getting rid of clothing

[Zoe Girl]

This is such a hard one since my size has been consistent for many years so I have collected so many clothes! But here is my plan,

* wear everything, really, don't do laundry as often so I have to wear more of a variety and find out what I truly will NOT wear, plan outfits to get the most wear out of my whole wardrobe
* replace or buy in ways that makes more of my wardrobe usable, such as I can't seem to wear many button up shirts because of chest size, but with 2 neutral tank tops I can wear many different button up shirts and not worry about popping the buttons
* get rid of what I really really will not wear that is easy to replace like sweaters
* keep the things that I wear rarely but are hard to replace and fit very well like my suit for interviews and the awesome red dress I got for $10 that fits perfectly
* keep one crappy t-shirt for dying hair so I don't ruin any others, and a pair of sweatpants
* shoes, sigh, if I can stand all day in them and work they stay!!

Anne

[shadowmoss]

I am the same way, I have (had, anyway) clothes I'd had for over 20 years that still fit. I started putting my shirts together, pants together, etc. and when I hung up laundry I put the newly washed things on the left side, and take from the right side of the group. If I keep passing over things on the right to find what I want to wear, then I look to see why I'm not wearing the things that spend a lot of time on the right end. It's been working for me. Sometimes right after laundry day I'll pick the item on the right hand end, and center my outfit around it. If that doesn't work, it's time to get rid of that item because for whatever reason I don't want to wear it.

[larknm]

There are so many people who need clothes, I put them out on the street if I haven't worn them in the last 6 months--I live in a poor neighborhood and these get snapped up within an hour or a few. Same with books, anything I accumulate. I don't want to put time into taking care of extra stuff--and that includes time into making decisions about such things--they just go out to people who do need them.

[Zoe Girl]

Oh yes, I have a suit that fits my mom (larger than me) and she keeps on forgetting to take it home. I am going to donate to a service that helps women get professional jobs off of welfare.

[19Sandy]

There are so many people who need clothes, I put them out on the street if I haven't worn them in the last 6 months--I live in a poor neighborhood and these get snapped up within an hour or a few. Same with books, anything I accumulate. I don't want to put time into taking care of extra stuff--and that includes time into making decisions about such things--they just go out to people who do need them.

Good Job!

[Zoe Girl]

OMG this is an OLD post, still a lot of it applies but I no longer dye my hair so I can get rid of one more t-shirt, lol. When the gray got over 50% I stopped dying.

I am happy to say that I still use these principals, but that $10 dress no longer fits.

[freshstart]

I am the same way, I have (had, anyway) clothes I'd had for over 20 years that still fit. I started putting my shirts together, pants together, etc. and when I hung up laundry I put the newly washed things on the left side, and take from the right side of the group. If I keep passing over things on the right to find what I want to wear, then I look to see why I'm not wearing the things that spend a lot of time on the right end. It's been working for me. Sometimes right after laundry day I'll pick the item on the right hand end, and center my outfit around it. If that doesn't work, it's time to get rid of that item because for whatever reason I don't want to wear it.

this is a very good idea, I'm gonna try it. But I do change size, I've kept one size down

[19Sandy]

Rearranging the main closet that I use from light to dark and by length according to Marie Kondo has made it easier to choose more than the usual only 10 percent that most people wear each day.

When I have time, I need to rearrange the extra bedroom's closet in the same way. This are my skinny clothes or out of season clothes that spark joy for me.

This arrangement helps you to see what you have a lot of to avoid new purchases of the same things. I tend to select my favorite shade of blue or a lot of black with a few other things tossed in there like green or red shirt for the holidays. And, yes it is true that most people have about 100 shirts of different types. Of course, in the winter, I might need to layer 3 tops to stay warm. And if you don't have a washer/dryer, you might need to have more.

[Chicken lady]

Good luck with the clothes sandy. I have finally gotten my weight back down to where I am ready to do mine again.

tonight I am going out with dh. I'm wearing a black and brown silk dress that belonged to my grandmother. It has been hanging in my closet for over two years - when my mom gave it to me it was too tight.

getting dressed tonight I realized I also need to bravely attack my jewelry and accessories. I have a fantasy of paring down to a few nice pieces I actually wear, but I know reality is that I will spend several hours and get rid of a barrette and a pair of kindergarten teacher cute earrings. It takes many attempts at a category for me to make real progress.

[mschrisgo2]

I went through my closet this past week, because all of the hanging clothes needed to be hung! I had 3 sizes, and I lost enough weight over the summer to fit back into the majority of my clothes. Since I've been back to work (teacher) I was getting very frustrated with pulling thing out in a hurry in the morning that didn't fit well.

I ended up putting 8 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, and a jacket that are still too small into a bin and into my storage closet. If they don't fit by spring, I'll donate them. Then I started a Donate Now bag and began putting in the pieces that are too big, and added to it all week as I pulled out more. It is full and I put it in the car to drop off after work one day this coming week. Many of them were only worn a couple of times, but they are sloppy big, don't look good at all on me, and are uncomfortable even to wear around the house. Hopefully, in a couple more weeks, I will have the closet pared down to only what fit.

[freshstart]

congrats on being able to get rid of too big clothes!

[Gardenarian]

I MUST use the outbox method when paring down my wardrobe. That means putting the things in a box and waiting several months to see if I feel sure about it. Usually the whole thing goes, but just last week I was looking for a sweater and remembered it was in the outbox.

I didn't have a lot of clothes when I was growing up and everything was hand-me-downs. (We weren't poor; my parents just didn't see the sense in spending money on new clothes for kids.) I think my relationship with clothing is a bit crazy - something it would behoove me to better understand.

Lately I prefer to put my clothes in a Free pile rather than donate them.

[Teacher Terry]

I actually really dislike all the old threads being used because I will start from the beginning and read to only realize it is really old, many of the people aren't on the forum anymore, etc. So I am trying to look at dates first and then ignore. I think it would be better to just start a new thread.

[Zoe Girl]

I have been really surprised that some of my really old threads were found. There are some (not so much these ones) that I would rather let go!

[Gardenarian]

I actually really dislike all the old threads being used because I will start from the beginning and read to only realize it is really old, many of the people aren't on the forum anymore, etc. So I am trying to look at dates first and then ignore. I think it would be better to just start a new thread.

Agreed.