Here’s an idea: owning less “stuff” means having a happier, less spendy life. I’m trying to apply that idea to my life. (Actually, I have been for a while; it’s an ongoing process, especially because I hop from plan to plan.)
So, my mission this summer has been evaluating my wardrobe, clearing stuff out, and working on rebuilding the basics. There are a gazillion pages out there that describe the “basic” wardrobe for a woman. I agree with some items, vehemently disagree with others, and think that yet others have no bearing on my lifestyle. Part of this journey involves evaluating what my basics are. But the main issue: getting rid of things.
I decided to set up ground rules. If it doesn’t meet the rules, out it goes. Those rules are:
- I have to like it
- It has to fit correctly
- It doesn’t need repair (or if it does, I have to do it right away)
- I have to have worn it this season (or during the last season it was appropriate for)
The easy decisions
I have a few items in my wardrobe that I never really liked all that much, but purchased because I needed something like it for a specific occasion, or liked at the store, but not once I brought it home. Things like the $10 clearance dressy shirt I bought because I needed one while out of town and all I packed were tees. Not that it was a bad shirt, but I just didn’t like it much and didn’t wear it. Those types of things are gone with no regrets.
A few times this summer, I wore an item that I hadn’t for a while, and noticed that it didn’t fit very well at all, and I didn’t like how I looked in it. In each case, it was generally an item that never really fit well. When I got home, I’d wash it, then toss it.
In a couple of cases, there was an item or two that I liked ok, and fit fine, but I was just kind of bored with it or maybe it was looking a little on the limp, over-worn side. So long as I have another item of its type (like v-neck sweater), out it went. If I don’t, then it is on the list of things to get replaced eventually (but at a lower priority than things I actually need).
Overcoming mental hurdles
Unfortunately, the easy decisions were few and far between because I have tried to purge my closet like this in the past, but came up against mental hurdles for why I shouldn’t get rid of such-and-such item. Sometimes an item fell into multiple categories, which made it even harder. It was a struggle this time too, but I steeled my resolve and started tossing. I haven’t missed anything.
The “it’ll fit someday” items
Not to generalize too much, but it seems like almost every woman I know has some of these items. The “I’m going to lose weight and fit in these” jeans. The “I’ll find the right bra to wear so that the buttons stop gaping” shirt. Out, out, out. If I couldn’t get into it, it is gone.
I don’t think “struggle” is the right thing to say in regards to me and my weight, ’cause I’m not exactly fighting it. I put on weight in college because of my eating habits and some health issues, but I’ve been steady at that weight for a few years now so it’s not like I yo-yo. Sure, I would like to lose some, but I’ve been liking to lose some for over three years now and not doing much about it (though I have changed my habits so that I don’t gain more). Who cares about the future; I need clothes that fit right now. I can buy new clothes when I finally lose weight.
But not all of the “it’ll fit someday” items weren’t worn. Some kind of, sort of fit, so I still wore them. I had pants that were too small. I had shirts that never properly fit my boobs (yes, I said boobs. I’m not going to be demure about it: I have a very large pair of them and have since middle school). I had sweaters that shrank so I would wear camis underneath so that my stomach wouldn’t show. I had pants that were too long, because I stand a towering 5’3″. I had cheap clothes that weren’t made to fit my body type. A lot of cheap clothes that never fit my body type. They’re all gone. I now vow to wear only clothing that fits correctly.
Ok, that was a lie. They’re not all gone. I still have two women’s medium t-shirts hidden away (the form-fitting-ish kind, not the basic cotton tee, free t-shirt kind) in the deepest corner of my closet that I hope will fit someday because I’m also sentimentally attached to them. I won’t wear them until they fit, but they’re still there, taking up space. I’m working on that problem, which brings us to…
The “I’m sentimentally attached” items
I have a million t-shirts from college. These t-shirts memorialize events I attended, groups I was in, causes I cared about and in a couple of cases I even designed them. Yet, I never, ever wear them, because I have this idea that I’m an adult now and it’ll look silly for me to go about wearing my Feb Fest 2007 shirt. These shirts just take up space and lots of it. In a couple of cases, I had duplicates of the t-shirts (generally same design, different color). Duplicates were tossed.
