的一件开司米毛衣上有个洞，她通常会找手工师傅把洞补起来。她后悔当初不该把她的一件巴黎连衣裙处理掉，而是应该调整一下衣服宽大的肩部。

为了避免进行大清理，她每季都会整理一下衣柜，处理脚趾部分磨损严重或鞋跟磨坏了的鞋子（修鞋匠对这些问题也无回天之术）,破洞无法补起来的毛衣，已经洗得不再挺拓的棉衬衫，或是干洗过太多次、已经掉色或缩水的裤子。她还会处理掉不再合身或颜色她不喜欢的衣服。

她会让自己的两个女儿先从她不要的衣服里挑出她们想要的，然后把剩下的捐给慈善机构。任何衣服她都不会扔掉的。她说，我认为，我曾拥有过的每样东西都应该有个家。

对于购置新衣，菲茨帕特里克说，她总是在不断补充棉衬衫，而且至少每年一次买更多的投资性衣服，作为她衣柜中的核心（比如一件完美的黑色连衣裙、半截裙、上衣、裤子和手袋）,她会用新的饰品来让这些衣服看起来耳目一新。比如，她最近买了一件Giambattista Valli外套，衣服的肩部很有形，她认为这种新的样子有一定历久弥新的潜力。

她说，通过加一条腰带、戴上一条漂亮的项链，或外面配上一件背心，就能产生不同的效果。