An easy way to give yourself an end-of-winter wardrobe lift while cost-effectively building your wardrobe for seasons to come is to take advantage of end-of-winter clearance sales. Here are 5 winter wardrobe staples to look for now:

#1 Cashmere Sweaters & Scarves. Called the Cadillac of all wools, cashmere is more expensive than lambs wool and merino wool with good reason — it lasts longer when cared for properly, can be worn in more than one season and is less itchy than other wools. A few classic cashmere sweaters and scarves can last a lifetime. We always find a few cashmere steals on the clearance racks for our clients this time of year and are thanked for years.

#2 Winter Coats. Merchants are motivated to sell off their coat collections right now to make room for spring collections that are arriving daily. Make their real estate problem work for you by visiting your coat closet and getting focused on what you’d like to replace or update in your coat collection. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to get what you need when you arrive at the store with a fresh focus. Best part -- you won’t feel guilty buying the coat that felt like a splurge at the beginning of the season when it’s up to 70% off!

#3 Knee-Leather Skirts. When properly coordinated, leather can add a significant amount of style to a wardrobe. While it is tempting to stock up on leather goods that are on sale, we advise people against investing in pieces that might go out of style quickly. The leather items that we take note of when we see them on sale are knee-leather skirts. The length sets it apart from shorter and long cuts that go in and out of style more quickly.

#4 Bright Colored Gloves. Black and brown gloves tend to sell out quickly and because you where them the most, it makes sense to buy them when you need them, even if they are full price. Gloves in fun colors like red, fuchsia, turquoise and yellow can add great fun to a wardrobe and become true fashion finds when purchased on sale. When you are buying gloves, particularly late in the season when pickings are slim, err on the side of a bit tight rather than a bit large, as these items always stretch with wear.

#5 Simple, Neutral Tops. We tend to stock up on tops for our clients at the beginning of a season in the “in” colors that are being shown that year. They tend to sell out quickly and you want to get the most mileage out of them in their best season. If you can find simple layering tops in basic colors (i.e. black, cream, beige or red) during end-of-winter clearance sales, grab them. Our friends at myadea.com make excellent light-weight shells that layer superbly. They rarely go on sale but are worth their weight in gold to our clients, especially those who wear jackets and sweaters a lot to the office.

February Q&A Now Posted. This month, we help a site visitor pack for a cruise.

Welcome Anne and Sarah (& a Special Offer for New Clients). To welcome Anne and Sarah to our firm (and encourage new clients to experience their talent firsthand) we are selling a $300 package in our on-line store throughout the month of February that allows new clients to work with Anne or Sarah for three hours. Our standard fee for 3 hours of consulting is $450 — you save $150. You need to live within a 30 mile radius of our office in Needham, MA to use this offer for a 3-hour in-home, closet consultation. If you want to skip the at-home session and just go shopping, that is also a way to utilize this special offer. Call 781-444-0140 with questions. We are selling this package like a gift certificate. You do need to purchase it this month, but it can be used anytime you are ready. Purchase this package now in our online store. New clients to our firm only please. Thank you.

Save the Date — Celebrating our 20th Anniversary by Raising Awareness & Funds for Belle of the Ball. Please plan to join us on Sunday, April 1, 2012 from 1-4 pm at the Linda K. Paresky Conference Center at Simmons College in Boston to celebrate the success of Anton’s Cleaners award-winning Belle of the Ball prom dress donation program. Guests will enjoy a designer fashion show, bid on amazing gift baskets, and take home a stylish gift bag. Bring a gently worn prom dress and automatically be entered to win $250 worth of dry cleaning courtesy of Anton’s. April 1st also marks the 20th anniversary of our firm so we are particularly pleased to be celebrating this important milestone by raising money for this wonderful cause. Tickets are $45/person and will be available for purchase via antons.com shortly. We’ll send out another email to let you know when the tickets are ready for purchase. There will also be a way for you to make a straight donation to Belle if you can’t attend. Read more about Belle of the Ball (and what your donation supports), by visiting antons.com/belle.

Register to Win. Finally, you have until midnight on February 29th to register to be our February contest winner. The winner will be sent a $25 gift card to The Container Store. Good luck!