I had a few different items that were gifts at one point or another that I didn’t want to toss because they were gifts. Most of these fell into the “don’t fit correctly” category (although sometimes they used to fit). I had a few different items that I wore to a certain event that has good memories but haven’t really worn since.
It was difficult, but if it didn’t fit, or I haven’t worn the item in months (or didn’t wear it the last season that it was appropriate for), out it went.
Ok, so some of the keener readers may have noticed that I only mentioned tossing the duplicates of college shirts. See, I can’t bring myself to get rid of these, despite the fact that I don’t wear them. I’ve had this problem in the past; I toted all of my high school shirts to college, wore them on occasion freshman year, and then never again. But I still carted them around for three more years before I did anything about it. Finally, the day before graduation, I tasked my sisters with slicing off the collars, sleeves and unadorned fronts and backs, leaving me with the designs to someday create a quilt out of. It felt freeing to take that step. This is the fate that will meet my college shirts as well. It takes up far less room to store them that way, too.
The “but, I only wore it once” items
The concept behind keeping these items is that I need to wear them again to get their worth out of them. Some of them had been sitting in my closet for four or five years. They’d stuck around not only to wear again, but as “it’ll fit again someday” items. So, many are gone because they don’t fit. The rest are gone because I hadn’t worn them in years.
A subcategory of this is the “I don’t want to just give them away, since I paid good money for them” items. That’s complete idiocy on my part, because 99% of my wardrobe is cheap items from places like Walmart, Target and Steve & Barrys. I did make a couple of exceptions: two dresses that I did paid a decent amount for and only wore once because I purchased them for specific occasions. They’re being listed for sale on Ebay. If they don’t sell in one auction, they’re going to be tossed.
The “just in case” items
Quite a few different pieces made it through previous wardrobe clearings because I thought they might come in handy in the future. I kept them just in case. These were items like a t-shirt with a kind of cool design and strange cap sleeves that I kept for days when I didn’t want to wear one of my plain tees. Except, I never wore it, because on days I don’t want to wear a plain tee, I wear a different style of shirt all together. These kind of pieces are all gone.
The only exception to this is an old winter coat I have. I’ve kept it around because it still fits and I keep thinking I might need it for something when my wool coat won’t suffice, or would be silly for the occasion. I wear it maybe once a winter, but more as an excuse to wear it, not because my wool coat and a sweater won’t work. I’m not going to keep it, but I want to wait to toss it until closer to winter, so that I can donate it to a charity that will give it to someone in need. There’s nothing wrong with it, and I really only wore it for one winter.
The “why don’t I wear this” items
There were a couple of items in my wardrobe that I just didn’t wear. It’s not that I didn’t like them. They fit fine. Nothing is wrong with them. I just never wore them. They were mostly items similar to another in my wardrobe that I preferred. Previously, when I’d clean out my wardrobe, I’d keep the item with the intention of wearing it. I might even wear it once soon after. But then it’d fall back to the bottom of the drawer or back of the closet and not get worn again. Now they won’t ever get worn because they’ve been tossed.
Definition of “tossed”
Unless the item was being tossed because of stains or tears/rips that couldn’t be fixed (destination: landfill), almost everything I’ve tossed has gone to the local Salvation Army. Some of these items were tossed because I think they look a little worse for wear, but I know many people out there that commonly hit up the thrift store for items that they can re-purpose or alter. So, for instance a sweater that has dingy looking faux-button up collar and sleeves could easily have those parts removed and used over a real button up. It’s just not something I’m willing to do. The large majority were ill-fitting or things I didn’t wear.
In a few cases I gave away items to certain people. These were usually ones that I had some sort of sentimental attachment to, or knew that they’d really like. But regardless, they are no longer in my closet!
What is left
So, now that my closet has been cleaned out, there are a few holes. There are a some basic items left, but far fewer than there used to be. Almost everything trendy or beyond-the-basics was culled by one of the toss it criteria.
Now I need to work on building a new wardrobe. Check back next week, when I’ll talk about my goals for this new wardrobe.
What does your closet/basic wardrobe look like? Have you tried to do this sort of purge before? Have suggestions for me?