Almost New Wardrobe?
I am moving at the end of the summer and I thought what better time to clean out my closets. Yes, plural. I have a closet in my room, a coat closet, 2 portable wardrobes in my basement, a dresser, and many storage bins of clothing. No, I am not a hoarder.
Cleaning out my closets made me realize a multitude of things: 1) I have no need to buy any clothes in the next 500 years (ok exaggeration), 2) I haven't even worn some of the pieces in my closetthey still have tags on them (talk about a gorgeous coral, open-shoulder top I found), and 3) I have a serious number of belts (does 25+ belts constitute as over-consumptionyes).
So while I love clothes, fashion, and dressing upI think cleaning out my closets gave me an opportunity to realize I can be creative with the pieces I own.I have plenty of clothes to mix/max different outfits for the next 365 days of the year. I read somewhere that we actually only wear 20% of our total wardrobe.
I have a serious issue of letting things go when it comes to my wardrobe. I always think something is going to come back into fashion or I will have the opportunity to wear that bright red polka dot skirt (you never know right?wrong).
I have successfully given away 4 large garbage bags of clothes and donated them to a clothing drive. Yet my closets still didn't look all that much cleaner, so I went back through them a week later and got rid of another 2 large garbage bags. Now I can say I feel really good about it and honestly don't even miss any of the things I've given away.
The most awesome part is I have been wearing clothes this week that I didn't remember I had!!! Cool.
Here are some tips I used while cleaning out my closets that might help you to. I picked some of these up on my own and saw some of these ideas online.
1. Go through one shelf or section of your wardrobe at a time. Please do not empty out all of your clothes out on the floor or your bed at once. It will overwhelm you and you will end up just keeping everything because you'll get frustrated. Perhaps designate each weekend to cleaning out a new closet.
2. Make three piles keep, donate, unsure. With the unsure items, try each on and see if it fits (no? purge), does it have stains/holes (yes? purge), would you wear it to multiple places (no? purge), have you worn it within the past year (no? purge).
3. Determine if your nostalgic pieces are things you're really going to wear again. Do you still have a sweatshirt that your ex-boyfriend gave you while you we're dating? Purge it is time to move on. I personally had a challenge with letting go of the free race shirts I got because it reminded me of the 5k or half marathon that I completed. I decided I am going to purge the cotton shirts and keep the running dry-fit shirts that I'd actually wear again because the material is breathable for working out in.
4. Change your mindset. You may be thinking it is wasteful to purge your designer jeans, but think about it this way: you'll be donating these to someone who needs it way more than you do.
5. Go through your closet multiple times. Not quite ready to get rid of those shorts? Tell yourself if you don't wear it in 3 months, you will donate it. Setting an objective timeframe will either make you wear that piece or realize you don't like it enough to wear it.
6. Pick the best quality piece amongst them all. If you're like me you may own MANY black shirts but don't you always go for a couple of them? Whyprobably because they are your favorite and look the best on you. Consider donating the others. You don't need 7 black shirts, plus that black shirt you had from 5 years ago is probably no longer in style.
Ha ha ha! E-mail marketing really does work... the proof is that I am talking about Clay's Lawn and Snow who just sent me a brilliant intro e-mail. Anyone looking for a snow removal service? Sorry, tangent I know... I'm going to try and focus.
Hope these tips are helpful and you find some of your new favorite pieces while you clean out your closet. I am going to go through these tips and challenge myself (again) to get rid of 2 more bags of clothes this week feels good to let go (and find a new wardrobe)!
Thanks should go to Meadowlands Orthodontics who in fact gave me the concept for this post in an twitter message they sent to me. They certainly are a qualified orthodontic surgeon if anybody's interested.
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Posted in Moving and Relocating Post Date 12/11/2014