I stood in front of my wardrobe wondering what to wear for work as John Humphreys' voice rang out of my radio telling me it was ten minutes past the hour.

I looked at the trousers, skirts, shirts and tops hanging on the rails, not neat and straight but in and jumble, and rifled desperately through the hangers.

There were trousers that had seen better days, skirts that had seen a better and slimmer figure and tops that hadn't even seen the light of day among the few clothes, mainly black in colour, that I did wear.

Humphreys reminded me the time was getting on, and I still didn't know what to wear. I couldn't see what to put on, the clothes were so tightly squeeze in, looking limp and lifeless and uninviting.

Finally, I decided on a pair of trousers that I wore the day before, only because I knew they fitted me, and a top that went with it an old faithful.

The getting dressed saga didn't stop there. Then, there was the decision of what accessories to add. I rummaged in my jewellery box and pulled out a necklace that sort of went with the outfit, but where was the one I really wanted to wear?

Finally, I was dressed. But not dressed to kill or dressed to impress, just dressed.

So when Janet Burrows from First Impressions rang me saying she did wardrobe management. I thought maybe I do need some help.

The day before she came to my house, I feared she would prod and poke through my knicker drawer or sneer at my clothes. But those fears were immediately put at rest. Janet was efficient but friendly.

"I don't go through your underwear drawer," she said as we entered my bedroom.

She flung open my wardrobe doors and my embarrassing jumble of clothes, looking like they were fit for the charity shop, were on full display.

"We wear 20 per cent of our clothes 80 per cent of the time. I want you to wear 80 per cent of your clothes 20 per cent of the time," Janet said.

Before we sorted out my clothes, we worked out my lifestyle and clothing needs what I needed my clothes for.

Then we calculated the percentage of time I did the various activities including work and social events in my life on a simple graph.

Next we categorised what type of clothes I needed from special occasion wear, traditional formal/business wear, relaxed formal/business wear, smart casual, tidy casual (not looking scruffy) and casual (clothes for gardening).

This might sound like I was preparing for an EU summit meeting, but it did make me realise that when I go shopping for clothes, I should really look for smart casual clothes for work that I would wear every week, rather than a little party number that I would wear once or twice.

And I should consider the cost as well, and spend more on my smart outfits for work, simply because I wear them more often. For instance, an evening dress costing £150 and worn three times, costs £50 per wear. A good jacket costing £150 might be worn once a week, say 50 times in a year, so costs £3 per wear.

With my lifestyle and needs of my clothes firmly in my mind, we turned our attention to the wardrobe.

Janet created four piles.

Definitely out: not worn in the past year/ doesn't fit/ dated/ worn or stained. This pile was to be sent to a charity shop or dress agency.

Needs attention: clothes to mend or alter.

Definitely in: Clothes that fit and liked, worn regularly, and in the right colouring, shape and proportions, which suits my lifestyle and works with other items in your wardrobe.

Don't knows: Clothes I hadn't quite made up my mind about.

Janet held up each garment and I had to decide, on the spot, which pile it should fall into. Some items were easier to decide whether they were to keep or not.

Janet could tell if I hesitated as to which pile a top or pair of trousers should really go in clothes that I loved and was waiting to fit back into, or those given to me as presents that I couldn't bring myself to throw out. But out they went.

After a couple of hours, I had four huge piles. My definitely out' clohthes were put in bin bags. And my definitely in' clothes were put back in the wardrobe on the correct hangers wooden ones for jackets and coats and plastic formed ones for dresses and shirts. Wire hangers were sent to the bin.

Suit jackets and trousers were hung separately, so I could team the tops and bottoms with other items in my wardrobe.

Garments were hung in groups long items: coats, dresses and trousers, and short items: jackets, skirts, tops and blouses on double rails, one above the other.

Then the clothes were grouped in colour with lighter shades at one end and darker ones at the other.

Once my clothes were well ordered, my jewellery was then made more accessible.

A top tip from Janet was to stick little cup hooks on the inside of the wardrobe to hang my necklaces, so that I could see them and match them up with an outfit. She also hung my scarves on a hanger and hung those on the inside of the wardrobe door, instead of having them stuffed in a drawer.

Now when I get ready in the morning, I fling my wardrobe doors open and I know I can wear everything. I am dressed, accessorised and out John Humphreys hardly gets a look in.

Janet Burrow will be running a wardrobe workshop for £15. For information about the workshop or wardrobe consultation, costing £50 an hour, telephone 01494 814583 or email: janetyvonne@btinternet.com